During the First World War, Dover was a port of embarkation for troops bound for the Western Front and between August 1914 and August 1919 some 1,300,000 Commonwealth sick and wounded were landed there. The port was bombed in 1915 and again in August 1916.

There are 387 identified burials of the 1914-1918 war here. In addition there are 19 unidentified burials, nine of whom can be named as victims of the Zeebrugge Raid, and these nine are inscribed on a Special Memorial on the Cross of Sacrifice in the Zeebrugge Plot.

In 1940, Dover was the headquarters for the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk and nearly 200,000 of the 366,000 British and Allied troops brought back during the operation were landed there. Throughout the war, Dover was a particular target for the long range guns on the French coast and between September 1939 and May 1945 there were no less than 742 attacks by air raid and shelling.

Most of the 356 Second World War burials are contained in a special war graves plot at the far end of the cemetery. The plot, known as the Dunkirk plot, contains many graves from the Dunkirk operation. Twenty two of these burials are unidentified. There are also eight Foreign National war burials and three non war service burials in the cemetery.

Graves are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. To learn more about their work, visit http://cwgc.org