The cemetery is a plot designed by Sir Herbert Baker within the communal cemetery in the southern suburbs of Calais. In April 1915, No 6 Base Supply Depot was started at Calais to help relieve the pressure on Boulogne and to provide a base nearer to the front than Le Havre or Rouen. The base remained open until the last Commonwealth forces left France in March 1921. The cemetery now contains 721 First World War burials. There are also 224 burials of the Second World War, the majority dating from May 1940 and the retreat to Dunkirk.