The cemetery was first used by Commonwealth units at the end of April 1915 and continued in use until May 1916. Row C contains the collective grave of 23 men of the 2nd Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment who were killed in the German gas attack at Hill 60 on 5 May 1915. The cemetery was used again from July 1917, mostly by artillery units, for burials arising from the 1917 Flanders offensive.  There are now 283 First World War burials within the cemetery.  The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.