Ridge Wood was the name given to a wood standing on high ground between the Kemmel road and Dickebusch Lake. The cemetery lies in a hollow, on the Western side of the Ridge, and the position was chosen for a "front-line cemetery" as early as May, 1915. The first graves belonged to the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles, and similar groups were made by the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Canadian Battalions and the 9th Durham Light Infantry at the times when they occupied this sector. The Battles of the Lys, in the spring of 1918, brought the British front back on to the Ridge, and it was not till July that the Wood was finally cleared by the 6th and 33rd Divisions. There are few burials from these last battles in the cemetery, and the graves of some French Divisions which fought with our own in April and May have been removed.

There are now over 600, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. The cemetery covers an area of 3,729 square metres and enclosed by a brick wall.

Burials (Commonwealth War Graves Commission):

• United Kingdom: 280
• Canada: 292
• Australia: 44
• New Zealand: 3
• Total Commonwealth: 619
• Other Nationalities: 2