The 'Nine Elms' military cemetery, designed by architect Sir Reginald Blomfield, has an elongated, irregular ground plan and is named after an avenue in London. From the entrance gate, an avenue flanked by yews leads to the 'Cross of Sacrifice' against the southern wall. Centrally against the east wall, the 'Stone of Remembrance' can be found. The headstones are scattered in 16 flowerbeds. As a reference to the cemetery's name, elm trees grow here alongside flowerbeds and shrubs.
Nine Elms British Cemetery provides a final resting place for 1,593 World War I casualties. Also buried there are 24 victims who fell during the Allied withdrawal to Dunkirk in 1940 during World War II. Most of the victims have been identified; the identity of about five of the fallen is not known.
The cemetery was first used during World War I from 16 September 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres. Until 19 December 1917, soldiers who died in the '3rd Australian' and '44th Casualty Clearing Stations', the field hospitals transferred from Brandhoek and Lijssenthoek in September of that year, were buried here. In early March to 12 October 1918, those killed during the German Spring Offensive, the British counterattacks and the Allied Liberation Offensive ended up here.
