The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has placed the first of up to 65 Visitor Information Panels in Belgium.

They are at Ypres Town Cemetery and Extension and the Potijze Chateau Cemeteries.

Some 500 such panels are due to be installed at cemeteries and memorials as the CWGC looks to provide additional information in the run-up to the centenary of the  World War I.

The panels will have general information about the CWGC, and will explain why the cemetery or memorial is placed where it is. They will also explain the some of the historical and military context.

Smartphone users will be able to download further information about the cemetery, including the stories of some of the casualties.

The panel at Ypres Town Cemetery and Extension explains that British troops arrived in Ypres on 14 October 1914. Within days fallen soldiers were being buried at the edge of the town’s civilian cemetery.