​​The cemetery is unique for two reasons. Firstly, it was the first CWGC cemetery created following the end of the Second World War (it was later redesigned and renovated in 1949 by Philip Hepworth). Secondly, the original cemetery burial layouts were completed by German soldiers in 1940, with the burials and headstones placed in a back-to-back layout rather than single rows.

​The cemetery contains 957 Allied burials in total. 707 of these burials are Canadian soldiers, mainly those who killed or died of wounds from Operation Jubilee. This was the well-known tragically failed amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe. Amongst the burials during this period are the graves of British Royal Navy and Commandos who took part in the raid. 192 of the burials are unknown persons whose identity could not be confirmed.

​Other burials within the cemetery include those from the ‘Battle of France’ in 1940, aircrews of different nationalities from 1940 to 1944, and Canadians that returned to the area in September 1944 during the liberation.

​Notable burials here include Brigadier Mrs Mary Janet Climpson, the only female burial within the cemetery. She served in the Salvation Army and was deployed to France in 1940. During the withdrawal of British military forces, the humanitarian organisations also began to withdraw. On 20 May 1940, close to Dieppe, the vehicle convoy that Mary was in was attacked by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) resulting in her being killed.

​Mary Climpson is the eldest person buried here, whilst six eighteen-year-old men are the youngest recorded ages buried here.

​Two Canadian brothers are buried together in grave E.10: Private Kenneth Ingram, aged twenty and Sergeant Robert Ingram, aged 23. The former was killed on 19 August 1942, he took part in the failed Operation Jubilee landings at Dieppe. Robert was killed in action on 13 August 1944 in the village of Moulines, south of Caen. He was originally buried in a back garden of a house in Moulines before being exhumed and laid to rest alongside his brother on 21 May 1945.