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Attention: the War Dead Register only lists Belgian fallen soldiers.  
The War Dead Register provides basic personal information (name, first name, date and place of birth, etc.) and does not contain military files (giving a complete overview of the military career). According to date of birth the files are kept either by the Royal Military Museum or by the Defence archives service. The files safeguarded at the Military Museum can be consulted on site (Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels). The files kept up till now by Defence are currently transferred to the General State Archives.
The date on which they will be once again available has not yet been determined.   

 

Archives of the Royal Military Museum 

Documentation Centre 
Parc du Cinquantenaire 3
1000 Brussels
E-mail : cdoc.klm-mra@warheritage.be   
Website: www.warheritage.be

Cemetery details

Where?
Adegem-Dorp, 9991 Adegem
 
View on map

History

First World War 

During the final offensive in 1918 the Adegem area is the scene of heavy fighting. The retreating Germans use the Lys derivation canal (Schipdonk Canal) as a defence line to stop the advancing Belgian divisions. Adegem becomes the target of heavy artillery fire. The Germans blow up all the bridges and many Belgian soldiers lose their lives when they try to cross the canal. The village of Adegem is badly damaged. Many houses are destroyed and the inhabitants flee.
On 31 October the Belgians pull out all the stops: they attack over the entire length of the waterway. Short but heavy shooting occurs when the Belgians try to build a bridge. This does not go as planned and a German counterattack pushes the Belgians back. The latter only succeed in crossing the water the following day. The enemy flees and nothing then stands in the way of further progress. No less than 97 Belgians lose their lives in rural Adegem. They do not live to see the ultimate goal, the liberation of Belgium.

Second World War

During the Second World War the canal is once again the scene of heavy fighting, this time in the opposite direction. The Germans try to cross the canal during the Battle of the Lys. Adegem is yet again in the line of fire and yet again takes heavy blows. The casualties of 1940 are buried next to their brothers-in-arms of 1918.                                                                                                                                                                                             
In 1944 the canal is once more in the fray. Hundreds of Canadian soldiers die during the September liberation. They are buried in the nearby Canadian cemetery. 

 

Casualties

14 First World War – 22 Second World War

 

Description

The honours court consists of two separate plots to the right and left of the central entrance to the municipal cemetery. The tombstones, of the Belgian bluestone model and in two rows, face the civilian cemetery.