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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?
Rue Nicolas Fossoul, 4100 Boncelles
 
View on map

History

4 August 1914: German troops cross the border, Belgium is at war. The first heavy engagements erupt in Liège when the Germans attack the Belgian positions during the night of 5 to 6 August. A terrible thunderstorm illuminates the scene, as if Judgement Day has come. The Belgians give the defence of the “ardent city” their all and do not yield. Infantry puts up a valiant defence on the hills surrounding Liège, assisted by the forts who aim their deadly steel at the enemy. The German attack on this fateful night is unsuccessful. 
The battles of Rhées, Sart-Tilman and Boncelles are engraved in collective memory. Many regiments get to mention Liège on their banners, but the price paid for this privilege is high. Very high. Hundreds of dead are buried almost on the spot and in haste. 
The war rages on, but Belgium does not forget its warriors. In the 1920s, the country sets up a military cemetery in Boncelles. It receives 159 dead and 86 more are added after the Second World War.

 

Casualties

159 First World War - 86 Second World War
 

Description

The cemetery is rectangular in shape, with in the rear a monument to the memory of the dead of Boncelles bordered by 41 graves in curved formation. The other graves are arranged in parallel rows with their plates facing the entrance. A wall built in the grey stone typical of the Liège region separates the cemetery from the street.