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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?
Poelkapellestraat, 8650 Houthulst
 
View on map

History

The Vrijbos in Houthulst, one of the places to be conquered during the liberation offensive in September 1918, is completely destroyed after the war; in 1920-1922 it is cleared of remaining explosives and partly reforested. The landscape around Houthulst is strewn with field graves and these fallen soldiers are reburied in the military cemetery established in 1924-1925. It contains 1,722 Belgian military victims, among whom 522 unknown soldiers. All but a few dozen fell in late 1918. 81 Italian victims have also received a last resting place in Houthulst; seven of them are unidentified. These prisoners of war mainly perished in 1918 when the Germans used them for the construction of their defence positions.   

 

Casualties

1,722 Belgians First World War (522 unidentified) – 81 Italians First World War (7 unidentified)

 

Description

The 10-acre Belgian military cemetery is partly enclosed by the Vrijbos and situated next to the barracks of the famous Ministry of Defence demining service. Architects Blondeau and Moreau from the Military Cemetery Service in Bruges designed a six-pointed star crossed by red gravel paths. A red brick wall circles the cemetery. A long central portion of the enclosure consists of a low cast-iron fence and small granite columns. The bluestone tombs with the well-known Belgian bronze plaques are dispersed over dozens of plots. The Italian graves are to be found in the cemetery’s easternmost corner.