History
Soldiers killed in the last hours of the Eighteen-Day Campaign have been laid to rest in the Meulebeke honours court.
On 26 May 1940, when it is generally felt that Belgium is about to succumb, the military command sets up an ultimate defence behind the railway line in and around Meulebeke. Soldiers with reserve regiments thus suddenly find themselves in the line of fire, but they are insufficiently armed to fight the enemy. On 27 May overwhelming German pressure makes the Belgian defences collapse.
Casualties
17 Second World War
Description
The graves in this honours court are positioned side by side and are made of the typical Belgian stone. Curiously, a First World War German officer has also been interred here. A Belgian casualty has been given both a grave and a cenotaph.