Belgian military cemeteries and plots of honour
Belgian military cemeteries and plots of honour
Looking for a Belgian military cemetery or plot of honour? Scroll down to the overview by province at the bottom of this page.
Belgian military cemeteries
Belgian military cemeteries theoretically feature graves of fallen soldiers only. Very exceptionally do they also count graves of civilian victims. In early 2023 Defence put the War Heritage Institute in charge of management, maintenance and necessary repairs.
Their creation is linked to the various war zones. The first cemeteries were laid out in August 1914 in the Liège area. Next came Namur and Halen. After the battle for Antwerp in late October 1914 they also appeared in the Yser plain. As of October 1918, when the final offensive was launched and the Germans were pushed back, a reverse movement was initiated, with new cemeteries emerging from the Yser flatlands all the way to the centre of the country.
Especially in the early days of the First World War the fallen were initially given field graves on the spots where they lost their lives. Later on locals and municipalities took over, in order to provide dignified resting places for the fallen. Individual civilians also went to great lengths during the war to identify and rebury the dead. We can think of Hendrik Haesen in Mechelen, Jef Van Boeckel in Lier, Miss Orianne in Londerzeel and its surroundings or Léonard Reynaerts in the Tienen area. The Germans in occupied Belgium turned a blind eye to all this.
Many cemeteries behind the Yser were established near a military hospital. Adinkerke, Westvleteren and De Panne, all near the famous L’Océan hospital, are good examples. After the conflict the Ministry of War established assembly cemeteries rounding up all the dead in a particular war zone; this is the case in e.g. Keiem or Ramskapelle.
Belgian military plots of honour
Belgian military plots of honour are embedded in local cemeteries. The municipal services take care of their maintenance against payment. The plots of honour also arose in the wake of the battlefields and are therefore to be found all over the country. Their sizes vary greatly, from literally one solitary fallen man in Hannut to hundreds of graves on the Schoonselhof in Antwerp.