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First search generally, then specifically. Example: don’t look for “François Van Damme”, but try “Van Damme” first and filter the search.
The person you are looking for does not appear? Try another spelling. Example: don’t only try “Vanwymelbeke”, but also “Van Wymelbeke” or “Vanwijmelbeke”.
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

Cemeteries

No stronger account of war than military cemeteries. Cemeteries are established for eternity, and indicate that war takes a heavy toll, both on winners and on losers. 
Some cemeteries impress by their vastness, others by their modest size. Still others are very remote and rarely welcome visitors. Diversity galore: from small plots of honour with a single fallen man to cemeteries with thousands of dead, either located just behind the former trenches or literally at the other end of the world.
Many cemeteries were permanently established between 1922 and 1925. Military authorities then exhumed bodies, shifted graves, installed headstones and put in new shrubs. In early 2023, almost a century later, Defence transferred management and maintenance of these sites to the War Heritage Institute. Some cemeteries were created by locals and are still cherished today, generations later.

Keeping the memory alive

To honour the sacrifice of so many young men and in order to firmly establish that liberty does not come cheap, it is our duty to maintain the sites and to keep the memory alive. The scars from the past have to be nursed, both today and tomorrow.