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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

War Dead Register

How many Belgian soldiers died during the world wars or in other conflicts involving fellow countrymen? How many inhabitants of my village or town? What were they doing before the war? How and where did they die?
The War Dead Register - the War Heritage Institute’s online database - wishes to provide as much biographical information as possible about each fallen soldier: place and date of birth, children, military rank, cemetery, etc. For most casualties, the WDR moreover provides the original file from the War Graves Department archives. The register also contains more than 13,000 photographs.

To be considered a “fallen man” death has to occur within a (legally) defined period. For the First World War this is between 4 August 1914 and 30 September 1919, for the Second World War between 27 August 1939 and 2 September 1945, and for the war in Korea between 18 December 1950 and 30 June 1955. Military personnel losing their lives before or after these dates are not considered fallen. If they nevertheless have been laid to rest in a military cemetery or plots of honour they are recorded in the War Dead Register, but with the mention that they are not recognised as fallen.

 

War graves

Graves remind us of the fallen. Many victims rest in military cemeteries and plots of honour scattered all over Belgium. Others were given private graves, but some of these have disappeared over the years, sadly enough. Moreover, hundreds, or even thousands, of Belgian military war victims were interred in neighbouring countries.

The War Dead Register provides both insight into the how and why of these cemeteries, and background information about the venues. Why are some cemeteries so small and why do others stand out precisely because of their vastness? Where are the cemeteries located? Who is buried where? The War Dead Register answers these - and many other - questions.