Leisele Churchyard

Leisele Churchyard is a small parish cemetery surrounding the village church, Sint-Martinuskerk (St Martin's), in Leisele — a village belonging to the municipality of Alveringem in West Flanders, close to the French border. The site serves a double role: it remains an active local burial ground and, at the same time, a quiet point of remembrance tied to the Second World War.

Where exactly is the churchyard?

Leisele lies roughly 13 kilometres south of Veurne, just off the N8 road connecting Veurne and Ieper. The churchyard sits right in the centre of the village, wrapped around the parish church, on the right-hand side as you approach along the main road. Today the cemetery holds around 490 graves — a substantial number for such a small village, reflecting its role as the sole burial ground for the surrounding community across generations.

What is the site's connection to the war?

In May 1940, during the final stage of the defence of Belgium against the German invasion, the British Expeditionary Force helped cover the Allied withdrawal towards Dunkirk. The fighting during this retreat caused casualties among British troops scattered across West Flanders. One trace of those events can still be found at Leisele Churchyard: the grave of Gunner Robert Robinson, who died on 29 May 1940. His grave lies in the south-western corner of the cemetery and is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), the organisation responsible for the graves of Commonwealth servicemen worldwide.

Beyond this single war grave from 1940, the churchyard also holds the graves of local veterans who served in both the First and Second World Wars, making the site a modest record of both conflicts within one small community.

What can visitors see there?

Visitors will find a quiet, typically Flemish parish churchyard — rows of gravestones encircling the village church, a layout common to many villages in the region. The British soldier's grave stands out through the uniform CWGC-style headstone, distinct from the surrounding civilian graves. It is precisely this contrast between an everyday local cemetery and a single wartime marker that gives the site its particular character, showing how the events of 1940 reached even the smallest villages of the region.

Who is this place for?

Leisele Churchyard is not a major tourist attraction in the conventional sense, but rather a point of interest for those researching the wartime history of West Flanders, following Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites in Belgium, or tracing places connected to the 1940 campaign and the retreat to Dunkirk. For residents of Alveringem and Leisele, it remains first and foremost a living parish cemetery, the resting place of many generations of local families.

Frequently asked questions

Is Leisele Churchyard a war cemetery? Not entirely — it is primarily an active parish cemetery around St Martin's church, containing one British soldier's grave from 1940 that is cared for by the CWGC.

Where exactly is the soldier's grave located? In the south-western corner of the churchyard.

How do you get to Leisele? The village lies on the N8 road between Veurne and Ieper, about 13 km south of Veurne, within the municipality of Alveringem in West Flanders.

How many graves does the cemetery hold? Around 490 graves, including veterans of both World Wars and one grave maintained by the CWGC.