Westvleteren Belgian Military Cemetery

Westvleteren Belgian Military Cemetery is a Belgian war cemetery from the First World War, located in the village of Westvleteren, part of the municipality of Vleteren, north of Ieper (formerly Ypres) on the N8 road connecting Ieper and Veurne. Coming into the village, just after a sharp right-hand bend, a turn onto Sint-Maartenstraat leads directly to the cemetery, situated on the right-hand side of that street.

Who is buried here?

The cemetery holds the graves of more than 1,200 Belgian soldiers who died during the First World War. Unlike the uniform white headstones typically associated with Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) sites, most of the markers here follow a more ornate Belgian design, many of them bearing the colours of the Belgian flag. This gives the site a visibly different character from the many British and Commonwealth cemeteries scattered across the same region.

Is there a Commonwealth grave among them?

Yes. The cemetery contains one Commonwealth burial from the First World War, marked with a standard CWGC headstone that stands out clearly among the surrounding Belgian graves. This grave is located in the seventh row, to the left of the cemetery entrance.

Why does this cemetery matter historically?

Westvleteren Belgian Military Cemetery is one of a number of Belgian military cemeteries spread across the Flanders Fields region, alongside sites such as Hoogstade, Oeren, Adinkerke, De Panne, Keiem, Houthulst, Ramskapelle and Steenkerke. Together these cemeteries document the role of the Belgian army in defending the small strip of western Belgium that remained unoccupied by German forces throughout most of the war, with the front line stabilising along the Yser (IJzer) river for years.

Are there other First World War sites nearby?

The area around Westvleteren and Ieper is one of the most densely concentrated war-cemetery landscapes in Europe. Within the same municipality of Vleteren lies Dozinghem Military Cemetery, a much larger CWGC-run site established near three Casualty Clearing Stations that operated from July 1917 in preparation for the offensive at Ypres. More than 3,100 Commonwealth soldiers and 65 German soldiers from the First World War are buried there. It is, however, a separate cemetery from Westvleteren Belgian Military Cemetery, even though the two sites lie close to one another and together illustrate the scale of losses suffered along this stretch of the front.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the cemetery located? In the village of Westvleteren, on Sint-Maartenstraat, just off the N8 road between Ieper and Veurne.

How many people are buried there? More than 1,200 Belgian soldiers and one Commonwealth soldier from the First World War.

How do the Belgian headstones differ from CWGC ones? They have a more decorative design, often featuring the colours of the Belgian flag, rather than the uniform white stone markers used by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Is this the same place as Dozinghem Military Cemetery? No. They are two separate cemeteries within the same municipality of Vleteren. Dozinghem is a much larger CWGC cemetery that grew out of wartime casualty clearing stations.

Can visitors access the cemetery? Yes, like most war cemeteries in the Flanders Fields region, it is open to the public and free to visit.