Brussels Cemetery (; ) is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

belonging to the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels is the largest List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. Located in the neighbouring municipality of

Evere Evere (; ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium). , the municipality had a population of 43,608 inhabitants. The total area is , which gives a population density of . In common with all of Brussels' municipal ...

, rather than in the City of Brussels proper, it is adjacent to Schaerbeek Cemetery and Evere Cemetery, but should not be confused with either. The grounds include many war memorials, including a large monument to the soldiers of the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

by the sculptor Jacques de Lalaing.

Notable interments

Personalities buried there include: * Jules Anspach (1829–1879), mayor of the City of Brussels * Charles de Brouckère (1796–1860), mayor of the City of Brussels * Charles Buls (1837–1914), mayor of the City of Brussels *

Johnny Claes Octave John Claes (; 11 August 1916 – 3 February 1956) was a British-born racing driver who competed for Belgium. Before his fame as a racing driver, Claes was also a jazz trumpeter and successful bandleader in Britain. Early life and jazz ...

(1916–1956), racing driver *

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

(1748–1825), French painter * César De Paepe (1841–1890), physician and political figure *

Adrien de Gerlache Baron Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery (; 2 August 1866 – 4 December 1934) was a Belgian officer in the Belgian Royal Navy who led the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–99. Early years Born in Hasselt in eastern Belgium as t ...

(1866–1934), explorer * William Howe De Lancey (1778–1815), British Army officer * Robert Goldschmidt (1877–1935), scientist * Marcellin Jobard (1792–1861), lithographer, photographer, journalist and inventor * Adolphe Max (1869–1939), mayor of the City of Brussels *

Adolphe Quetelet Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet FRSF or FRSE (; 22 February 1796 – 17 February 1874) was a Belgian- French astronomer, mathematician, statistician and sociologist who founded and directed the Brussels Observatory and was influential ...

(1796–1874), astronomer and mathematician * George Thompson VC (1920–1945),

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

aviator * Jeanne Van Calck (1897–1906), infanticide victim * François van Campenhout (1779–1848), composer and violinist * Henri Van Dievoet (1869–1931), architect * Jules Van Dievoet (1844–1917), barrister at the Court de Cassation of Belgium * Charles van Lerberghe (1861–1907), symbolist author * Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen (1796–1862), founder of the Free University of Brussels

British Waterloo Campaign Monument

The idea of bringing together the remains of British officers that had been killed during the

Waterloo Campaign The Waterloo campaign, also known as the Belgian campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two War of the Seventh Coalition, Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied arm ...

of 1815, was first suggested in 1861. In 1882, the City Council of Brussels approved a suggestion to donate of the cemetery to re-bury British officers whose graves were in Brussels or around the battlefields of Waterloo and Quatre Bras. In 1888, a public subscription was launched by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in the United Kingdom to finance a suitable monument. The resulting sculpture by Jacques de Lalaing is a large edifice of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

figures on a plinth of rusticated stone blocks. It depicts

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

with lowered helmet and

trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

, surrounded by discarded British weapons, uniforms and equipment. Three lions lie at her feet; one is sleeping. Attached to the sides of the plinth are circular shields bearing the names of the regiments that fought in the campaign. Amongst the inscriptions is ("I remember the country of the dead"). The monument was unveiled by the

Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge is a hereditary title of nobility in the British royal family, one of several royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom. The title is named after the city of Cambridge in England. It is heritable by agnatic, male descendants by pr ...

on 26 August 1890. Below the monument is a

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

with 16 niches containing 17 bodies, which were transferred there between 1890 and 1894. Four of these were killed at Quatre Bras, the remainder at Waterloo, including Captain John Lucie Blackman of the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, who was killed at Hougomont on the day of the battle. The exception, and the only

Non-Commissioned Officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

, is

Sergeant-Major Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's infantry, and ranked about third in th ...

Edward Cotton ( 7th Hussars), who survived the battle to become a guide for tourists to the battlefield and was buried at Hougomont after his death in 1849. The remainder are all British Army officers and include

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Sir William Howe De Lancey (Deputy Quartermaster-General of the British Army in Belgium), Colonel Edward Stables and Lieutenant-Colonel William Henry Milnes (both 1st Foot Guards), Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Alexander Gordon ( 3rd Foot Guards) and Major William Lloyd (

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

British Commonwealth War Graves (20th century)

The cemetery contains the war graves of 53 British Commonwealth service personnel of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and 587 from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Most of the graves from the former war, all within Plot X, are of bodies of prisoners of war exhumed from Germany and reburied here by the

Canadian Corps The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December 19 ...

in April 1919. Those of the latter war are of troops of the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium in May 1940 before the retreat to

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, aircrew crashed or shot down over Belgium, and, predominately, those on lines of communication duties after the liberation of Brussels in September 1944. The

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

are responsible for these graves as well as for 35 Foreign National service burials and 5 non-World War service burials.

Belgian Airmen's Field of Honour

This Field of Honour, located within the cemetery, was created to inter Belgian airmen who died in

. It is administered and maintained by the Belgian Ministry of Defence, although the Commonwealth War Graves Commission commemoratively lists 84 of the airmen buried here who died serving in British Commonwealth air forces following the fall of Belgium to Nazi German occupation in 1940. In all, over 200 airmen are commemorated there with headstones. Around 30 of those, whose headstones are marked as ''disparu'' (i.e. missing), have no known grave.

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Cimetière de Bruxelles, Brussels Cemetery Cemeteries and memorials in Brussels Geography of Brussels Evere Burials at Brussels Cemetery Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Belgium