History Information

The Belgian military cemetery of Oeren is a military cemetery with casualties from the First World War and is located around the former St. Apollonia church of the Belgian town of Oeren, a part of Alveringem. 508 Belgian soldiers lie buried here, many of whom are unknown. The cemetery was protected as a monument in 2008.

Oeren suffered greatly during the First World War. In the summer of 1915 the cemetery of Oeren around the former parish church was created as a temporary emergency solution. The cemetery of Alveringem was overcrowded at the time. After having dug forty graves, the military government decided to bury the bodies in Adinkerke. The funeral ceremony still took place in Alveringem. This cumbersome method was abandoned in 1917 and the casualties were given a place in Oeren. In the end, 651 soldiers who were killed found a final resting place, including some French artillerymen and 3 Germans.

The Belgian military cemetery of Oeren is also characterized by the presence of a number of hero tributes, which refer to a few episodes in the history of the Flemish Movement. The cemetery now only has five hero tributes with a Celtic cross, a seagull or Blauwvoet and the letters AVV-VVK, designed by the front soldier, painter and draftsman Joe English. There were once more of those landmarks, but on the night of 9 to 10 February 1918, grave gunners smeared 38 cement-coated ones (the letters AVV-VVK were covered up). The Flemings responded promptly and the following night, front soldiers repainted the poem with black paint. in 1925, most of the 104 hero tributes were smashed to build a road and replaced by Belgian tombstones.