Historical Information (Source: CWGC)

The British Expeditionary Force was involved in the later stages of the defence of Belgium following the German invasion in May 1940, and suffered many casualties in covering the withdrawal to Dunkirk. Commonwealth forces did not return until September 1944, but in the intervening years, many airmen were shot down or crashed in raids on strategic objectives in Belgium, or while returning from missions over Germany. Most of those Commonwealth servicemen buried at Oostduinkerke Communal Cemetery died in the heavy fighting along the Nieuport-Veurne-Dunkirk Canal, while covering the retreat of the British Expeditionary Force to Dunkirk in May 1940.

The cemetery contains a plot of 180 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 31 of them unidentified.