Historical Information (Source: CWGC)

Douai was occupied by French troops and the Royal Naval Air Service on the 22nd September, 1914, and captured by the Germans on the 1st October; it remained in enemy hands until the 17th October, 1918. The 42nd Casualty Clearing Station was posted in the town from the 28th October, 1918, to the 25th November, 1919. Douai British Cemetery was begun at the end of October, 1918, and closed in November, 1919; but graves were brought into it later from the neighbouring battlefields and from other burial grounds.

There are over 200, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, a small number are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to a soldier from the United Kingdom, buried in Raimbeaucourt German Cemetery, whose grave could not be found. The British Cemetery covers an area of 718 square metres and is enclosed by a low stone rubble wall.