Historical  Information (Source: CWGC)

Lille was occupied by the Germans from the 27th August, to the 5th September 1914, and again on the 12th October; and it remained in their hands, undamaged by Allied artillery, until the 17th October 1918. Southern Cemetery was used by the Germans during the greater part of the War, and after the Armistice by the 39th Stationary Hospital and the 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Station. During the 1939-45 War, at the end of March 1940, the 50th Division was near Lille; while in May the same year No.10 Casualty Clearing Station used the Cemetery from the 16th to the 25th of the month.

There are now over 600, 1914-18 and nearly 300, 1939-45 war casualties commemorated in this site. Of these, a small number from the 1914-18 War are unidentified and a special memorial is erected to one soldier from the United Kingdom known to be buried among them. From the 1939-45 War nearly 40 are unidentified. The French number of Plot I is V.2; that of Plot II, V.4; and that of Plot III (where British prisoners of War are buried) J.1. The Second War graves are in french Plot 82.