Historical Information (Source: CWGC)

In April 1918, the German advance on the Lys was checked and stopped a little to the east of the village. Mont-Bernanchon saw fighting again during the Second World War. In late May 1940 units of the British Expeditionary Force fought a fierce and stubborn rearguard action in defence of the canal banks (the Aire-La Bassee canal is just north of the village) in order to hold up the German advance and aid the withdrawal to Dunkirk for evacuation.

Mont-Bernanchon Churchyard contains 13 First World War burials (three of them unidentified) and 55 from the Second World War (33 of them unidentified).

Served with

• United Kingdom (32)

Served in

• Army (32)

Louis da Silva was born on February 25, 1893 in Lamego (Portugal). His military bulletin, visible to the AHM, names him Luiz Pereira da Silva. He participated in the Battle of La Lys on April 9, 1918, left the army in April 1919. His last home was Busnes (near Lillers, Pas-de-Calais) where he met his future French wife.

Luiz, known as Louis, was naturalized French in November 1929, still in the name of Louis Pereira da Silva Fachina.  For this reason, his name appears on the French site Mémoire des hommes, in a file for the French Forces of the Interior (FFI), 2nd Military Region, Pas-de-Calais, in the occupied zone. It is part of the Civil and Military Organization (OCM), network and movement of the French interior Resistance, Béthune sector. His file is in the Defense Historical Service.

Today, a plaque bears his name in the town to remind that he was a member of the Resistance, arrested in 1943, then deported to the German concentration camp of Buchenwald, from where he was released.