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. From 1941 onwards, there was an important Luftwaffe air base at Chievres, which was attacked twenty-one times by the Allies between November 1943 and 3 September 1944. The cemetery contains 58 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.