Charleroi, Hainaut
Gosselies Communal Cemetery is located 5 km north of Charleroi. Take the E42 from Mons in the direction of Liege then exit at Gosselies onto the N5 towards Charleroi. 2 km after this junction lies the third right hand turning towards Brussels. After taking this turning the next right hand turning leads onto the chaussee de Fleurus, with the cemetery located 50 metres along this road on the left hand side.
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. All of the 102 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War at Gosselies Communal Cemetery are of airmen shot down by fighters from the Luftwaffe base that was then stationed at the town, The ten First World War servicemen buried here all died after the Armistice.
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