German Wargraves Sallaumines

The cemetery was started in the autumn of 1914 by the German troops and was known as “Loretto Cemetery” or “Cemetery of the XIV Army Corps” because most of the fallen came from the region of the hill of Notre-Dame de Lorette.

In 1917 and 1918, the cemetery was almost completely destroyed by Allied artillery bombardments. After the war, the cemetery was redeveloped by the French administration, and additional burials were made from 39 temporary burial sites.

15,648 soldiers who fell in World War I are commemorated, including two Russian prisoners of war. 8,207 are buried in individual graves, 26 of which could not be identified. The remaining 7,439, of whom 3,298 were identified, are in communal graves.
Forty-one graves of members of the Jewish community are commemorated with a stele.


Here lies one of the youngest German soldiers to have fallen during World War I. In block 11 – grave 268 – lies Paul Mauck of the 113th Baden Infantry Regiment. Born on the 19 July 1900, he died on the 7 of June 1915, just under 15 years old.

The cemetery features a monument to the Infantry Regiment "Herzog Ferdinand von Braunschweig" (8th Westphalian Regiment). It bears the inscription in German and French:

"The soldiers of the 57th Regiment - Duke Ferdinand von Braunschweig - and their brave pioneer comrades - fallen 1914-1915."

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Source

• Text: Francky De Rous
• Photos: Francky de Rous