Cimetière Allemand de Belleau

This necropolis, built by France in March 1922, brings together graves from 123 different sites (temporary cemeteries and individual graves) located between the Chemin des Dames and the Marne. It contains 8,630 bodies (stone crosses). Of the 4,308 bodies in individual graves, 2,239 have been identified. Of the 4,322 bodies buried in the two ossuaries, only 487 have been identified. Around 70 of the men buried in this cemetery were killed in September and October 1914, during the German advance, then during their retreat after the Battle of the Marne, and finally during the initial fighting on the Chemin des Dames. But 8,500 graves are those of soldiers killed in the German offensive of May 27, 1918, on the Chemin des Dames, and the Allied counter-offensive that began on July 18. The necropolis also contains the graves of German prisoners of war who died between late 1914 and early 1918.

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