Belgian soldiers and prisoners of war (1914-1918)

1. The main archival fonds kept at CegeSoma and at the State Archives:

At CegeSoma, you will find contextual information on Belgian soldiers and prisoners of war in 1914-1918 thanks to the rich library of the center. However, you will not find any individual files of soldiers there.

2. Where to find archive collections outside CegeSoma and the State Archives?

To find information about Belgian military and prisoners of war during the First World War, the best way is to turn to the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History or to consult the site of the museum In Flanders Fields.

• The Documentation Centre of the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History holds all the archives of the Ministry of Defense from the period up to the outbreak of the Second World War. You will also find there all the personal files of "old" officers born before 1900, and NCOs and soldiers born between 1845 and 1888. A document providing access to a database allows you to know whether or not the Documentation Centre holds the files you are looking for and if it preserves them also indicates how to preceed to access them. This museum also holds some personal archives of (reserve) officers. Contact : cdoc.klm-mra@warheritage.be or  02/737 79  31.
• You can also consult the website of the museum In Flanders Fields which lists 600,000 names of military and civilians who died in Flanders during the First World War.

3. Where to find additional information on the subject?

• COLIGNON Alain and BOST Mélanie, La Wallonie dans la Grande Guerre 1914-1918, Bruxelles, La Renaissance du Livre, 2016.
• DE SCHAEPDRIJVER Sophie , De Groote Oorlog : het koninkrijk België tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog, Atlas, Amsterdam Antwerpen, 1997.

If you plan to visit our reading room, please prepare your visit well in advance.

If you need more information, please contact us by e-mail: cegesoma@arch.be.