The Saint-Symphorien Military Cemetery

Enemies on the battlefield, united in death. This could be the motto of Saint-Symphorien Military Cemetery in Mons. Here lie 229 Commonwealth soldiers and 284 German soldiers, virtually hand in hand.

This cemetery gathers the graves of German and Commonwealth (United Kingdom and Canada) soldiers who fell on the territory of Mons and its region during the Battles of Mons on August 23-24, 1914, and November 11, 1918. It was established by the German occupier in 1916 to bring together in a common place the soldiers buried in the fields of the region following the August 1914 battle. The land was generously made available and permanently provided, as long as it remains a military cemetery, by Jean Houzeau de Lehaie, a scientist from Mons.