​​The CWGC burials within the cemetery started during the First World War.  In 1939 with the outbreak of the Second World War, Canadian men volunteered to fight for the Commonwealth and the city of Rouen was again impacted by a world war. There are 314 Second World War burials within the cemetery. Some were prisoners of war from hospitals in Rouen that died of wounds and were buried here.

​In total there are nine Canadian men that are buried within the cemetery who were killed during the Second World War. The city was liberated by the Canadian forces on 30 August 1944.

​Flight Sergeant Coon and Pilot Officer O’Neil, Royal Canadian Air Force, No.582 Squadron were killed on the 4 May 1944. They had taken off from RAF Little Staughton, Oxford, United Kingdom. Their operation was to bomb a Luftwaffe airfield in Montdidier, France. The Lancaster Bomber aircraft they were in was shot down and crashed at Beaulieu-les-Fontaines, killing six of the seven crew members.

​Pilot Officers Carlson and MacKay, Royal Canadian Air Force, No.138 Squadron were conducting Special Executive Operations (SOE) from RAF Tempsford, United Kingdom. On 8 June 1944 they took off in their Halifax Bomber aircraft as part of Operation Donald 26, headed for a location in France. The Halifax crashed around Doudeville, the crew were buried close to here before being reinterned to this cemetery.

​Pilot Officer Brett and Flight Sergeant Batt, Royal Canadian Air Force, No. 226 Squadron were tasked on 18 August 1944 to support the army by dropping flares around ground operations in Bernay. During this operation, the Mitchell Bomber aircraft was lost and both Brett and Batt killed, whilst the other two crew members escaped the aircraft. In February 1949 a photograph of the grave where both men are buried was sent back to the families of the men. The letter informed them of where they were buried and ensured them the grave would always be cared for and maintained by the CWGC, hopingthe families could find some comfort in knowing this.