The village of Glageon is about 3 kilometres west of Trelon, 11 kilometres south-east of Avesnes and 56 kilometres east of Cambrai. The Communal Cemetery and Extension lie west of the village. The Extention entrance is within the main Communal Cemetery.

The village of Glageon was under German occupation during practically the whole of WW1. The Communal Cemetery was used for the burial of German soldiers and Allied prisoners from September, 1914, to August, 1918; the Extension was then begun, and was used until the following October.

Glageon Communal Cemetery (and its extension) was the resting place for German, British, Italian, American, French and Russian soldiers. The presence of Russian soldiers indicates that they must have been used for forced labour. Only the British and Russian graves remain and of those graves that are named, 111 are of Russian soldiers who died between November 1917 and October 1918; and 345 are of British soldiers who died between May 1918 and October 1918. In the month of October 1918 alone, 18 Russian soldiers and 119 British soldiers died. In all there are 169 named graves in the main Glageon Communal Cemetery and 287 in the Extention. (The Russian graves are in the main Communal Cemetery while there are British graves both in the main cemetery and the Extention.)

Normally German record-keeping would be considered very good but nothing has been found concerning the burials at Glageon. From diaries and other sources, it would appear that the Glageon burials were from a German hospital at Trélon, a mile or two to the east, where conditions at the end of the war were particularly bad. An American soldier reported: "…the hospital was a converted woollen mill. Food was scarce and very poor as evidenced by many deaths from starvation. Anywhere from four to seven were buried every day!"