Belgian War graves

[NigelS]

This has probably been discussed before, but, if it has, I've been unable to pin it down!

Aldershot Military Cemetery contains the war graves of three Belgian soldiers who probably died of wounds or illness in local hospitals having been evacuated from the WF.

Two of these have inscriptions in French and one in Dutch (possibly German) which presumably corresponded to the language that would have been spoken by the man & his family. These translate as:

From Dutch:

Bayens

Jozef

Soldier

5th Line regiment

Born at Schellbelle

1st January 1893

Died for Belgium

31st October 1914

From French:

Van Espen

Guillaume-L.

Soldier

born at geet-betz

1st Artillery Regiment

28th July 1889

Died for Belgium

25th November 1914

From French:

Dumont

Adolph-C-J.

Soldier

1st Regiment of Grenadiers

Born at Houdeng-Aimeries

2nd May 1893

Died for Belgium

29th October 1914

The detail at the base of the memorial plaque are the same for Van Espen & Dumont:

Both having what appears to be an under & overscored 'V' followed by a full stop and a comma, followed by either the same symbol repeated or what might be an under & overscored 'Y' (I'm undecided) also followed by a full stop and a comma, followed by a circled '14'

But that for Bayen is slightly different in that the middle symbol on those above (the under & overscored 'v', or 'Y' followed by a full stop & comma) isn't present.

I would hazard a guess that the circled '14' relates to the date of death (1914) but what do the other two symbols relate to (if anything) & if there is some significance, although it looks like there is insufficient space, are there ever more than three, or other symbol types used?

Do the two insignia represent the Belgian war medals (say the equivalent of the 'Victory' & BWM) that these men were entitled to, and, if this is the case, do men who were entitled to other awards also have these included on their memorials?

Hoping someone can enlighten me.

NigelS

[Joris Ryckeboer]

Nigel,

A quick reply;

Above left medal; Orde van Leopold II (Order, since 22/6/1916 awarded posthume, to all who died during battle)

Above right medal; Oorlogskruis (or in french "Croix de Guerre")

V; Overwinningsmedaille (Served between 1/8/14 and 11/11/1918 Victory)

Y; IJzermedaille (IJzer campaign 17-31 october 1914)

14; Herinneringsmedaille (Served between 1/8/14 and 11/11/1918 Remembrance)

The symbols are indeed symbolizing Belgian war medals.

Greetz!

[Joris Ryckeboer]

Translations, and explanation to the Belgian war medals symbolised:

- Knight of the Order of Leopold II

- The War Cross 1914-1918

- The Victory Medal 1914-1918

- The Yser Medal 1914-1918 (The IJzer Medal)

- The Commemorative Medal of the War 1914-1918

See also http://users.skynet.be/hendrik/eng/B-WW1.html

[Robert Dunlop]

For some idea of what these men went through from a medical perspective, it is worth reading Souttar's book 'A Surgeon in Belgium' (see here).

Robert

[NigelS]

Joris & Robert - thanks for the prompt & informative replies; it must have been a bit of a headache for who ever manufactured the plaques to get them right.

NigelS

[Pierre]

Nigel,

Second laguage must be Dutch, and can't be German.

There xas no German part in Belgium in that time, the actual German part was relent just after WWI.

We call that region redeemed cantons.

Pierre

[NigelS]

Second laguage must be Dutch, and can't be German.

Thanks for clarifying that Pierre, I thought it probably was Dutch, but wasn't 100% certain.

As a follow up to my initial queries about the headstones: is it known how many Belgian soldiers are buried in the UK, and if wounded Belgian soldiers were brought here throughout the war or just in the early months? (I have come across a newspaper report of 3,000 arriving unexpectedly at Folkestone in October '14, but the chances are if this did become routine it would not, as with the repatriation of British wounded, have been reported on a regular basis). My understanding is that the remains of Belgian WWII men that died and were originally buried in the UK is that they were either repatriated or re-buried in a dedicated plot at Brookwood; is it known whether the remains of any Belgian WWI soldiers were eventually repatriated from the UK? (I don't believe that there was any attempt to 'concentrate' the WWI burials, but I may be wrong)

NigelS