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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Rening(h)elst


zijde26

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To All,

During ww1 Reningelst had two windmills,

- The " Goedmoetmolen ", not that far away from the " Dickebusch Huts "

and

- The " Kasteelmolen ". Its surroundigs had a lot of military (canadian) camps.

Both Windmills have been destroyed at the end of ww1 by the British army and were never rebuilt.

Does anyone know if they are mentioned in a war diary or somewhere else ?

Thanks,

Gilbert Deraedt

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Hi Gilbert,

I've just checked 'Armageddon Road' ed. Terry Norman as I knew that Renninghelst was mentioned several times. I cannot see any mention of a mill but, curiously, there is a photograph opposite page 145 of a Captain William Fraser standing on the ladder of what is, very obviously, a post mill.

Ian

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Hi Gilbert,

I've just checked 'Armageddon Road' ed. Terry Norman as I knew that Renninghelst was mentioned several times. I cannot see any mention of a mill but, curiously, there is a photograph opposite page 145 of a Captain William Fraser standing on the ladder of what is, very obviously, a post mill.

Ian

To Ian,

Is it possible to send a scan of that photo ?

Thanks,

Gilbert Deraedt

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Hi Gilbert,

Here it is - I suspect it will not be very helpful...

post-12111-1173628063.jpg

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Gilbert

The 1st Bn Northumberland Fusiliers part of 9th Infantry Brigade and 3rd Div'n were based at 'D' Camp Renighelst from 5th March 1916 to 3rd April 1916 before and after the actions at St Eloi Craters.

I believe they were also there at other times but I will have to go through the Diaries to check. Let me know if you want me to do this.

There is a good link to Renighelst on this posting

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64796&st=0&p=620603entry620603

This includes a link to two video clips on which you can see a windmill turning in the background. I am 99% sure this is Reninghelst as this clip is in the film of the Actions at St Eloi craters. The battalion featured is definitely the 1st Bn Northumberland Fusilliers. My Grandfather is identifiable in the film from a contemporary still I have from a magazine passed down through the family.

Interested to see how this thread develops as I would love to locate the exact place this part of the film was shot.

Peter.

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Very interesting.

To Ian,

Could that photograph be localized ?

Thanks,

Gilbert Deraedt

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Could that photograph be localized ?

Only to the Renninghelst area - not to a particular mill, I'm afraid.

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Extremely nice and interesting videoclips. Can they be ordered ? How ?

It could be the ' Kasteelmolen '. The surroundings and the 'closed' feet of

the windmill made me thinking that it could be the ' Kasteelmolen '.

The whole area was full of military camps.

The book " Molens van het Hoppeland " (Dutch language), written by John Verpaalen, shows

a photograph of the " Goedmoetmolen " surrounded by a lot of GB-ww1-soldiers and also some

pictures of the " Kasteelmolen" .

Gilbert Deraedt

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"Weather fine. Moved camp for 3rd time. Tents struck 11.30 A.M. New Camp 200 yards SE of windmill"

This small extract taken from the war diary of the 6th Brigade Canadian Machine Gun Company (2nd May, 1916) when they were at Reninghelst.

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Gilbert

Not sure where the video clip on the link in my previous posting came from. You could try contacting the guy who posted it.

Also you could order a complete DVD of the film (approx 8 minutes) from the Imperial War Museum online.

The film reference isFilm Number:

IWM 215 Film Title: the FIGHT AT ST ELOI

When I got my copy it cost £27.

Peter

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  • 9 years later...

Just saw a photo of one of the windmills here....sorry for the ten year delay :)

 

a000552-v8.jpg

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Extremely  nice photo of the ' Kasteelmolen ' at Rening(h)elst.

 

Do you have other ones ?

Thanks,

 

Gilbert

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Yes, indeed...there were several photos captured at this location showing the mill.

 

A few of them can be found in this post at CEFSG.

 

Cheers, Ted

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