KGV visit

[stripeyman]

An item off e-bay, does any-one know where this was, obviously near a windmill.........

[zijde26]

Might be Reningelst (Ypres salient, some ±15km behind the front). King George has been visiting there ' Canadian troups '

Do you have other postcards of it ?

Gilbert Deraedt

[stripeyman]

Might be Reningelst (Ypres salient, some ±15km behind the front). King George has been visiting there ' Canadian troups '

Do you have other postcards of it ?

Gilbert Deraedt

Thank you Gilbert for that,I will look further into it.

I only extracted the image from e-bay I did noy buy it, after all it was a whopping 99p....

[jhill]

Does anyone know how many trips the king made to France and Flanders during the War? The only one I know of off hand is the one in July 1917 from which several news reels are available. If that was the event in the photo then the caption 'Canadian Official' may be misleading. The fellow on the left looks a bit like General Plumer (better eyes than mine can correct me!), which would suggest Flanders. The Canadians were in the Arras sector then.

For your amusement, the July diary of the Canadian Corps General Staff records the July 1917 visit this way:

"Canadian Corps General Staff

CAMBLAIN L'ABBE

July 11th, 1917

At 11 a.m. King GEORGE V. accompanied by the Army Commander,

visited the Corps Area. He was met by the Corps Commander, Divisional

Commanders, B.G.,G.S., Prince Arthur of Connaught and a Staff Officer

from each Division at the junction of the BETHUNE-ARRAS road and the

Plank road.

The King, accompanied by a small party, proceded to a specially

constructed O.P. on HILL 145, where he remained about an hour.

He drove through part of the Corps area, troops being drawn up

along the route."

[Sue Light]

It may not be all of his visits, but in addition to July 1917 he was also there in:

November 1914

October 1915 (the occasion when he fell from his horse)

August 1916 (arrived 9th August)

November 1918 (arrived 27th November)

Sue

[jhill]

Thank you Sue.

If this is the August 1916 visit then it may be a visit to the Canadians. The following snippet is from the Corps Diary. From this we might speculate that the windmill is in fact the WINDMILL at ZEVECOTEN (M.5.a.3.4) at which His Majesty was to arrive at 3:20 p.m. on 14th August 1916 in order to visit ALBERTA or ONTARIO camps.

[Sue Light]

James

It does seem very likely that this was the occasion in August 1916, particularly with the mention of the windmill. If so, quite a coup not only to know where and when, but also the exact time (give or take a minute) at which the photo was taken - that must be a bit unusual.

Sue

[zijde26]

To jhill (and to Bobg)

Thanks for your postings.

I am very happy with this topic

‘ Zevecoten ‘(mentioned in post 6) is situated in Reningelst and is a part of that small village [between the church and the shown windmill, the Castle Mill (de ‘ Kasteelmolen‘), direction ‘Locre(s)‘].

The whole area, in ww1, certainly around that windmill, was full of military rest camps (GB and allied countries). The name of the rest camps did refer to Canada (mainly Canadian provinces: Quebec, Ontario, … ).

On the shown photograph (post 1) King George has the intention to pay a visit to the 1ww-army (mostly Canadians). That visit occurred on Aug 14, 1916.

There do exist several photographs of this visit.

The area was not that far from the front, however mostly far enough to avoid the ww1 shell-fire (not the bombing by aeroplanes).

The shown windmill (‘Kasteelmolen’) was comparable with the ‘Scherpenbergmolen‘ (territory of Locre(s)), visited by King George on the same day.

There does exist a photograph that shows King George at the feet of the ‘ Scherpen- bergmolen ‘. On that photograph King George is viewing the ‘war-troubles at the front‘ (Ypres Salient).

Both windmills were destroyed at the end of the first world war (1918) and have never been rebuilt.

Gilbert Deraedt

[zijde26]

Beneath a scan of an old postcard showing the concerned area (Zevencoten - kasteelmolen) in Reningelst.

Gilbert Deraedt