Hooge crater

[Bert Heyvaert]

Hi folks,

Was researching on Hooge lately, and it seems that so many different stories are being told about the craters that survive in the castle park today. I know there has been previous discussion on this topic, but I haven't been able to find it back on the forum. So, may I ask the question again?

What period do the surviving craters date from? What happened to the infamous 'Hooge Crater'? Was it filled in?

The information is for a collegue of mine, who is working on an inventory of WW1 traces in Western Flanders.

many regards,

Bert.

[Paul Reed]

The surviving mine craters in the Hotel grounds seem to match up with an aerial photo I used in Walking The Salient which indicates they were blown under Canadian positions in June 1916.

Tony Spagnoly once told me the Hooge Crater was filled in c.1950s.

The cross to Lt Keith Rae, which is now at Sanctuary Wood Cemetery, used to stand on the lip of a mine crater somewhere in what is now the Bellewaarde Park. I did have a photo of it, but can't find it!

[CROONAERT]

The surviving mine craters in the Hotel grounds seem to match up with an aerial photo I used in Walking The Salient which indicates they were blown under Canadian positions in June 1916.

However, one of them (just one, mind) exists on the 1:10,000 trenchmap for September 1915. The rest don't appear on a trenchmap until the 22nd June 1916 editions.

"The" Hooge Crater was further west than the Kasteelhof craters. Originally, there were 6, maybe 7, large craters in this area (with other smaller ones). Going off memory, there now remain 3 (or is it 4?).

As Paul said, the (nicely landscaped) Kasteelhof Craters that now remain are German mines from June 1916. They possibly took the September 1915 crater with them.

Dave.