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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

East of Ypres!


cockney tone

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I have read this thread with interest.

It is frightening what you two have got up to, and the forensic way you have managed to piece it all together. Do you write for CSI?

Bravo!

Bruce

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Location of the "diamondfactory"

I bought this German (backside German printing) map on ebay. This map was not an up-to-date map in 1914 for soldiers... (situation before 1900!!) X location aprox. of the diamondfactory) Crossroads, at the south "Hoornwerk"

post-3472-1195289826.jpg

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J. (Frie),

Yes, that's the place indeed. Next time I'll be on the lookout for a map showing the situation (the buildings) of shortly before the war.

And Kruisstraat indeed could be any "kruispunt" (crossroads), and very probably the one which is now Meenseweg / Frenchlaan / Zonnebeekseweg / Basculestraat.

Bruce,

Well, you know how it is. Someone in the UK (or elsewhere) asks a question about something in the Ypres area that was totally unknown to me (diamond cutting factory ? diamond cutting factory ???), and that's all it takes for me to find out. I was just "irritated" that I had never heard about it.

Next step : a prewar photo ! :glare:

Aurel

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Aurel,

I had the same idea finding a photo or postcard of that area before the war or shortley after.

Scottie

and now it makes sence witch way they took to go to wieltje. I thought about it all week.

kind regards

sabine

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Egbert,

Great !

(I hadn't thought of aerial pics, but of course ! Thanks !

And that's indeed the location we had in mind.)

Scottie,

You fan figure out where it is ? You can see the (present) Frenchlaan, Meenseweg, Zonnebeekseweg and Basculestraat (with a bend going to the end of the Ramparts, where the former open air swimming pool used to be).

Next step : pic of interior of the factory, with diamonds visible. That's for Sabine. They are her best friends. :rolleyes:

Aurel

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Egbert,

Great !

Next step : pic of interior of the factory, with diamonds visible. That's for Sabine. They are her best friends. :rolleyes:

Aurel

Not so fast Aurel, we have much time here!!!!

First we need a close up where the entrance door might be located:

post-80-1195307707.jpg

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Egbert,

I have tried to download and post an aerial (satellite) pic from www.giswest.be showing that the plot and the complex and the entrance road from the bend in the Basculestraat nowadays stll look the same (now Wine Merchant Wholesale). But somehow I don't find how.

Aurel

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Egbert,

I tried and tried and tried to do what you did successfully. But to no avail.

Thank you for making me feel like an illiterate clumsy idiot. :rolleyes:

On the other hand ... In recent photo you encircled those 3 pale buildings. But in the original aerial photo you posted, you encircled the building a little higher. But that's only a technicality.

Yet, I wonder : where exactly is the modern Wine Merchant Wholesale ? I don't know, as I prefer beer (moderately !). But maybe Frie and of course Sabine can answer, for wine may be Sabine's second best friend. :rolleyes:

Sounds like fun ?

Well, let me spoil it : let's not be overenthusiastic. Okay, there was a Diamond Cutting Factory there before the war. But ... was that the only one in or near Ypres ? I spoke to Jacky P. about it, and he told me that in the 1950s there were more "diamantslijperijen" in or near Ypres. Yes, that was after WW2, but maybe they were continuations of pre WW1 factories ?

Aurel

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Thank you for making me feel like an illiterate clumsy idiot ditto. :wacko:

You are right should be appr. in the yellow circle.

Like this better Aurel?

post-80-1195326439.jpg

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Pal's,

thank you hardly covers how i feel, what on earth can I possibly say apart from 'absoloutly bloody priceless the lot of you'

This is just incredible and shows you why this Forum is so great, i post an almost impossible task and people just fall over themselves to help me, i am so grateful to you all, thank you for your efforts and interest.

I am just off now to get my modern 'Wipers' map out to try to locate it in my mind. then to reach for my 2008 diary to pencil in a visit!

Best wishes to you all,

Regards,

Scottie.

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Aurel

there used to be a diamond factory (small one) at the zonnebekeroad where now bakkery berten is.

and i read something about one in the 1920's near the beestenmarkt.

The old one from before the war even had a choir, the boys and girls there sang together with an other choir.

The wine marchand is oposite the house where now there is a childrens day care center were the road starts to bend. that house was only years ago finished, because I remember it as only being a cellar building when I was mutch younger.

kind regards

sabine

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Egbert,

Thanks for the correction.

Sabine,

Just this : is the location of Six the Wine Merchant Egbert's yellow circle or the red one ? (It seems both have more or less the same entrance.)

Scotty,

If you can't find the exact location on a modern Ypres map, contact me via the Forum (PM or e-mail).

Aurel

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Aurel,

Red should be wine (nima was there before) and there are some garages there.

yellow isn't that the milk man;

i'll check tomorow morning

kind regards

sabine

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sabine if you need a more broader scaled version of my aerials for prper identification, please let me know -I'll post the full pic then

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Hello,

The joy of working as a chauffeur also gives me time to look around and yes like I said yesterday red is wine and yellow is milk. maybe one of you could go and buy some wine. I think these buildings are verry close to eachother but you cann't see because of the houses. you realy nead to enter the driveway to see.

kind regards

sabine

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Hi Jacky,

maybe not a coincidence, we flemish should more think about the meening of street names.

I always wonderded why de drie zottenstraat had that name and for me it will allways be that name insteed of janiepermanstraat.

I drive trough it at least once a day.

Would they have a picture in the archives in ieper of the diamond factory?

kind regards

sabine

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A coincidence that the street in front of supposed emplacement is called Diamantstraat (Diamondstreet)?

Jacky

Jacky,

Of course no coincidence. As I pointed out and suggested in my posting of 16 Nov. the name of the street no doubt is derived from that former diamond Cutting Factory Location. (Or from the pub De diamantmijn, that no doubt was derived from the Factory.)

Sabine,

Probably de Drie Zottenstraat was named after a pub / bar De Drye Sotten, a name that dates back already from the 17th century. The café was at the end, close to the Brugseweg, and was derived from a nearby fortress "'t Sottefort".

The name Jan Ypermanstraat was given around 1975.

Frie sent me a pre-war photo, a view taken from the tower of St Martin's Cathedral. At a distance a building is vaguely visible that could be the Diamond Cutting Factory.

J., will you post it ?

Aurel

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this thread has been a pleasure to read glad you got a result great work done by the ypres detectives

now all you need to do is find the diamonds :lol: feel free to send me one if you do find some

tafski

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