Memorial Grenadier Guard Aarschot

The statue "Grenadier Guard" was erected in 1995 to commemorate the liberation of the city of Aarschot on September 5, 1944 by the English troops.

The facts
That Tuesday, the tanks of the No 4 Company and the No 1 Squadron of the Grenadier Guards would conquer the Demer bridges and then advance as quickly as possible to the Albert Canal, where the Germans would resist for a few more days. The Germans and collaborators had fled the city the previous days. The first Tommies tanks were enthusiastically received by the population when the English troops entered the city center via Martelarenstraat. In the evening, the inhabitants of Aarschot went to the Grote Markt in large numbers to celebrate the liberation. Joy cooled when an armed resistance worker accidentally shoots a resident of Langdorp. In the following week, the city balanced between the contradictions of a party frenzy and the violent hunt for traitors and collaborators.

About the monument
In 1994, 50 years after that liberation, the Aarsch artist Roland Rens (1952 - 2007) commissioned the city council to create the image "Grenadier Guard". Instead of a classic statue "full-length", Rens opted for a bust surrounded by a wreath of images that depict the drama of the war for every person and for Aarschot.

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