Memorial Stone Drama of Nieuwenhove

On the old cemetery Den Olm is a memorial stone for the drama of Nieuwenhove in which 16 children and 1 adult died.
On 26 March 1918, 11-year-old Adolf Vandeputte, looking for horse manure, found an unexploded 75 mm barrel in the fields. His boyish curiosity led him to take the dangerous shell with him and hide it in the Gaverbeek, near the bridge in the Nieuwenhovestraat. This way he could later show them to his friends.
The next day, in the playground, he bragged about his find and it was decided to take a closer look at the shell after school.
A group of children gathered around the jumping gear when 23-year-old Georges Loosveldt, son of the innkeeper, passed by. When he noticed what the children were doing, he urged them to throw away the dangerous gear immediately. One of the boys answered his call and flung the shell away. However, the explosive device hit the bluestone board of the bridge and it exploded.

The havoc was enormous. Whoever was closest was hit in the ankles or legs. Those who were further away, got pieces of the projectile higher in the body. Some walked away bleeding, while others stood or lay stunned. The sound of the explosion and the howling of the children rocked the whole neighborhood. The wounded were hastily taken on carts or in troughs home or to the monastery of the oblate fathers.
A lot of time was lost in taking the wounded away and calling for qualified doctors. German army doctors also helped where necessary.
The night of the disaster, six children, all aged between six and twelve, died.
The remaining wounded were transported in Red Cross wagons of the German army to the Kortrijk Hospice St-Joseph. Mainly due to the massive blood loss, another six children died there on March 28. Georges Loosveldt also lost his life that day.
The following days, three more children died, making a total of 16.
In addition, several children were seriously injured. The latter did not return to their home in Nieuwenhove until September 1918.

In the old cemetery of Waregem there is still a memorial stone with the sixteen names of the victims: CALLENS Adolf (9 years) and Emiel (12 years), DELEERSNIJDER Emiel (10 years) and Maria (7 years), SANTENS Gustaaf (9 yrs) and Bertha (6 yrs), VANHAUTE Aloïs (11 yrs) and Maurice (13 yrs), TIJTGAT Marcel (13 yrs), VANBRABANT Alberic (13 yrs), VANDEPUTTE Adolf (11 y.), VANGHELUWE Leopold (12 y.), VERBEKE Jeroom (11 y.), LOOSVELDT Georges (23 y.), STEUPERAERT Octaaf (11 y.) and VANGHELUWE Lea (9 y.)

Source: Info city Waregem : "Waregem and the First World War".

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Source

• Text: Marie-Christine Vinck
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck