Memorial Victims Bombardment September 7, 1943

A plaque commemorating three victims (political prisoners) of the 1943 bombing raid hangs on the old barracks of Ixelles.

Baron Jean Greindl
Lieutenant parachutist
Leopold Vande Meersche
Louis Pelet

were taken by the Germans
in this barracks contrary to the
rules of the international
right incarcerated and are there
the bombing of 7-9-1943
perished in.

They were their king
and their homeland wedded.

Pray for their peace of mind"

The bombing of Ixelles was an Allied war action in Nazi-occupied Brussels. The bombs fell on September 7, 1943 in the barracks district of Ixelles-Etterbeek, where they killed hundreds of people.
That day the Allies wanted to hit the German air force.
Among the targets of the 114 B-17s taking part in the mission were the airports of Haren, where bombers and fighters were being repaired, and Evere, where German anti-aircraft guns were to be destroyed.
The airfield was hit, but at 9.51 am 130 bombs of 250 kg also landed on the barracks district of Ixelles (Kroonlaan, Generaal Jacqueslaan, Pleinlaan).
It is possible that the 7 km high flying RAF bombers were misled because the military training area of ​​Ixelles closely resembled the target (open field next to railway line).
The balance was heavy, 342 civilians were killed in thirty seconds, of which 20 in two trams. Because German soldiers were also barracked in the district, the occupying forces were equally affected. 27 political prisoners who had been irregularly imprisoned in a military prison were killed in the cellars of the barracks. Among them was Jean Greindl, the baron who helped pilots who had been shot down with the resistance group Comet to escape.
In addition to the barracks, the Etterbeek station and the Filip-Neri school were also damaged. Dozens of houses were destroyed. The funeral of 120 victims in the Church of the Holy Cross, on September 10, was attended in large numbers.

Source : Wikipedia

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Source

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