Waterloo Farm Passchendaele

In 1864, 50 years before WW1 breaks out, the photographer Goethals from Kortrijk takes a photograph of the Hoeve Demoor. This farm is known as Waterloo Farm during the war. It is the oldest known photograph of a building in Passchendaele.

From 1915, the Germans build fortifications in and around the farm. It thereby becomes a fortified point between their Mittelriegel and the Flandern-I-Stellung, two important bunker position. Through the violence of war, Waterloo farm is wiped completely off the map in 1917. During the attack on 4 October, the farm lies on the line dividing the 1st and 4th New Zealand brigades. They install a Regimental Aid Post there. Wounded are evacuated to the post and receive first aid, before being transferred do an Advanced Dressing Station in Sint-Jan for further treatment.

Waterloo Farm also serves as a Regimental Aid Post during the following battles. There is little left of the original farm. Only an old medieval moat in the underlying pasture still remains. Today, it is one of the few pre-war elements that can still be seen in the landscape.

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Source

• Text: Luc Van Waeyenberge
• Photos: Luc Van Waeyenberge
• Informatiebord