Memorial Tragedy of Nieuwenhove

On March 27, 1918, a tragedy took place in Nieuwenhove in which sixteen children lost their lives. On March 26, 1918, 11-year-old Adolf Vandeputte, while looking for horse manure, found an unexploded 75 mm shell in those fields. His boyish curiosity and courage convinced 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 it to his friends.
The next day, March 27, 1918, he bragged about his find on the playground and it was decided to study the shell more closely after school.
A large group of children gathered around the explosive device when 23-year-old Georges Loosveldt, son of the innkeeper from De Papegaai inn, passed by. When he noticed what the children were doing, he urged them to remove the dangerous device. to throw it away immediately. One of the boys responded to his call and threw the shell away.
However, the explosive device hit the bluestone edge of the bridge and it exploded.

The devastation was enormous. Those who were closest were hit on the ankles or legs. Those who were further away received pieces of the projectile higher in the body. Some walked away bleeding, while others stood or lay numb. The sound of the explosion and the cries of the children disturbed the entire neighborhood. The wounded were hurriedly taken on carts or in troughs to their homes or to the monastery of the oblate fathers.
A lot of time was lost taking away the wounded and calling for qualified doctors. German army doctors also helped where necessary.
The same evening, six children died, all between the ages of six and twelve. The remaining wounded were transported by Red Cross wagons from the German army to the Hospice St-Joseph in Kortrijk. Another six children died there on March 28, mainly due to the massive blood loss. Georges Loosveldt died that day.
The next day, one more child died. The fourteen deceased were buried together in the main church in Waregem amid massive interest. But the suffering was not over yet. At the beginning of April, two more children died from the injuries sustained.
In addition, several children were seriously injured. It was not until September 1918 that the last returned to their home in Nieuwenhove.

The gravestone with the sixteen names of the victims still stands in the old cemetery of Waregem.
The story is still told today in Nieuwenhove.
On March 27, 2018 at 4 p.m., exactly 100 years after the explosion of the shell, a new memorial monument was unveiled in the presence of the children from Nieuwenhove primary school. The children who died at the time were approximately the same age as them now.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck