Belgian War Graves Retinne

In the cemetery of the Church of Sainte Jullienne at Retinne is a gravesite of Belgian soldiers who fell on Aug. 5th and 6th, 1914, defending the village of Retinne.

The stone bears the names of 19 soldiers and 4 unidentified Belgian soldiers. Most of the soldiers are from the 12th and 14th line regiments.

12th line regiment
FLAMION E.E. sergeant major
BOUSTEN P.J. soldier
DIRICX L.E. soldier *
NOCKIN T.J. soldier
OLBREGTS A.C.C. soldier
PETERS M.J.J. soldier
ROSS A.F.J. soldier *
VAN DEN EYNDE J. soldier
VANDENBOGAERDE E.C.E. soldier *
WILLEMS M. soldier *
ZOMMERS J.L.R. soldier

14th line regiment
LAVAUX R. corporal*
LIZEN L.J. soldier
VERJANS L. soldier *
VAN TRICHT soldier

14th battalion mixed
VAN CUICK soldier

10th line regiment
VAN LENGENHAEGE A.A. soldier

artillery
MARCHAL H.L. artillery brigadier

5th line regiment
DEDOBELLEER P.J. soldier */**

*For the names with the asterisk, the remains were reburied in Rabosée Military Cemetery in 2009. Photos 3-5 were taken at the this this cemetery, which is about 7 km away from the cemetery of Retinne.

**What is striking is that the at the grave of P.J. DEDOBELEER is mentioned that he has the rank of brigadier in the 3rd regiment artillery. On the monument at Retinne, he is listed as a soldier in the 5th line regiment, and the rank and unit is attached to the commemorated soldier, Marchal.

It is assumed that at the time of the exhumation and reburial the correct data were recorded and that at the time of the 1st burial, due to the hectic war conditions, data were recorded incorrectly.

For the commemorated soldiers from Wallonia, the text on the headstones is in French, on the soldiers coming from Flanders in Dutch.

Also buried in the Retinne cemetery are several civilian victims who were executed during these first days of the war. They are burried near the section where the military fallen were also buried.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski
• Photos: Ed Lewandowski