Information board British military carrier pigeons Haaltert

On the initiative of the Patriotic Circle Groot-Haaltert, an information board was placed in Mussenzele, near the intersection with Eiland and the Houtmarkt, at the place where pigeons were released with secret information in the spring of 1944 and where the murder took place at the same place on the Aalst teacher Armand De Vos.

"MILITARY CARRIAGE PIGEON MESSAGES

On March 22, 1944 at 7:10 am from this location in Haaltert, by Alfred Noteboom (Le Perdreau shelter) and Cyrille Bael, a British dropped military carrier pigeon was released towards England, with crucial secret information from the German radar station in Ternat and German troop movements in the region. On the morning of March 16, 1944, the British homing pigeon was found by farmer François De Bolle in a field in the area
of the Topmolen in Haaltert.
The British carrier pigeon was temporarily kept in the custody of the widow Peleman-Machtelinckx
in her home on Hoogstraat in Haaltert.
The German radar station at Ternat was mapped on March 18, 1944 during a
exploration by Alfred Noteboom and doctor Omer Van Keer in Denderleeuw.

MURDER OF TEACHER ARMAND DE VOS

The murder of the Aalst resident took place at this location on the night of September 13-14, 1944.
teacher Armand De Vos. This murder caused quite a stir in Haaltert.
Much more than his pro-German statements in class and his efforts for the
De Vos, himself the father of eleven children, could not be blamed for the Flemish Children's Blessing, a social charity for large families. The members of the
Independence Front wanted an "example regarding the release of
incivies". De Vos became a victim because the first candidate on the OF's wish list did not respond: the formidable De Vlag employee Jozef Van Overstraeten.
On September 25, 1950, two acquittals and four convictions were pronounced.
For another alleged and fugitive involved, this did not happen until October 2, 1950
a judgment"

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck