Memorial Alfons Byn Drongen

The memorial plaque reads:
"AT
ALFONS BYN
BY THE GERMANS
SHOT IN THE HEAD
THE 10TH OF SEPTEMBER 1917

THE FATHERLANDIC COVENANT
OF FORMER POLITICAL PRISONERS"

Carpenter Alfons Byn ran the inn "Het Boldershof" at Oude Abdijstraat 36 in Drongen.
During the First World War he belonged to one of the three spy networks active in Ghent. He collected and passed on information about train traffic on the line to Bruges, a railway line used by the Germans for provisioning and supplying troops.
Due to love affairs between informants from one of those groups, several men were denounced to the Germans. As a result, the entire network collapsed like a house of cards and the two other groups were also dragged into its fall.
Dozens of resistance fighters were arrested and convicted.
Alfons Byn, together with road worker Gustaaf Braeckman from Baarle and 50 other suspects of espionage, were shot on September 10, 1917 at the shooting range (current Oord der Geschuitelingen) on Offerlaan in Ghent. He was buried with military honors on May 4, 1919 at the then municipal cemetery in Drongen.
The memorial stone opposite his home at Oude Abdijstraat 36 commemorates this event.
Source: Local History Society - Discover Drongen