Military Heritage Vloethemveld

The 365-hectare Vloethemveld nature reserve was used for military purposes for 110 years.

The still-visible military heritage includes buildings, ammunition depots, key buildings and (partly restored) wooden barracks. It was in use as an ammunition depot from 1924 to 1994 and played an important role during WW1, WW2 and the Cold War. There are no visible remnants of WW1. Between 1944 and 1946, the British set up a POW camp there. Artworks can still be seen from this period of use as a British POW camp, created by the prisoners of war who were housed in a number of munitions depots dating from the interwar period.

A selection of metal detector finds and stories about the military past can be found in Kamphuis Vloethemveld. In this reception building, you get a general introduction about the area, some archaeological finds and historical objects from the military past are on display, you get an insight into the history through the timeline and you get to know the highlights of the special fauna and flora and how military use is connected to it. In the barracks, you can view temporary exhibitions.

Camp Vloethemveld, an area of some 32 hectares in the area where most of the military heritage lies, can only be visited with a guide. A freely accessible walking loop (yellow route) takes you all around and partly through the former military domain and gives you a view of the remaining ammunition depots. For further info see the website.

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Source

• Text: Belgium Battlefield of Europe & TracesOfWar
• Photos: Erwin Derous, Jan De Wit @ Say Hey en Rony Jacobs (1, 2, 3), Rony Jacobs (4)
• - Vloethemveld | Belgium Battlefield of Europe