Memorial 5Th Line Regiment Kwatrecht

During the Eighteen-Day Campaign In May 1940, the Battle of Gijzenzele (a three-day battle) was fought in Kwatrecht by the 5th Line Regiment. The German invader was stopped by a long series of bunkers, belonging to the bunker belt Bruggenhoofd Ghent.

The Reichsschule Flandern was founded in 1943 on the grounds of the Mariagaard Institute. This was an elite SS school with boarding facilities during the time of the Third Reich and the only one of its kind in Belgium. The boarding school was established in a building of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity that was requisitioned by the occupying forces. About a hundred students from ten to twelve years old stayed there.

The Battle of Kwatrecht is commemorated annually. The memorial plaque for the 5th Line Regiment used to hang on the church of Kwatrecht, but after the deconsecration of the church the memorial was moved to the domain of the Mariagaard institute.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Do you have more information about this location? Inform us!

Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck