Memorial Town Hall Oosterzele

A memorial plaque hangs at the town hall of Oosterzele:

“V1 - Grateful Hoboken - V2
To noble Oosterzele
During the bombings
of the Antwerp area
in 1944-1945, our
schoolchildren were lovingly received by
the population.

On behalf of the municipal council of Hoboken
The Secretary The Mayor
A. Verbeeck V. De Bruyne “

On 4 September 1944, the Antwerp city centre was liberated and at the beginning of October the port fell into the hands of the Allies.
The German soldiers had dug in beyond the Albert Canal. The port of Antwerp was of great strategic importance. The German army leadership understood this too and wanted to recapture the port or destroy it completely. To this end, Germany used a new weapon with which it could bombard Antwerp from a great distance: the V-bombs.

At the beginning of October 1944, the first bomb fell in Brasschaat. Not much later, on Friday 13 October 1944, the first V-bomb hit Antwerp
On 26 October 1944, the district of Hoboken was hit, on the territory about 40 impacts were registered that caused a total of 88 deaths, 105 serious injuries and 757 minor injuries.
At the initiative of the local headmaster, 40 schoolchildren were taken to safer places. They were transported by army vehicles to Balegem, Scheldewindeke and Oosterzele where they temporarily found a safe home with a host family.
In the 3 municipalities a memorial plaque commemorates that event.

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

Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck