Remembrance Cross Lieutenant Valeran van de Kerchove d' Hallebast

This memorial commemorates Lieutenant Valeran van de Kerchove d 'Hallebast, who died here on 26 August 1914.

The facts
On August 26, 1914, the second day of the withdrawal of the Belgian army from the fortress of Antwerp, Belgian troops advanced further from the recaptured Werchter in the direction of Aarschot. The lancers, who have not yet had to fight until then, are ordered to guard the northern bank of the Demer at 4:00 in the morning.
This platoon, led by Lieutenant de Heusch, observes in Tremelo the havoc caused by the Germans: 39 burnt down houses. On the way to Betekom they learn from the villagers that the village is not occupied but that the Germans are nearby. The peloton takes up cover just outside the village at the windmill of the Puttenberg.
Guard Valeran van de Kerckhove (Tournai 1893) is sent out together with a few others to assess the situation at the Laak and Demer bridges. However, the German infantry has lined up on these two bridges and the watchmaster is fatally hit by a bullet. His fellows withdraw and they take Valeran to the field hospital that has been set up in the monastery. At 07:00 the German positions are passed on to headquarters. The army command decides that an attack on Aarschot is not an option and in the afternoon the retreat across the entire line is ordered. The watchman will die in the hospital that evening around 6 pm. In total, the 4th Lancers Regiment will report sixteen soldiers as missing that day and count three injured.

The monument
After the war, Valeran's mother erected a monument to her son at the place where he was hit. The bluestone cross consists of imitation tree trunks overgrown with ivy with a central floral pattern. At the bottom there is the inscription: "C'est ici / qu est tombe pour la / Belgique le 26 aout / 1914 le Lieutenant / VALERAN van de / KERCHOVE d" HALLEBAST / R.I.P ". The cross was recently restored in 2012.
The family bought a crypt in the local cemetery. This burial vault was later moved to the current cemetery, against the wall with the boys' school. In addition to Valeran van de Kerckhove, the guard's parents and brother were also buried here.

Until long after the Second World War, there was an annual memorial mass on the cross and a female relative came all the way from Tournai to attend the ceremony.
It is also special that in 1934 Valeran's mother had a Maria cave built on top of a German bunker in 1934 in memory of her fallen son in Klerken (Houthulst).
A monument was erected in Spa for the 4th Lancers Regiment, bearing the name of Valeran van de Kerckhove.

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Source

• Text: Jan Rymenams
• Photos: Jan Rymenams (1), Wikimedia Commons (2)