History
On 18 August 1914 King Albert I decides to reposition the army in the Antwerp stronghold, an ideal base from which to attack the German flank. The army launches two offensives and Schiplaken is in the line of fire on both occasions. Bodies are scattered all over, sometimes only covered with a sprinkling of earth. Many casualties are given a shallow field grave. In Flemish Brabant Jeanne Orianne takes the initiative to provide all victims with a dignified last resting place.
Miss Joanna Caroline Charlotte Orianne (1865-1951) indeed finds it morally unacceptable that the fallen are left behind on the battlefield or have no decent grave. As early as 1915, with the permission of the German occupier, she starts unearthing and identifying Belgian victims. Despite much opposition, she succeeds in giving hundreds of fallen soldiers a dignified grave. She roams the battlefields of Londerzeel, Eppegem, Zemst and Schiplaken to look for casualties. Together with local priest Eduard Stuyck she organizes a temporary resting place in Schiplaken.
Casualties
90 First World War (14 unidentified)
Description
In 1918 Viscount Georges Terlinden, Priest Eduard Stuyck, Mayor Armand Van Langendonck, Mr Pierre Heymans (the committee’s secretary and the King’s chief of cabinet) and a member of the Society of Former Soldiers of Hever-Schiplaken, among others, set up a committee that sees to the creation of the honours court in 1920. Out of respect and deference, each fallen soldier receives a personal tombstone. A work by sculptor Bernard Callie tops a long blush granite wall. A fallen soldier leans against the legs of a woman symbolising Belgium; she crowns him with flowers. At the monument’s extremities two more female figures stand guard: they each hold a sword and a laurel wreath against their chests. On the wall is written in large letters: “To the heroes of the battles of Schiplaken. 26 August 1914 - 12 September 1914”, on the left in French, on the right in Dutch. A very simple bronze plaque lists the soldiers’ names. Every fourth Sunday of August a ceremony is still held in memory of the fallen soldiers buried here.