MONT KEMMEL - PLACE OF MEMORY

In 1932, General Lacappelle inaugurated the obelisk on Mount Kemmel, the highest point in the province of West Flanders at 156 meters. The obelisk is 18 metres high and symbolizes Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory. Locals call it the "Sad Angel". It was designed by Lille architect Cordonnier and Armentier sculptor Masselot. The figure looks down on the obelisk at the ossuary. The names of the generals and divisions who took part in the Battle of the Flanders Mountains can be seen on the two main sides of the monument. The monument was restored in 2005 by the province of West Flanders.

The Belvedere. The Celts established a community here 500 BC. Before the war, Mount Kemmel's belvedere housed a cage with a bear inside. One day, the bear escaped and was shot dead in the village. This first tower symbolized the beginning of tourism in the Flanders hills. Before 1900, a small mound served as an observation point, attracting tourists who climbed the mound along a spiral path to admire the surroundings. The summit is marked by a geodetic marker belonging to the Institut Géographique Militaire, inaugurated in 1951.

The Mont Kemmel ossuary. The French Ossuary is located on the south-western flank of Mont Kemmel, close to junction 74. From here, you can see the row of hills comprising Baneberg or Mont du Moulin, Mont Rouge, Mont Vidaigne and Mont Noir. At the foot of the hill is the Traisnel farm. The slope from the edge of the wood to the farm was a no-man's-land during the Battle of Mount Kemmel. Allied soldiers (first British, then French) were easy targets for German artillery attacking from the top of the hill. The ossuary was built at the end of the war. Local accounts from the time show the sheer number of bodies left on the ground after the battle of the Flanders Hills. Unidentified French soldiers collected in the field were buried in this ossuary. It also contains the bodies of soldiers from various sectors of Flanders, a total of 5,295 unknown French officers and soldiers. Only 57 have been identified, some partially. Their names are inscribed on the monument to the dead which marks the center of the ossuary.