Tuesday 11 November is Armistice Day, the day on which we commemorate the end of the First World War. On Monday, the eve of Armistice Day, a double memorial service was held in the West Flemish municipalities of Diksmuide and De Panne for a Belgian unknown soldier that died during the First World War. The soldier’s remains were found during construction work near to the banks of the River IJzer at Diksmuide. Following a torchlight procession along the banks of the IJzer and a commemoration ceremony, the soldier’s remains were buried with full military honours at the Belgian military cemetery in De Panne.
It is very rare that the remains of Belgian First World War soldiers are found. The previous time this happened prior to the latest discovery was in 2016. The soldier was reburied in 2018. Prior to that we would have to go back to 1952. Although the remains of soldiers that fell during the First World War are often found in the Westhoek area of West Flanders, most of them are British, German or French.
Last September construction workers discovered human remains while they were working on a new cycle path on the IJzer Dyke in Diksmuide. The discovery came just a couple of hundred metres from the history Dodengang (Corridor of Death) trench complex that formed the Belgian Army’s front on the River IJzer during the First World War. The remains were examined by the Flemish Immovable Heritage Agency and the War Heritage Institute. They soon concluded that the remains were those of a Belgian WWI soldier.
Items found with the soldier’s remains, including a uniform button with the Belgian lion on it, a rudimentary ring with the inscription 1915 and a post horn, confirmed his that he was Belgian. However, DNA tests were unable to establish his identity. He has therefore been buried as “unknown”.
With military honnours
On Monday afternoon the soldier was buried with full military honnours at the De Panne Military cemetery. This is the largest Belgian Great War cemetery in the country.
Among those present were Belgium’s Head of State King Filip, Defence Ministry representatives and the Mayor of Dikmuide Koen Coupillie (nationalist) and the Mayor of Wim Janssens De Panne (liberal). They were joined by around 200 members of the public.
“Remembrance is important”
The War Heritage Institute stresses that Monday’s exceptional event underlines the importance of remembrance education. “Remembrance is important. We must never forget this. We reflect on the sacrifices, but also on the misery that the war brought,” the War Heritage Institute’s Steve Maertens said.