In Opdorp's Fields

In Opdorp's Fields

A giant poppy (poppy), in memory of the horror of the First World War, was donated to the community of Opdorp on Sunday, June 23, 2019, by the local middle-class organization, the M.O.L.

The creator of the statue is Arjen Moerzeke. Village poet Leonard Segers has made a free translation of the famous poem of the Canadian soldier, John McCrae. On 8 December 1915, he made a haunting description of the senseless war violence on the Yser Front.

In 2018, in Opdorp, as in many Flemish municipalities, it was commemorated that the Great War was discontinued 100 years ago. There was also a battle in Opdorp. During the last days of September 1914, the German invasion was slowed down by the Belgian army troops who had retreated behind the Antwerp fortification belt.

Due to the resistance in the surrounding villages, the Belgian army had been given the opportunity to leave Antwerp and retreat via the Waasland to the Westhoek. During the fighting in our region during that turbulent month of September, hundreds of Belgian and German soldiers were killed.

On 26 and 27 September 1914, the Battle of Buggenhout took place, mainly in the area between Buggenhoutbos, Opstal and the Hoge Linde. On the Belgian side, this battle was coordinated from the castle and monastery in Opdorp, where the general staff of the Belgian army was located at that time. The girls' school was converted into a hospital, as a forward aid station of the hospital of Sint-Amands. In Opdorp, the Dries is full of war equipment. The village looks like a garrison town!

On September 29, the German army starts with preparatory artillery fire. The 13 then attacked^the Ersatz company, reinforced by pioneers (pleasure troops) over Malderen – Bockxheide, towards Holstraat and Opdorp. 18 Germans were killed in the fighting. 8 Belgian grenadiers were killed, 19 were wounded. For example, there are not only deaths at the border separation with Malderen (at 't Kapelleken), but also in the Vekenstraat, in the field road 'Manhouten' and in the Damstraat.

The Germans then came under artillery fire from the fortress of Liezele. Opdorp falls into German hands around noon. In the evening Sint-Amands was conquered. After the Belgians, the Germans now used the Dries as a storage place for heavy war material. And as with the Belgians, the German army command took up residence in the castle.

The shelling of the Opdorp church and village bowl from the Fort of Liezele would continue until the capitulation on October 10, 1914.

In the first days of the war in October, the bell tower and the west façade of the church were hit, with the stained glass windows destroyed.

Our village poet, Leonard Segers, was inspired by 'In Flanders Fields', the famous poem by John McCrae.

Jurgen Vermeulen