The church of Lampernisse

When the movement war got bogged down at the IJzer in late 1914, medical aid posts are also installed at Lampernisse. Frequently tens of soldiers sit with each other in the chapels. Sometimes churches served as a dressing station. But Lampernisse lies within range of the German artillery in Woumen.

On 1 December 1914 a direct hit brings down one of the pillars of the nave. The roof collapses and eighty soldiers are buried under the rubble. Forty-three French soldiers of the 23rd infantry battalion didn’t survive. Two Belgian soldiers and two civilians also perished.

The next day they were buried beside the church. The mass grave was later moved but nobody seems to know where the forty-three now lie. A memorial plaque in the church entrance bears the names of the soldiers.

A month later, on New Year’s Day 1915, the bombs hit the mark again, this time the sacristy bears the brunt. Some of what remained was shot down in flames in August 1915. The tower then still served as a lookout, but it also helped the Germans as a direction and orientation point in the landscape. On 8 November 1915 the Belgian troops dynamited the tower; the rubble was used to strengthen the streets.

Vl. Toeristisch bezienswaardigheden