Monument for Lieutenant Juul Dewinde

This monument commemorates Lieutenant Juul Dewinde of the Belgian Army. Dewinde was a corporal in 1914, but worked his way up through the ranks to become a lieutenant. In 1918 he was posted as a staff officer to the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division. But he wanted to return to the front. Since his call-up in 1913, Dewinde had shown a strong interest in the cultural side of army life. He played in military bands (even conducting on occasions) and set up both a choir and a theatre group. He also wrote poetry.

Dewinde was a Flemish nationalist at heart and supported the ideas of the Front Movement. The radical Flemish priest-poet Cyriel Verschaeve (who also collaborated with the Germans during the Second World War) encouraged Dewinde to publish his poems, which he did under the name of Jules Liseron (derived from l’Yser, the French name for the River IJzer, where the Belgian Army fought). Dewinde was shot and killed not far from here on 28 September 1918, the opening day of the Liberation Offensive.

In 1919 his brothers found his body and brought it back home to his native village of Merchtem. In 1937, his mortal remains were transferred to the crypt of the 'Flemish Heroes' at the IJzer Tower in Diksmuide.

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