L’Océan hospital, Vinkem

In September 1917, a new military hospital was opened in Vinkem with the same name as the large hospital in De Panne that had been set up earlier in the war: L’Océan. De Panne was no longer considered to be safe, and it was also planned that the British would take over this sector in preparation for their great summer offensive in 1917 (the Third Battle of Ieper was supposed to involve a parallel advance along the coast, but this never happened). As a result, the De Panne sector remained Belgian, so that there were now two L'Océan hospitals working in tandem with each other.

At Vinkem, the Red Cross bought a 32-hectare practice ground and the Torreelen Farm in 1917. At first, a large tented camp was erected opposite the farm. However, as early as 1915 the Red Cross had decided to purchase a hundred or so prefabricated pavilions to create a new hospital in Brussels once the war was over. These pavilions were originally stored in Calais, but in 1917 it was decided to use them at the new hospital site in Vinkem. They were erected around a large central building in brick, which covered an area of 1 hectare. This central pavilion was 400 metres long and had two wings. In all, the hospital had a capacity of 2,400 beds.

The initiator of the original L’Océan Hospital in De Panne, Dr. Depage, also worked here, but not as chief surgeon.

Vl. Toeristisch bezienswaardigheden