Boezinge
Boezinge | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 St. Michael's Church in Boezinge | |
  Boezinge Location in Belgium | |
| Coordinates:50°53′45″N2°51′21″E/ 50.895887°N 2.855759°E | |
| Country |  Belgium |
| Region | Flemish Region |
| Province | West Flanders |
| Municipality | Ypres |
| Area | |
| • Total | 17.72 km2(6.84 sq mi) |
| Population (1999)[2] | |
| • Total | 2,216 |
| • Density | 130/km2(320/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET |
Boezinge(Dutch pronunciation:[ˈbuzɪŋə];West Flemish:Boezienge) is a village in the municipality ofYpresin theBelgianprovince ofWest Flanders.Boezinge can be reached via the N369 road in the direction ofDiksmuide.It was an independent municipality until 1977.
It hosts the historical breweryBrouwerij Het Sas.
History
[edit]Boezinge was first mentioned in 1119 as Boesigha. The village was anheerlijkheid.Until 1556, it was part of the diocese ofTerwaan.[1]
InWorld War I,the village belonged to theYpres Salient,which made it the site of theBattles of YpresbetweenGermanandAlliedforces. Today there are memorials andwar cemeteriesin the area, many of which are maintained by theCommonwealth War Graves Commission.
In 1970, the municipality merged withZuidschote,and in 1977, it was merged intoYpres.[1]
Commemoration of World War I
[edit]Yorkshire Trench
[edit]In the 1990s an original British trench system ( "Yorkshire Trench" ) was discovered by amateur archaeologists, on the site of an industrial estate near the village.[3]Yorkshire Trench was a first line trench for about one year between summer or autumn 1916 until the summer of 1917. In spring of 1917,173rd Tunnelling Companyadded adeep dugoutto the existing trench. The completed Yorkshire Trench dugout then served as headquarters for the 13th and 16th Battalions of theRoyal Welch Fusiliersat the start of theBattle of Passchendaelelater that year.[4]TheBEFhad decided to carry out all operations in the offensive of summer 1917 fromdeep dugouts.East of the Ypres Canal in the close vicinity of Yorkshire Trench there were several more dugouts, seven of which - all south and southeast of Yorkshire Trench - were finished by the 173rd or179thTunnelling Companies.Of these,Yorkshire Trench,Butt 18,Nile TrenchandHeading Lane Dugoutwere double battalion headquarters,Bridge 6was a brigade headquarters, andLancashire Farm Dugoutcontained two battalion and two brigade headquarters.[5]The condition of the ground made digging the deep dugouts extremely difficult and dangerous. Work had to be carried out silently and secretly, facing an observant enemy who was only a few hundred metres away. About 180 dugout sites have been located in theYpres Salientand in the 1990s some of them were entered, at least in part.[5] Yorkshire Trench was rediscovered by amateur archaeologists and systematically excavated in 1998. Although the area is now part of a large industrial estate, the location was opened to the public in 2003[3][4][6]Yorkshire Trench is located close to theJohn McCrae memorial site at Essex Farm.[5][7][8]
John McCrae Memorial Site
[edit]Welsh Memorial Park
[edit]War cemeteries
[edit]- Artillery Wood Cemetery,where the Welsh poetHedd Wynand the Irish poetFrancis Ledwidgeare buried
- Bard Cottage Cemetery
- Boezinge Churchyardwar graves
- Colne Valley Cemetery
- Dragoon Camp Cemetery
- Duhallow ADS Cemetery
- Essex Farm Cemetery
- La Belle Alliance Cemetery
- No Man's Cot Cemetery
- Talana Farm Cemetery
- Welsh Cemetery (Caesar's Nose)
The Castle of Boezinge (Boesinghe)
[edit]
The estate was destroyed during the first world war in July 1917 and rebuilt after the war.
In the private park lies a British command post.
References
[edit]- ^abc"Boezinge".Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed(in Dutch).Retrieved28 February2021.
- ^"Arrondissement Veurne"(in Dutch). Archived fromthe originalon 2007-09-28.Retrieved28 February2021.
- ^abLegg, Joanna."Yorkshire Trench, Boezinge, Ypres Salient".www.greatwar.co.uk.Retrieved18 May2013.
- ^abNicholas Saunders,Killing Time: Archaeology and the First World War,The History Press 2007 (ISBN978-0750945196)see online
- ^abcActivities of The Diggers - Restoration of the Yorkshire Trench & Dug-outArchived2017-12-01 at theWayback Machine,access date 10 July 2015
- ^"See aerial photo of the site on toerismeieper.be".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-07-11.Retrieved2015-07-11.
- ^Boesinghe - The Forgotten Battlefield,access date 10 July 2015
- ^The Yorkshire Trench, Boezinge,access date 10 July 2015
External links
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Media related toBoezingeat Wikimedia Commons
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