French Cemetery and Ossuary Kemmel, Heuvelland Belgium, December 2018.

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French Cemetery and Ossuary Kemmel

Mount Kemmel, also known as the Kemmelberg, located near Heuvelland Belgium, is a famous cobbled climb used in many Flemish spring classic bicycle races such as Gent-Wevelgem, the Four Days of Dunkirk, the Three Days of De Panne, as well as additional professional and amateur events.

Gent-Wevelgem, photo Wikipedia

The hill is also the location of one of the Great War’s most furious battles.

The German Army launched their Kaiserschlacht spring offensive along the Western Front on March 21 1918 and found early success forcing the British back south down the line. However, by early April the British had been able to hang on to territory around the Ypres Salient, including Kemmel. Additional fighting took place beginning on April 9, but the Germans failed to take the hill and the British received reinforcements from the French.

On April 25 the Germans attacked at Kemmel with gas grenades and a hail fire of artillery shells. For two days a ferocious battle, often hand-to-hand fighting, took place with German forces taking control of the Kemmel summit. The Germans occupied Kemmel until the September Battle of the Peaks of Flanders in September. It was in this period that the German Army suffered their collapse in morale during the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. British and Belgian forces took ten thousand German prisoners of war during this battle.

Mount Kemmel in 1918, photo Wikipedia 

Nicknamed “bald mountain” by French troops due to the loss of vegetation on the hill, Kemmel is now the home to a cemetery and ossuary honoring the French troops that fought and died there during the war. The ossuary holds the remains of 5294 French soldiers, only 57 of which could be identified. Their names are listed on the monument. Further up the hill stands the “Sad Angel of Kemmel Hill”. Sculpted by French artist Adolphe Masselot, himself a POW during the war, the statue of the Roman goddess Victoria recognizes the soldiers who fought in Belgium during the Great War.

Having spent many years watching coverage of Gent-Wevelgem, I would often notice a quick flash of the monuments as the riders passed by. It is a site I have always wanted to visit and it was a beautiful December evening to spend time there. The next time I am in the area I would like to visit the village of Kemmel and it seems to be a very charming little town.