Memorial Railway WWII Aarschot Station

Plaque commemorating the victims of the railway staff at Aarschot station.

The facts
Sunday May 7, 1944 was cloudy and gloomy. Nobody expected an attack. But at 9:45 am the first formation of American bombers appeared and a little later the earth thundered with the violent violence. A second and a third bomb wave followed. The target, Aarschot station, was barely hit, but fifty houses in the neighborhood were in ruins and six dead civilians were counted.

A few days later, on Tuesday 9 May, more than 4,000 aircraft took off from England. At 8.45 am the alarm siren rang in Aarschot, but the planes passed high in the air. The inhabitants hesitantly started their daily activities. Until a few moments later, three formations of bombers again caused death and destruction in the city. The railway complex, the streets around the station and the beguinage were severely affected. The Church of Our Lady was severely damaged. Dozens of German soldiers who were in the apprenticeship school at that time lost their lives. Rail passengers looking for a safe haven were killed.
On May 11, 76 planes finished work. Even now the damage was considerable. That night the sky was lit up by the bombing of Leuven. On May 22, eight more fighter-bombers appeared over the city. The escort was lost on the way from England to the target. Without this protection from an escort force, the planes hastily dropped their bombs.
In those few days, the destruction was excessively high: more than a third of the houses were destroyed and 44 Aarschot civilians lost their lives.

About the plaque
The record was solemnly unveiled on January 17, 1950. A guardian angel is holding a laurel wreath, above the words: "Aarschot's railway agents for their sorrowful companions." Then nine names of fallen railway men follow. Six of them died in the bombing of Aarschot.

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Source

• Text: Jan Rymenams
• Photos: