Monument on the cemetery of Hodimont

This monument in an old cemetery that is no longer in use commemorates four civilians and 13 soldiers from the former municipality of Hodimont, now Dison (Verviers).

The monument is beautiful in its simplicity, with a stone-carved ‘casque Adriën’ at each of its four corners.

Those commemorated are:

BOËTE Simon, age 25, from Hodimont, soldier in the 9th Line Regiment, missing since October 26, 1914, the day before his 26th birthday, near Ramskapelle.

DEDRIXHE Pierre, age 21, born in Hodimont, soldier in the 5th Line Regiment, killed in action on September 12, 1914, in Boortmeerbeek.

DEFRAITEUR Mathieu, age 27, born in Hodimont, soldier in the staff of the 3rd Artillery Division, died of suspected Spanish flu on October 20, 1918, in the Belgian Military Hospital Cabour in Adinkerke.

FAYEN Jean, age 27, from Hodimont, soldier in the 12th Line Regiment, missing since September 29, 1914, in Kapelle-op-den-Bos, the day before his 28th birthday!

HORWARD Jacques, age 21, born in Hodimont, soldier in the 3rd Chasseurs Regiment, killed by a bullet to the head on August 19, 1916, in Boezinge.

JANSEN Jean, age 29, from Hodimont, corporal in the 8th Line Regiment, died from abdominal injuries on October 14, 1916, in the military hospital l'Ocean in De Panne.

MALVAUX Georges, age 24, born in Hodimont, soldier in the 5th Lancers Regiment, killed in action in Zuidschote on April 7, 1917, by a bullet to the lower abdomen.

MONSEUR Julien, age 21, from Hodimont, soldier in the 2nd Caribiniers regiment, killed in action on October 14, 1918, in Roeselare.

MONSEUR Pierre, age 20, from Hodimont, soldier in the 12th Line Regiment, missing in action in Diksmuide since October 20, 1914.

PEHEE Frederique, age 31, from Hodimont, soldier in the 1st Engineer Regiment of the 1st Division Armée, died of general paralysis on April 7, 1917, in the Hôpital Militaire Belges Châteaugiron in Châteaugiron, Ille-et-Vilaine (France).

It is unknown whether this refers to psychological paralysis as a result of shell shock or paralysis caused by combat injuries. In the case of paralysis due to ‘shell shock’ or ‘choque de geurre’, a common temporary diagnosis was given to soldiers who succumbed to nerves due to their presence at the front and the relentless bombardments that could continue for days or weeks. The combination of little sleep, constant alertness, the presence of dead and horribly wounded comrades, horses, and enemies, stench, military discipline, little food, poor medical facilities, and, last but not least, the chance of being hit themselves could turn soldiers from healthy men into mental wrecks in less than six weeks. Although strictly speaking ‘shell shock’ was a condition in which a soldier had been in the vicinity of an explosion, causing the small blood vessels in the brain to be damaged by the pressure of the blast, which could lead to the aforementioned symptoms, this diagnosis was later also applied to soldiers with psychological injuries.

RENOUPREZ Jean, age 31, from Verviers, war volunteer, corporal in the 12th Line Regiment, killed in action on October 15, 1918, in Sint-Eloois-Winkel.

STINE Theodore, age 32, from Hodimont, soldier in the 3rd Caribiniers regiment, killed by a bullet to the head on October 29, 1918, in Passendale, two weeks before the armistice!

WILLEMS Hubert, age 24, from Hodimont, soldier in the 19th Line Regiment, died from injuries sustained from shrapnel to the thigh, resulting in amputation, in Villa Kraenenpoel in Aalter.

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Source

• Text: Ed Lewandowski (NL)
• Photos: Ed Lewandowski
• wardeadregister.be