A contractor working on a wooden footpath and cycle path along the Yser river in Diksmuide, West Flanders, discovered the remains of a soldier from the First World War.
"Initial examination of the body and the artefacts found suggests it could be a soldier who served in the Belgian army during the First World War," explained Sam De Decker, an archaeologist at the Flemish Agency for Immovable Heritage.
While this discovery, made at the end of September, is not surprising given that the western bank 0f the Yser was under Belgian control during the war, it is rare to find fallen Belgian soldiers. "The last such discovery was in 2016 and before that it was in 1952. In absolute numbers, Belgian soldiers were far fewer in the war compared to their British, French, or German counterparts," said De Decker.
"The fighting on the Yser front and in the flooded plains was quite different from the battles in the Ypres or Messines regions, where troops often engaged in daring assaults, leading to thousands of deaths," he added.
According to Decker, identifying the soldier will be very challenging."The ravages of time have unfortunately taken their toll. But small finds can still reveal their secrets. The victim was wearing a soldier’s ring on the right hand, made at the front, bearing the inscription of a post horn and the year 1915. The clothing fragments found, including a uniform button with a Belgian lion, point to a khaki uniform, which was only issued to Belgian troops deployed on the Yser from 1915 onwards," explained the archaeologist.
The Flemish agency has commissioned a more thorough examination of the remains and fragments. In the meantime, the War Graves Service has undertaken a final search through the archives to trace the soldier’s identity. He will then be reburied in a Belgian military cemetery.
