De doodendraad - Achel - Belgium
Posted by: 
naj16
N 51° 16.422 E 005° 32.432
31U E 677204 N 5683327
In 1915 the Germans built an electric fence along the Belgian-Dutch border, consisting of three lines of wires which were intended to stop all disturbing border activities that might severely harm the military operations and authority of the occupier.
Waymark Code: WMPC4E
Location: Antwerpen, Belgium
Date Posted: 08/07/2015
Views: 4
As The Netherlands were neutral during World War I, the Belgian-Dutch border was a space suspended between war and peace. However, the German army faced many difficulties trying to avoid border crossings. The occupiers could not tolerate that 1 million Belgian civilians fled to the Netherlands to escape the atrocities of war since fugitives might be spies, smugglers or even potential workers in the allied war industry. More than 30,000 Belgian war volunteers succeeded in going to the Netherlands, Great Britain and France to join the Belgian army at the Yser frontline. The allied intelligence services, based in the Netherlands, had more than 6,000 agents at their disposal in occupied Belgium. Some agents passed many secret messages to Holland on a weekly basis. As the German post service administration censored all written correspondence, secret organizations such as Le Mot du Soldat (The Word of the Soldier) had organized clandestine postal networks. Hundreds of thousands of letters for and from the soldiers at the frontline crossed the border, following the same route as the war volunteers. Many German soldiers deserted. Belgians, Dutchmen and Germans smuggled because basic foodstuff was insufficiently available in Belgium. All these activities inspired the Germans to build an electric fence at the Belgian-Dutch border in April-May 1915.
Date the Monument or Memorial was built or dedicated: 07/04/2015
Private or Public Monument?: Government
Name of the Private Organization or Government Entity that built this Monument: Municipality Hamont-Achel
Geographic Region where the Monument is located: Europe
Website for this Monument: [Web Link]
Physical Address of Monument:
De Ezel
Hamont-Achel, Ant Belgium
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