War and industrial relics in West Flanders

More than a hundred years ago, on May 12, 1917, the biplane of Count Paul de Goussencourt and Lieutenant de Cubber thundered from the sky during a firefight above Kaaskerke, a small town part of Diksmuide. Both died instantly.

The Spuikom in Ostend became a military air base during the First World War. In early 1917, the German army built the Seeflugstation Flandern II to defend the port of Ostend against English attacks.

A century and a half ago, a neo-Gothic arcade, popularly known as 'the Galge' ('the gallows') sprung up in the middle of meadows and corn fields.

In 1905, a brickworks arose in Rampskapelle near the Belgian coastal town Nieuwpoort. Four years later, it became the property of Céramiques et Briqueteries Mécaniques du Littoral.

In 2005, the concrete launch pad of a German V1 launch base from the Second World War was found in the Vrijbos in Houthulst.

Of the eight flax mills that Heule once had, only Preetjesmolen remains. This flax winding mill was built between 1859 and 1870 on behalf of farmer Ivo Deprez, hence the name Preetjesmolen ("Deprez' Mill").

West Flanders has never known coal mines. Yet you can still find shafts, drilling machines and other traces of miners in the West Flemish underground.

On Monday, January 1, 1872, the canal between the Leie and Roeselare was opened to shipping traffic. However, plans to extend the canal to Ostend or Nieuwpoort remained a dead letter.