Hooge is a small village on the Bellewaerde Ridge, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. Hooge and the nearby locations of Bellewaerde and Zillebeke were merged into Ypres in 1976. The economy of Hooge is dominated by tourism and agriculture. Tourists are attracted by the World War I battlefields as well as Bellewaerde , the oldest operating theme park in Belgium.
In World War I, the village belonged to one of the easternmost sectors of the Ypres Salient, which made it the site of intense and sustained fighting between German and Allied forces. From 1914 the front line of the Salient ran through the Hooge area and there was almost constant fighting in the area over the next three years, during which the village and the Château de Hooge (see below) were totally destroyed. [1] Even during times of relative quiet on this part of the Western Front, the average casualty rate for the British and Commonwealth forces was around 300 per day. [1]
During the First Battle of Ypres (19 October – 22 November 1914), when the Allies captured the town of Ypres from the Germans, the Château de Hooge was used by the 1st and 2nd Divisions for their joint headquarters. [2] By the end of the battle in November 1914 the Germans had been driven back, but the front line of the Salient now ran around Hooge. [3]
During the Second Battle of Ypres (22 April – 25 May 1915), Hooge was again the site of intense fighting, including the Battle of Bellewaarde which was fought in the area from 24 to 25 May 1915. By the end of July, the Germans again took control of the area. [4] On 30 July 1915, Hooge was the site of the first use of flamethrowers ("liquid fire" as it was referred to at the time), employed by the Germans against British positions. [5] Hooge was retaken by the British on 9 August 1915, [6] reclaimed by the Germans on 16 June 1916 (for strategic developments in this area during June 1916, see Battle of Mont Sorrel) and retaken by the British on 31 July 1917. [4] The Germans retook Hooge in April 1918 as part of the Spring Offensive but were driven back from the area by the British on 28 September 1918. [6]
Before the war, the village of Hooge was the site of the Château de Hooge, a manor house which served as country house of the local landed gentry and residence of the lord of the manor. [7] By July 1915 artillery had reduced the château to rubble and it was never rebuilt. [5] After the war, much of the site was redeveloped as a theme park [8] and is now occupied by the Bellewaerde , the oldest operating theme park in Belgium. Established in 1954 as a zoo and safari, the park expanded in the early 1980s and is now the most frequently visited amusement park in Flanders. On the site of the château's original stables, there is now a hotel and restaurant. [5]
During World War I, the entire village was completely destroyed. Both sides exploded mines beneath the front line trenches there, the evidence of which are still visible today. [5] Although the largest mine crater (created by a mine detonated at Hooge by the 175th Tunnelling Company of the Royal Engineers on 19 July 1915) has since been filled in, several other large mine craters that were created over the course of the fighting [9] can still be seen. The most visible evidence remaining today is a large pond near the hotel and restaurant at the Bellewaerde theme park. The site is the result of Baron de Wynck, who landscaped three mine craters (blown by German units in June 1916 as part of their offensive against Canadian troops) into the existing pond near the hotel (image).
There are many memorials and war cemeteries in and around Hooge. These include the Hooge Crater Cemetery, opposite which is now a museum, founded in 1994. [10] A short distance away is the RE Grave, Railway Wood, which marks the spot where soldiers of the 177th Tunnelling Company were killed between November 1915 and August 1917 whilst tunnelling under the hill near Hooge during the defence of Ypres. [6] [11] One of the twelve men commemorated here is Second Lieutenant Charles Geoffrey Boothby (1894–1916), whose wartime letters to his girlfriend were published in 2005. [12]
Coordinates: 50°50′46.97″N2°56′36.73″E / 50.8463806°N 2.9435361°E
The Ypres Salient, around Ypres, in Belgium, was the scene of several battles and a major part of the Western Front during World War I.
RE Grave, Railway Wood is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorial and war grave located in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. It is located on the Bellewaerde Ridge near Zillebeke, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres, and a little north of Hooge. The area of the Cambridge Road sector, halfway in between Wieltje and Hooge, was the site of intensive underground fighting in the First World War. The Liverpool Scottish Memorial, Railway Wood is located nearby.
Hooge Crater Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on the Western Front. Hooge Crater Cemetery is named after a mine crater blown nearby in 1915 and located near the centre of Hooge, opposite the "Hooge Crater Museum" and separated from it by the Menin Road. Hooge itself is a small village on the Bellewaerde Ridge, about 4 kilometres east of Ypres in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
Royal Engineer tunnelling companies were specialist units of the Corps of Royal Engineers within the British Army, formed to dig attacking tunnels under enemy lines during the First World War.
Sint-Elooi is a small village, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Ypres in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. The former municipality is now part of Ypres. Though Sint-Elooi is the Dutch and only official name, the village's French name, St. Eloi, is most commonly used in English due to its role in World War I. The village and the nearby locations of Voormezele and Hollebeke were merged into Zillebeke in 1970 and into Ypres in 1976.
The 177th Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.
The 175th Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.
In World War I, the area around Hooge on Bellewaerde Ridge, about 2.5 mi (4 km) east of Ypres in Flanders in Belgium, was one of the easternmost sectors of the Ypres Salient and was the site of much fighting between German and Allied forces.
The 171st Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.
The 172nd Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.
The Actions of the Bluff were local operations in 1916 carried out in Flanders during the First World War by the German 4th Army and the British Second Army. The Bluff is a mound near St Eloi, south-east of Ypres in Belgium, created from a spoil heap during the digging of the Ypres–Comines Canal before the war. From 14 to 15 February and on 2 March 1916, the Germans and the British fought for control of the Bluff, the Germans capturing the mound and defeating counter-attacks only for the British to recapture it and a stretch of German front line, after pausing to prepare a set-piece attack.
The 173rd Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services. On 17 April 1915, 173rd Tunnelling Company became the first Royal Engineer tunnelling company to fire mines beneath enemy lines.
The 179 Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services. 179th Tunnelling Company is particularly known for its role at L'îlot de La Boisselle and for firing the Lochnagar mine during the Battle of the Somme 1916. The Lochnagar mine formed part of a series of 19 mines that were placed beneath the German lines on the British section of the Somme front to assist the start of the battle.
The 182nd Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.
The 2nd Canadian Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Canadian Military Engineers during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.
The 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Canadian Military Engineers during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps, cable trenches and underground chambers for signals and medical services.
Hill 60 is a World War I battlefield memorial site and park in the Zwarteleen area of Zillebeke south of Ypres, Belgium. It is located about 4.6 kilometres (2.9 mi) from the centre of Ypres and directly on the railway line to Comines. Before the First World War the hill was known locally as Côte des Amants. The site comprises two areas of raised land separated by the railway line; the northern area was known by soldiers as Hill 60 while the southern part was known as The Caterpillar.
The Actions of St Eloi Craters from 27 March to 16 April 1916, were local operations in the Ypres Salient of Flanders, during the First World War by the German 4th Army and the British Second Army. Sint-Elooi is a village about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Ypres in Belgium. The British dug six galleries under no man's land, placed large explosive charges under the German defences and blew them at 4:15 a.m. on 27 March. The 27th Division captured all but craters 4 and 5. The 46th Reserve Division counter-attacked but the British captured craters 4 and 5 on 30 March. The Canadian Corps took over, despite the disadvantage of relieving troops in action.
Spanbroekmolen is a small group of farms in Heuvelland, a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The hamlet is sited on one of the highest points of the Messines Ridge, in between the villages of Kemmel, Wijtschate and Wulvergem.
