The Kemmelberg (English: Kemmel Hill, French: Mont Kemmel) is a hill formation in Flanders, Belgium. It is located less than a kilometre from the village of Kemmel, part of the municipality in the province of West Flanders. The Kemmelberg is the highest point in the province with an altitude of 154 metres (505 ft).
During World War I, it was the location of one of the war's
most ferocious battles, the Fourth Battle of Ypres, because of its
strategic importance. On 25 April 1918, German imperial forces, hoping to force a
breakthrough to the North Sea, started attacking the French troops on the
Kemmelberg with gas grenades. At 6 a.m. the German Alpenkorps seized
and captured the Kemmelberg, causing Allied troops to withdraw from all the
hills in the region. Thousands of French soldiers were killed. Several streets
and army barracks in Germany were named after this event. Friedrich Sixt von Armin and Prince Franz of Bavaria were commanders,
but Karl
Höfer was celebrated as the hero of Kemmelberg. It was recaptured during
the Battle of the Peaks of Flanders in
late September 1918, as a precursor to the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
Two war cemeteries are located to the northeast of the hill,
the Kemmel
Number 1 French Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery and the Klein Vierstraat British Cemetery
with the remains of World War I soldiers. At the top of the Kemmelberg
there is a commemorative war memorial, the Monument aux soldats français,
constructed in 1932 and inaugurated by French general and war hero Lacappelle. The memorial column is 17 metres
(56 ft) high and depicts the Roman victory goddess Victoria. In the area, the monument is
colloquially called "The Angel".
The
French Memorial to the French troops who died in Belgium, was unveiled in
1932 by Marshal Pétain – at that date still considered to be a heroic figure.
Originally, there was a poilu’s helmet on the top. Not far away, on the western
slope, is an Ossuaire containing the bones of 5,294 unknown French soldiers who
died in the German assault in 1918.
The mass grave at the foot of Kemmel Hill contains the
remains of 5 294 French soldiers, of whom just 57 are identified. Their names
can be seen on the central monument.Most of those men died during the battle
for Kemmel Hill in April 1918. The panorama of the surroundings from this point
is impressive.
