Donations in the showcase

De Borchgrave family (BE)

Bags full of flour brought food from the US and Canada to occupied Belgium. This aid sparked initiatives for charity. Seamstresses, embroiderers, lace-makers and artists decorated the sacks which bear witness to a deep gratitude towards the generous donors.

John Pilch (UK)

Two framed crafted silk handkerchiefs that belonged to the estate of J. R. Pilch, a Quartermaster Sergeant with the Norfolk Regiment.

Julien Fostier (BE)

Very complete German field phone from 1913 or 1914 with a microphone, a normal handset and separate earpiece, housed in a wooden case.

Charlie Owen (UK)

German POW Ernst Drifte (born 14 January 1893) made two bowls which he sold to his guard. The village "Bonn am Rhein" is depicted on the front of the bowl along with "Ernst Drifte 1919". On the back it reads "Trônes Wood sept 1919". The vast majority of German POWs were not repatriated until after the war.

The second bowl is still with the donor.

Ivan Werbrouck (BE)

Michel Werbrouck (born 1909) from Izegem, was playing in the street as a child, when he picked up some shrapnel balls and threw them into the stove. His forearm was torn off by the explosion. He very rarely wore his Sunday prothesis.

Jean-Pierre Van Dessel (BE)

Front Line doctor Franz Van Dessel from Duffel, owned a camera with which he took pictures of the (war) landscape, his companions and life in the aid stations. After the war, he compiled this rich collection into five albums and identified a large number of photographs. 1st Reserve Captain Physician Franz came out of the war very battered and was declared 'major war disabled'.

Cécile Guilmot (BE)

Belgian René Guilmot worked in the Netherlands during the war and may have come into contact with Belgian internees from whom he commissioned some finely crafted pieces.

Resie Rombout (NL)

A hand-carved shoehorn made of bone with the inscription "Oorlog [War] 1916 - A. Dobbelaere", probably made by a Belgian internee in the Netherlands.

Peter Dunsire
(UK)

An engraved bronze shoehorn with the emblem of the Royal Engineers. The 62nd and 400th Field Company Royal Engineers both served in Flanders. The 62nd Field Company suffered 27 casualties while the 400th suffered one casualty in Belgium.

Rosa D’Hoop (BE)

A hand-carved wooden piggy bank, probably made by a Belgian internee in the Netherlands

Didier Oversteyns (BE)

Two tooled metal pendants. One is engraved with the name H. Goor.

Jan Van der Stock (BE)

During a patrol on the night of 2-3 September 1916, Octaaf Van der Stock was fatally hit by machine-gun fire. He is buried in the Belgian military cemetery in Hoogstade. His brothers Frans and Aimé survived the war. Brother in law Jozef Verbraeken was wounded and lost an eye. Noteworthy in the donation is a set of artificial eyes.

Hilde Depauw & Herman Balthazar (BE)

August Balthazar, a citizen of Ghent, was taken prisoner of war in September 1914 and transferred to a POW camp near Göttingen in Germany. He copied his war poems or perhaps those of his campmates into a poetry album and kept a diary. After the war August Balthazar became a key socialist figure and government minister.

Helga Wiese (D)

Heinrich Mannes (born 10 November 1894) from Göttingen, studied law at the Georg-August University. He died on 21 March 1918 in France. His brother also died in the First World War. Heinrich Mannes kept a sketchbook showing that he also fought in Flanders.

Bert Baekelmans (BE)

Bert carefully and lovingly restored this American portable Sonora gramophone, manufactured in 1918. It was intended for use in the trenches. The case bears the initials C.C.T.

Walter Provoost (BE)

US typewriter developed during the First World War.

Jillian Lewis (UK)

On the night of 6-7 October 1917, William Allan Brodrick (AUS) was seriously wounded. He died of his wounds on 7 October 1917 and was buried in Menin Road South Military Cemetery. His British wife Beatrice received some personal effects on 13 March 1918. Constance Brodrick, their infant daughter would never meet her father. She was born 25 August 1917.

Tim Dziurawski (NL)

Ernst Picard's drawing (1915) depicts prisoners of war in a German POW camp near Magdeburg.

Arnold Marting (?) of the 14th Line Regiment sent a beautifully illustrated letter to his uncle Jean from the Friedrichsfeld POW camp on 16 March 1916.

Monique Houtmeyers-Rosselle (BE)

Belgian artist and front line painter Achiel Van Sassenbrouck, left four drawings by Libert to his nephew. Libert was interned in Zeist in Holland and artfully recorded daily life.

Liliane Verheyen (BE)

Musician François Dirix enlisted in the 5th Artillery Regiment. His two brothers Hendrik and Paul also fought in the First World War, all three returned home. Before the war, François was already engaged to Anette Van Assche. She wrote to him as 'niece Francisca'. Anette died at the age of 44. Engraved in the lid of one of the coffins are four crosses. The family suspects these represent comrades who died.