This week Sabine’s battlefield guide Saturday is going back to Oostkamp for the last time
The impact of the occupation in Oostkamp
The mail
At the beginning of the 20th century, correspondence was the most common form of private communication. Due to the refusal of the Belgian postal personnel to continue their work after the German invasion, the German army itself organized the mail traffic. Civil correspondence in the etappengebiet is possible but difficult. Letters have to be sent in an open envelope to the kommandatur. All letters from Oostkamp are sent to the “postprüfungsstelle” in Gent, where everything is read and judged. if there is nothing to complain about, the letter is given a control stamp.
Writing letters to prisoners of war in Germany is covered by a flexible arrangement. Keeping in touch with family in France and England is almost impossible. Anyone who wants to correspond with a soldier in the Belgian army is dependent on letter smugglers who try to get the mail to its destination via the Netherlands and Switzerland. Some contained information about the course of the war and were considered to be espionage. Others were simply correspondence between family and friends.
In the spring of 1915 the German occupiers started building the so-called death wire in Belgium. This was an electric barricade that was lethal at the slightest touch. It was therefore popularly called the death wire. The barricade covered the entire border area, although there were certain passages. This was a new challenge for the smugglers. Either they had to pass the death wire, or they had to cleverly hide their contraband and have a good reason to cross the border.
Many letters were written by relatives of front-soldiers stationed at the river Yzer.. It was difficult to get this post out of the occupied territory at the front. The letters were therefore smuggled across the border into Holland, and with war volunteers taken to Britain and from there to the Belgian front.
Religion
The people from Oostkamp have access to the St. Peter’s Church. There is also the abbey church of Steenbrugge and the St. John’s Church in Hertsberge. The valuable pieces from the church, mainly silverware, relics and books are hidden and retrieved after the war. Due to restrictions on freedom of movement, access to Steenbrugge is lost. The inhabitants of Moerbrugge get their own emergency church on the east side of the canal when they are no longer allowed to cross the canal. Orstkommandant Hicke does not even allow priests to move outside the demarcated borders to administer the holy oil to the dying. the churches in Oostkamp and Hertsberge can continue to carry out their tasks and are sometimes used exclusively by the German military authorities for their worship services. the way in which agreements are made about the use of the church depends on the German chaplain. Some consult with the pastor, others simply impose a date and time. There are church services for the German troops where civilians are allowed to attend. After the service in the church or in the open air in a park, there is sometimes a parade in the centre.
source: Oostkamp en Hertsberge in de eerste wereldoorlog by Wim Deneweth
Pictures feltpost by germans and british, the death wire, main street Oostkamp, the church and an extra for Gus, one of the family horses named Hellow