Amerikaans monument 'Track to Infinity'

Field hospital at Stadenberg

At the beginning of October, the French installed a field hospital near Vijfwegen and when the American 37th and 91st divisions advanced via Staden to the front at Kruishoutem and Waregem at the end of October 1918, they installed their Evacuation Hospital n° 5 near that French hospital on the foot of Stadenberg.

Ultimately, the military field hospital would remain stationed at Stadenberg for a month and a half (October 24 to December 9, 1918). 103 young American soldiers who fought to liberate our region also lost their lives on Stadenberg due to their injuries or illness. Each of them was given a resting place in the temporary cemetery across the street. After the war their bodies were repatriated to America or moved to the American cemetery Flanders Fields in Waregem.

Track to Infinity honors fallen

On May 24, 2017, a number of adopters unveiled the Track to Infinity monument by artist Jef Van Dooren to honor and commemorate the fallen soldiers, but also all doctors, nurses and volunteers who were active in Evacuation Hospital n° 5. Original railway sleepers from railway line 63 were used for the memorial, along which wounded soldiers were evacuated to base hospitals in France.