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Juliaan Victor Hoet
Information about birth
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Date of birth: 26/11/1896 |
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Place of birth: Roeselare, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium |
General information
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Last known residence: Cahors, Lot, France |
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Profession: Bricklayer |
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Religion: Roman Catholic |
Army information
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Country: Belgium |
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Force: Belgian Army |
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Rank: Private Second Class |
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Service number: 2346 |
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Units: — 3de Regiment Karabiniers - 3ème Régiment de Carabiniers (Last known unit) |
Information about death
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Date of death: 30/09/1918 |
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Place of death: Hill 52, Passchendaele, Belgium |
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Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
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Age: 21 |
Cemetery
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Roeselare Communal Cemetery Plot: Belgisch militair ereperk Row: 17 Grave: 9 |
Distinctions and medals 1
Points of interest 3
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Last known residence | ||
| #3 | Place of death (approximate) |
My story
Juliaan Victor was born at the end of November 1896 in Roeselare, West Flanders. He was the third child of mason Edmond Hoet and housewife Valeriana Rosa Vancalbergh. The family had ten children in total, of whom no fewer than nine would die prematurely. Like his father, Juliaan worked as a mason in the Roeselare region.
At the outbreak of the war in 1914, the family fled to France, eventually settling in the historic city of Cahors on the Lot River in southwestern France, known for its dark, full-bodied Malbec wines.
In 1916, young Belgian men who turned twenty while in exile were called up for the Belgian Army, which was engaged at the Yser in a grueling trench war. Juliaan was assigned to the 7th Company of the 3rd Carabiniers Regiment, part of the 19th Brigade of the 6th Division.
He took part in the Final Offensive, which began on 28 September 1918 in Flanders, just a stone’s throw from his hometown. The Belgian Army, supported by British and French units, attempted to break the German defenses on the heights of Passendale and Westrozebeke to advance toward Roeselare, but a decisive breakthrough initially failed.
After a cold and rainy night, the offensive resumed on 29 September, without any resupply or rotation of the infantry. Like the artillery, logistics could barely keep up with the troops. The captured terrain was churned and muddy; roads were unusable or under near-constant German fire.
The 6th Division was ordered, together with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Carabiniers, to clear German resistance around Westrozebeke. The village was reached in the morning by the 4th Carabiniers, but on the surrounding heights the Germans were firmly entrenched. Without sufficient artillery support, German machine-gun nests dominated the open ground around Westrozebeke.
The 3rd Carabiniers Regiment became stuck on the heights of Hill 52, south of the village, along the Westrozebeke–Passendale road. The 7th, 1st, and 9th Companies repeatedly attacked the ridge but were each time repelled by concentrated machine-gun fire and German artillery. By the end of the second day, the area around Westrozebeke was still not fully cleared of German resistance, which used the night to withdraw to the Flanders I defensive line before Roeselare.
On Monday, 30 September, the advance resumed. The exhausted Carabiniers of the 6th Division were held in reserve, behind the Hunters and Grenadiers of the 12th Division advancing toward Roeselare. Once over the ridge, the cratered landscape of the front gave way to green fields with seemingly intact villages and church towers. After years of trench warfare, maneuver warfare seemed restored, but this too proved vain. In early October, the offensive would again stall on the fortified German Flanders I line before Roeselare and Menen.
Juliaan Victor Hoet, not yet 22 years old, was reported killed on 30 September 1918. Shortly after his death, he was buried in a Belgian mass grave near Hill 52, at the Goudberg, between Passendale and Westrozebeke. After the war, he was given his final resting place at the Belgian Military Cemetery of his hometown Roeselare, row 17, grave 9.
At the outbreak of the war in 1914, the family fled to France, eventually settling in the historic city of Cahors on the Lot River in southwestern France, known for its dark, full-bodied Malbec wines.
In 1916, young Belgian men who turned twenty while in exile were called up for the Belgian Army, which was engaged at the Yser in a grueling trench war. Juliaan was assigned to the 7th Company of the 3rd Carabiniers Regiment, part of the 19th Brigade of the 6th Division.
He took part in the Final Offensive, which began on 28 September 1918 in Flanders, just a stone’s throw from his hometown. The Belgian Army, supported by British and French units, attempted to break the German defenses on the heights of Passendale and Westrozebeke to advance toward Roeselare, but a decisive breakthrough initially failed.
After a cold and rainy night, the offensive resumed on 29 September, without any resupply or rotation of the infantry. Like the artillery, logistics could barely keep up with the troops. The captured terrain was churned and muddy; roads were unusable or under near-constant German fire.
The 6th Division was ordered, together with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Carabiniers, to clear German resistance around Westrozebeke. The village was reached in the morning by the 4th Carabiniers, but on the surrounding heights the Germans were firmly entrenched. Without sufficient artillery support, German machine-gun nests dominated the open ground around Westrozebeke.
The 3rd Carabiniers Regiment became stuck on the heights of Hill 52, south of the village, along the Westrozebeke–Passendale road. The 7th, 1st, and 9th Companies repeatedly attacked the ridge but were each time repelled by concentrated machine-gun fire and German artillery. By the end of the second day, the area around Westrozebeke was still not fully cleared of German resistance, which used the night to withdraw to the Flanders I defensive line before Roeselare.
On Monday, 30 September, the advance resumed. The exhausted Carabiniers of the 6th Division were held in reserve, behind the Hunters and Grenadiers of the 12th Division advancing toward Roeselare. Once over the ridge, the cratered landscape of the front gave way to green fields with seemingly intact villages and church towers. After years of trench warfare, maneuver warfare seemed restored, but this too proved vain. In early October, the offensive would again stall on the fortified German Flanders I line before Roeselare and Menen.
Juliaan Victor Hoet, not yet 22 years old, was reported killed on 30 September 1918. Shortly after his death, he was buried in a Belgian mass grave near Hill 52, at the Goudberg, between Passendale and Westrozebeke. After the war, he was given his final resting place at the Belgian Military Cemetery of his hometown Roeselare, row 17, grave 9.
Sources 3
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Geboorteakte (Stadsarchief Roeselare (SAR)). https://www.stadsarchiefroeselare.be/ Sources used |
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Verspreet J. (red.), Kroniek van de Belgische Regimenten Karabiniers 1830-1992: Deel 2 De Karabiniers tijdens de Grote Oorlog 1914-1918 (Evere, Printing House of Defence, 2003) pg. 154-158. Sources used |
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Weemaes M., Van de IJzer tot Brussel: Het Bevrijdingsoffensief van het Belgische Leger 28 september 1918 (Marcinelle, Maison d'Edition, 1972) pg. 115-117. Sources used |
More information 2
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Belgian War Dead Register https://wardeadregister.be/nl/soldier/22723 |
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Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=603EFC05-297B-11D2-B12B-BE2CDE1F7030 |