Lonesome Memorials #5: Audenarde, Belgium, American Monument

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This relatively small monument to the AEF's effort in the last days of the war in helping King Albert's army push the occupying forces out of his country with the interesting address of 6 General Pershing Straat was among the hardest for me to locate during my very first visit to the European battlefields. Worse, it was the only one where I had difficulty finding a parking place. Years later, when I had a group tour there, I had to send the bus driver on a tour of the countryside while we got a look at the monument. Nevertheless, it is well worth a visit, especially combined with a visit to the nearby Flanders Field American Cemetery in Waregem, 10 miles to the west, and the 37th Ohio Bridge across the Scheldt River, one to the north. Frankly, all these sites are forgotten by most Americans and deserve more visits from our countrymen.

91st Division Troops in the Sector, 1918

Background

The Allies attacked Germany’s last major defensive line in Belgium in late October 1918. Led by the King of Belgium, Allied forces launched a campaign to drive the Germans beyond the Scheldt River. The U.S. 37th and 91st divisions redeployed from the Meuse-Argonne Offensive to reinforce the French Army on the Flanders front. East of Waregem, the 91st Division turned the enemy out of the densely wooded Spitaals Bosschen before advancing east. On 2 November 1918, the 91st Division captured Audenarde. 

1937 Dedication and Unveiling

After the war, ABMC constructed this monument to honor the American divisions that fought in this area. It is also the only monument constructed by ABMC that also honors a military unit smaller than a division—the 53rd Field Artillery Brigade. This brigade, made up of soldiers from Pennsylvania, fought with the 91st Division. After the war the State of Pennsylvania intended to construct a memorial dedicated to the 53rd but instead worked with ABMC to ensure that the unit would be honored on the ABMC memorial.

Striking American Eagle Detail

How to Get There 

Audenarde American Monument is located in the town of Oudenaarde (Audenarde), Belgium, 18 miles south of Gent (Gand), 45 miles west of Brussels, and 183 miles north of Paris. The Audenarde Monument is in a park at General Pershing Straat in the center of Audenarde. Its map coordinates are  50.846858299679106, 3.6023223970598774.

Sources:  Google Maps and the American Battle Monuments Commission's website and World War I Battlefield Companion, to which your editor was a humble contributor.