{"id":226917,"date":"2024-05-02T12:11:08","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T10:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/?p=226917"},"modified":"2024-05-05T16:33:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-05T14:33:46","slug":"une-recherche-sur-alphonse-belin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/nos-pistes\/pistes-genealogiques-en-belgique\/recherche-14-18\/une-recherche-sur-alphonse-belin\/","title":{"rendered":"Alphonse BELIN"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Research on Alphonse BELIN<\/span><\/h2>\n

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When I started my genealogical research just over 3 years ago, I discovered the existence of my great-grandfather \u00c9mile Belin.
\nNo one had ever really talked to me about it until now (nor had I ever asked when I was younger).
\nLooking at the family record book, I discovered his brothers and sisters and his parents.
\nJ<\/span>e invite you to consult my tree on Geneanet<\/a> (invitation on request).
\nI first became interested in Alphonse when I discovered on \u00c9mile's service record the words
\n\u00a0\" 4e<\/sup> Category 1 brother killed\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Service record of Emile, Alphonse's brother<\/p><\/div>\n

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The only brother \u00c9mile had was Alphonse, the eldest (there was another brother, but he died in his first year).
\nHe's the only one to have been born in Belgium, so he's attached to the Belgian army.
\nHence my difficulty in finding a service record.<\/span>.
\nI said to myself that if it says this, it means that this brother died for his country? (on the forums someone told me that it could be a transcription error with a homonym.
\nThere is indeed an A. Belin from Wattrelos who died for France at that time, but it's not my Alphonse Belin, it's someone else).
\n<\/span>On the Royal Belgian Army Museum website<\/a> I was just able to find this information: <\/span>So a file number (PP 075044) and in type<\/em> (after months of thinking it was the name of a town) it says Steekkaart Pol. Gevangenen = Political prisoner card.
\nWhat a surprise! <\/span>Given that Alphonse died in February 1916 in Wattrelos, France, I have deduced from the date and his age that he died as a result of war wounds. <\/span>But on some forums it is said that if his death is registered as a civil death like any other citizen, it is because he did not die while serving as a soldier.
\nBut others say that at the time it was common to \"hide\" or \"falsify\" the cause of death or the person's status, because you have to remember that in 1916, the Germans occupied Wattrelos and the surrounding area at 100%.
\n<\/span>I'll leave you the links to the open discussions on two forums (very interesting): Geneanet and\u00a0<\/a><\/span>14-18 Forum<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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S<\/span>If you happen to know more about the subject, I'd be delighted to hear about it.
\n<\/span>I have just discovered today that a participant has found for me the cantonal militia card of Alphonse Belin (I am also enclosing it).
\nThere's a lot of information! Apparently found in the West Flanders Archives (I didn't know about this site, I'll have to have a look).
\nAlphonse started school on 26 May 1909 and, according to the photo I sent this morning, finished around 1911.
\nIt has to be said that until I obtained all this additional information I only had one and only one photo of Alphonse BELIN.
\nAnd even then, we weren't really sure it was him, although he did bear a striking resemblance to my great-grandfather \u00c9mile.
\nI also had the family record book (page attached) and that was all.
\n<\/span>Later, by chance, I found a newspaper article on Gallica from 1904 about Alphonse and a work accident, a nice anecdote. A few months ago, my mother was tidying up some papers and photos at my grandmother's house and found an envelope addressed to Alphonse Belin, from London... as far as I can see it's dated 1913.
\nThere's nothing left in the envelope.
\nWhy did I keep this envelope for so many years? So my head started spinning like a weather vane, I was thinking, \"Political prisoner? England-France-Belgium communication just before the war? 1 brother killed? \"Sounds perfect for an espionage story?
\nIn short, I'm lost with Alphonse's story.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Letter concerning alphonse BELIN<\/p><\/div>\n

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I'd very much like to know whether Alphonse died at Wattrelos because he was wounded in battle, or whether that had nothing to do with it.
\nI'd like to know why it says \"political prisoner\" in his file.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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The story of Alphonse BELIN in pictures<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Alphonse BELIN<\/strong> was born on 28 October 1889
\nin Dottignies, a Belgian commune in the Hainaut region, and died in rue du trou de Fouan in Wattrelos.
\nson of Charles Louis BELIN<\/strong> and Aur\u00e9lie LEBBRECHT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Birth certificate of Alphonse BELIN<\/p><\/div>\n

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Death certificate for Alphonse BELIN<\/p><\/div>\n

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NB. The rue du Trou de Fouan<\/strong>\u00a0is an interesting venue in Wattrelos, France.\u00a0It was named after a former name, \"le Pav\u00e9 Bleu\", and officially became the rue des Poilus on 3 November 1922.<\/a>1<\/sup><\/a>. The history of this street dates back to the 19th century, when Mr Henri Pollet, Mayor of Wattrelos, laid the foundation stone for a pavilion for contagious diseases.\u00a0The well is in the middle of the courtyard behind the main building.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Extract from the wedding book<\/p><\/div>\n

Draw for conscripts<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
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Registration form<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alphonse BELIN :\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>File no.: 75044.\u00a0 <\/span>Surname\/First name: Belin Alphonse. N<\/span>\u00e9 in : Dottignies on <\/span>\u00a028\/10\/1889. <\/span>Registration number: I06\/69689<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo 1<\/p><\/div>\n

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Photo 2<\/p><\/div>\n

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Photo 3<\/p><\/div>\n

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Photo 4<\/p><\/div>\n

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Photo 1 & 2<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Is the card practically incomplete? Only the surname, first name, place and date of birth, unit, date and place of death are noted.<\/span>
\nAs it says \"DECEASED\" in large letters on the header, I wonder if this form was simply made to report the soldier's death? Is that why nothing else is mentioned?<\/span>
\nI'm not familiar with army subjects, so I don't know if a Belgian soldier normally has a form like this, but it's well filled in, and when he dies, the word DECEASED is stamped on the form? Was the death mentioned on the form in all cases of death? Or was death only recorded in the event of death in the line of duty? This is important.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo 3<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If the date added in pencil is correct, it is a document dated 19\/10\/1921. I would love to see this document interpreted. But it's rather vague. Apparently the General Secretary<\/em> (from where? who?) replies to the Belgian Minister of National Defence (apparently at the time it was\u00a0Albert Dev\u00e8ze<\/a>). Certificates of civil status Nos. 7061 and 22887 were returned to the Minister...
\nThe subject of this letter was the search for 3 soldiers, possibly prisoners in Germany: Auguste Georlette, Otton Chrispeels and Alphonse Belin. In this letter, the Minister is told that it is currently difficult to confirm that these soldiers were prisoners in Germany and that more information is needed on these people before further research can be carried out. Many questions come to mind. Alphonse died in February 1916. Why are we trying to find out whether he was taken prisoner by the Germans? Are we trying to pay them a tribute\/title postum after the war? I don't quite understand. In the top left-hand corner I can see the file number but I don't understand the other numbers. At the bottom, what does Mod. n\u00ba I52 correspond to?<\/span>
\nPerhaps these numbers refer to other documents available?<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo 4<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The top part is a bit faded but I can read: 19 October 1921 \/ 2nd division rue? Jac??? 75044\/5927 (Alphonse's file number + other soldier's file number)\u00a0<\/span>
\nFor the addressee, I deduce that it says Dear Minister<\/em>. It seems to me that this is the typed letter and that the letter in photo 3 is the draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

It says 3 annexes, question: what are they? The civil status certificates of the 3 people?<\/span><\/p>\n

I'm a bit confused on the subject. What does it mean? Why and who is trying to find out these men were taken prisoner by the Germans 3 years after the war, knowing that Alphonse was already dead?<\/span><\/p>\n

Alphonse BELIN<\/strong> is the first person in the 2nd row on the left of the photo<\/span><\/p>\n

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Reply received on the photo in the 14-18 forum: \"If it says 'departure of the class of 1909', does that mean departure for war?\" \"No, rather that the conscripts of the class of 1909 have been discharged and are going home. The men all have a piece of paper tucked into their jacket, perhaps a waybill for returning home. It is likely that these soldiers belong to the 6th Line Regiment (Antwerp) and that they have come to the Beverloo camp to take part in one last major manoeuvre before their discharge. In that case, with 15 months' service for the infantry, the photo would date from around 1911. In any case, the uniforms are pre-war.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Inadditional training for BELIN Alphonse is well registered in the 6th<\/sup>\u00a0Line Regiment\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Text and image credit: Am\u00e9lie VANHOUTE\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/em>
\nCopyright G\u00e9niWal a.s.b.l : <\/strong><\/span>Reproduction prohibited without the written agreement of the parties.
\nTo contact Am\u00e9lie VANHOUTE : geniwal@gmail.com<\/a> who will forward your message to Mrs VANHOUTE<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Une recherche sur\u00a0 Alphonse BELIN   En commen\u00e7ant mes recherches g\u00e9n\u00e9alogiques il y a un peu plus de 3 ans j’ai d\u00e9couvert l’existence de mon arri\u00e8re- grand-p\u00e8re \u00c9mile Belin. Personne […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[88,78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives-militaires","category-recherche-14-18","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226917"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226998,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226917\/revisions\/226998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geniwal2.info-brihaye.lu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}