Joe English - the Irishman who changed Flemish history
Bart Jr. Depestel, a local guide in Flanders Fields, provides an insight into the unknown life of Joe English
31 August marks the 106th anniversary of Joe English's death. Although he may not be well known in Ireland, in Flanders he is a household name.
The presence of Ireland in the Flanders region is not widely discussed but it is there in its subtleties. One such example, are the Celtic crosses erected in various Flemish cemeteries. These specific crosses are known as ‘Heldenhuldezerken’, gravestones honouring soldiers who died during battle and are among the most important Flemish symbols of World War I. Joe English, a Fleming with Irish roots, designed these symbolic headstones.
Joe was born in Bruges in 1882 to a Flemish mother, Marie Dinnewit (1858-1905) and an Irish father, Henry English (1853-1918). Henry was an orphan from Waterford. He emigrated to Belgium as a child and married Marie in 1879. He initially set up in Bruges as a gold embroiderer. Joe was one of their thirteen children.
Talented painter
Joe was a very talented drafter and painter and managed to receive his training at the prestigious Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. As he commenced his military training, he began to incorporate his studies with elements of the military. His art being popular enough enabled English to work as a self-employed painter before WW1. When the war broke out he was mobilized, however, thanks to his artistic talent and age (32 years old), he was deployed behind the front in the artistic section. He drew and painted portraits, war situations, religious scenes, cartoons, etc. A well-known drawing of his, “Flemings, Remember Ypres” shows a burning Ypres bombed by German troops in November 1914.
When the Belgian army introduced uniform gravestones with a French inscription only, there was uproar from a number of Flemish soldiers. In response, English drew a Celtic cross with the monogram ‘AVV – VVK’ that stands for “Everything for Flanders, Flanders for Christ”.
Underneath he drew a ‘Blauwvoet’; this bird (probably an osprey) appeared in the historical novel “The Boys of Flanders” by Hendrik Conscience (the writer of “The Lion of Flanders”). The Blauwvoet was a Flemish student struggle song written by Albrecht Rodenbach in the late 19th century. When the Flemish student leader Firmin Deprez died in May 1917, he was the first to receive such a Heldenhuldezerk. Hundreds would follow.
A Flemish symbol
On 31 August 1918, Joe English died of poorly treated appendicitis and was buried near Furnes. Soon after his death, he became an ‘Ijzersymbool’, meaning a symbol for those who fought for Flanders along the river Yser. In 1920 to honour English, a special grave monument was erected in his memory.
Ten years later, English was exhumed and reburied under a ‘Heldenhuldezerk’ in the crypt of the Yser Tower (which is a giant ‘Heldenhuldezerk’) in Kaaskerke, Diksmuide. The tribute of 1920 was accompanied by a pilgrimage to his grave, and became the first ‘Ijzerbedevaart’ (Yser Pilgrimage). The 97th ‘Ijzerbedevaart’ will take place at the Yser Tower on 1 September 2024.
Today, the Yser Tower has grown into an important international peace monument. ‘No more war’ is inscribed on the monument in four languages - Dutch, German, French, and English.
On his anniversary, we remember Joe English, the Flemish man with Irish roots who ensured his compatriots would be honoured in death.
Sources:
- Vandeweyer, Luc. 2008. Joe English 1914-1918. Kunstenaar tussen Frontbeweging en Activisme. Vzw IJzertoren-Diksmuide.
- The Museum on the Yser/ Het Museum aan de IJzer
*This is a gratuitous article authored by Belgian historian Bart Jr. Depestel.*