Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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consciousness, and that even though W orId War One monuments still stand they have
become almost "invisible". Not only are they difficult to locate, many are in a desperate
state of disrepair, others have fallen victim to weeds, and some have been entirely altered.
The mobilisation monument in Scheveningen, for example, still exists, yet finding it
without lmowing its exact position is complicated. It took a photo from the 1920s with
identifiable buildings in it for me to locate the statued obelisk on the beach.?1 The
visschersmonument proved even more difficult to find, and suffers from severe neglect. It
stands among overgrown bushes and scrubs almost obscured from the road by trees and has
become an easy target for graffiti artists. The municipality of Amersfoort, however,
embarked in November 1998 on a grand-scale restoration of the impressive
belgenmonument and its gardens in their community. Locals hope that as a result of the
restoration process, the monument will be placed on the rijksmonumentenlijst (State
Monument List).72
Most symbolic of all in terms of Great War neglect is the 711arinemonument in Den
Helder. In the closing months of W orId War Two this memorial was hit during an air raid
on the town. Locals restored it after 1945: the process included the removal of the
inscription to the 1914 to 1918 years, the covering up of the 58 original names on it with
marble slabs, and its rededication to "those who died", by which both the citizens of Den
Helder as well as all those who were killed while in pay of the Navy are implied. The
monument is now the official W orId War Two monument for the port city, and is the scene
for wreath laying ceremonies every year on Remembrance Day.73 Nothing on the memorial
itself harks back to its origins, to the Great War, nor do the commemorations recall the
previous world conflict.
71 Kooiman (ed.), De Nederlandsche Strijdmacht p. 735.
72 Visit to the monument, Amersfoortse Berg, Amersfoort, 7 June 1999. Newspaper accounts: "Belgenmonument
krijgt opknapbeurt" [Belgian monument to be restored] Algemeen Dagblad. 25 November 1998; "Belgenmonument
jaar land in restauratie" [Belgian monument one year in restoration] Amersfoortsche Courant. 19 November 1998;
"Restauratie Belgenmonument van start" [Restoration of Belgian monument started] Handelspost. 26 November
1998; Amersfoortsche Courant. Speciale uitgave over de geschiedenis van het Belgenmonument door Rotaryclub
Amersfoort. [Amersfoort's Newspaper. Special edition on the history ofthe Belgian monument, by the Rotary Club,
Amersfoort] Friday 21 November 1997. All these newspaper sources with grateful thanks to E. C. M. van Nieuwkerk,
Bureauchef Publieksvoorlichting [Head of Public Information Service], Sector Dienstverlening en Algemene Zaken
[Department of Service and General Affairs], Gemeente Amersfoort [Municipality of Amersfoort].
73 Correspondence with Bert van del' Meer, Head of Section Communication of Den Helder's Municipal Council,
June 1999.