Monument to the Foresters, War memorial in Sonian Forest, Uccle, Belgium.
Monument to the Foresters is a dolmen of rough puddingstone from the Stavelot-Malmedy area, set within a circle of eleven puddingstone menhirs. The central dolmen has two stacked-stone pillars supporting a massive overhanging capstone inscribed "Aux forestiers morts pour la patrie 1914-1918". Each of the eleven menhirs, except one, bears the name and origin of a commemorated forester. It stands on the Grasdelle path in the Sonian Forest, on Uccle territory.
Built in 1920, the memorial commemorates eleven forest rangers who gave their lives during World War I. The stone circle represents a post-war effort to honor workers from a profession that paid a heavy price during the conflict.
The eleven menhirs around the dolmen each carry the name and home village of a commemorated forester, except one stone left without a name. The cover slab reads "Aux forestiers morts pour la patrie 1914-1918". A liberation tree was planted at the inauguration on 30 May 1920.
The memorial stands in a trapezoidal forest plot bounded by Drève de Harras to the east, Drève des Bonniers to the south, Drève de Lorraine to the west and Drève Saint-Hubert to the north, about 2,000 metres north-west of the Groenendaal racecourse. It is reached on foot along the Grasdelle path in the Sonian Forest, on Uccle territory.
The puddingstone blocks were quarried near Stavelot-Malmedy, not at Wéris, and the builders believed they were reproducing a Celtic burial, since dolmens were then thought to be Celtic graves. The eleven menhirs each carry a ranger's name and home village, except one, which remains blank.
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