The Trench of Death is the only remaining Belgian trench from the Great War. Since 1919 the site has been accessible to the public and in 2014 the Royal Army Museum invested in a new scenography for its accompanying museum. It is based on new archive research, constructing a complete new history of this mythic trench. While deconstructing some tenacious myths, new questions arose. During this seminar Belgian historian Jan Van der Fraenen will talk about the history of this trench, identify some of the myths, and explain how he intends to use this historic site as a case-study for his doctoral research on death at the Belgian front during the First World War.
Jan Van der Fraenen is a researcher at the Belgian Royal Army Museum. While working for Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, he co-authored a book on Tyne Cot Cemetery and has published on Belgian spies from the First World War. He is now preparing a PhD at the University of Ghent on the subject of the Trench of Death.
In Flanders Fields Museum, Gateways to the First World War and the University of Kent present a series of eight seminars, free and open to all.
Seminars will take place in Canterbury during the autumn term and in Ypres during the spring term.
Venue: Keynes Seminar Room 13, University of Kent
