During the Allied air raid of 12 July 1943
on the textile factory Gernay-Delbecque
7 people were killed here
Georges GERNAY 60 years
Jules DECALUWÉ 63 years
Gentiel DESMET 53 years
August DEPAEPE 53 years
Remi VAN HOE 44 years
Marie DEMUYNCK 56 years
Gabrielle DESMET 15 years
and several wounded
Permanently remembered 75 years later
Below this memorial plaque are the cast iron letters ‘Gernay’ from 1937. These beautiful art deco letters stood above the entrance gate of the factory for decades at approximately the same place where you are standing now. The company name was originally: ‘Gernay – Delbecque’.
When the factory was demolished in 1996/1997, after years of vacancy, the letters were saved from demolition by Marc Crabeels and preserved for years with a view to a new destination. In this way, not only the victims of the air raid are commemorated, but also the industrial textile past of Waregem is referred to.