Belgium’s oldest war veteran dies at 107

Albert Van Raemdonck, Belgium’s oldest man and war veteran, has died at a residential home in Sint-Niklaas, East Flanders.

Born on 6 July 1916, he was one of the Belgian soldiers in the second world war who lived through the 18-day campaign, when Belgium was taken over by Germany in 1940.

After Belgium’s capitulation, Van Raemdonck saw a ship taking Belgian prisoners of war explode after sailing over a mine, and witnessed 200 of his fellow soldiers drown.

Briefly on the front line himself, he escaped death several times.

He regularly paid tribute to people who lost their lives in the war. Until he was 100 he carried the National Federation of Belgian Fighters banner and led commemoration ceremonies across Belgium.

Before the war, he worked as a printer at a Sint-Niklaas firm. He returned to this profession after the war until he retired in 1976. His hobbies included music – he was chief clarion player at the town’s Excelsior brass band for more than 30 years.

When his wife died, in 1999, he lived alone in the centre of Sint-Niklaas, only moving to the Ennea retirement home in 2019.

Van Raemdonck, who held the title of oldest man since 31 October 2023 when Jaak Broekx (born 1914 in Bree and the oldest of eight children) from Limburg died at 109, was known as someone who always looked on the bright side. He often told journalists that starting every day with a smile was a secret to his long life.

Belgium’s oldest woman, from Hainaut province, celebrated her 109th birthday last September.