Jump to content

Antoine Fonck

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Antoine-Adolphe Fonck
Born(1893-01-10)10 January 1893
Verviers, Liège Province, Belgium
Died4 August 1914(1914-08-04) (aged 21)
Thimister-Clermont, Liège Province, Belgium
Buried
Thimister-Clermont Communal Cemetery
Allegiance Belgium
Branch Belgian Land Component
Years of service1911–1914
Unit2nd Lancer Regiment
Known forFirst Belgian soldier to be killed in World War I
Battles / warsWorld War I 

Antoine-Adolphe Fonck (10 January 1893 – 4 August 1914) was a Belgian soldier of World War I. He was known as the first Belgian soldier to be killed in the war.

Biography

[edit]

Fonck was born on 10 January 1893 in Verviers, Belgium,[1] into a family of modest income.[2] He lost both of his parents in childhood and was raised by his grandmother. He later worked as a shopkeeper at the Grand Bazaar of Liège.[2]

In 1911 he enlisted as a volunteer in the Belgian army, joining the 2nd Lancer Regiment. Following the outbreak of World War I, on 4 August 1914, at 10:30 am, he was killed during a reconnaissance mission to the "La Croix-Polinard" hamlet in Thimister-Clermont.[1]

Fonck was buried at the Thimister-Clermont Communal Cemetery on 16 August 1914.[1] A monument was later erected at the spot where he died.[3]

See also

[edit]

First soldiers killed in World War I

[edit]

Last soldiers killed in World War I

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Monument à la mémoire du cavalier Antoine FONCK, Thimister". bel-memorial.org (in French). Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  2. ^ a b "Le lancier Antoine- Adolphe Fonck, premier mort belge de la Première Guerre mondiale". Curieuses Histoires Belgique (in French). 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  3. ^ "Memorial Antoine-Adolphe Fonck - Thimister-Clermont". TracesOfWar.com. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
[edit]