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

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

First soldiers killed in World War I

Last soldiers killed in World War I

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Monument à la mémoire du cavalier Antoine FONCK, Thimister". bel-memorial.org (in French). Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  2. 1 2 "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.
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