In 1914, Isidoor Dochy-Baccarne fled his farm here. The British call it Thames Farm on their maps. In early 1917, the Germans start building the Flandern I position here. This bunker on the railway is part of it. It stands in the middle of the position, surrounded by barbed wire. A trench connects it to the farm. The bunker has three rooms and an adjacent machine gun post. The latter is the only thing that survived the clearance works in the 1920s so it is still visible today.
German aid station
On 4 October 1917, the bunker is set up as a German aid post. Around 7.50am it is taken by the 42nd Battalion of the 3rd Australian Division. Near Thames Farm, more than 100 German prisoners of war are taken. So too are the medical staff of this bunker. On 11 October, the 9th Australian Field Ambulance establishes its Regimental Aid Post here. The railway thus becomes an important evacuation route. At the end of October 1917, the route is still being used by Canadians.
Remains of stretchers were found during excavations in 2005. The remaining underground remains of the bunker are uncovered.
