Godewaersvelde Explained

Godewaersvelde
Commune Status:Commune
Image Coat Of Arms:Blason de la ville de Godewaersvelde (59) Nord-France.svg
Arrondissement:Dunkerque
Canton:Bailleul
Insee:59262
Postal Code:59270
Mayor:Antoine Vermeulen[1]
Term:2020 - 2026
Intercommunality:CC Flandre Intérieure
Coordinates:50.7947°N 2.6442°W
Elevation M:41
Elevation Min M:27
Elevation Max M:163
Area Km2:11.89
Demonym:Godewaersveldois (es)

Godewaersvelde (in French pronounced as /ɡɔdvaʁsvɛld/; French Flemish: Godsvelde) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France, near the Belgian border.[2]

Location

Godewaersvelde is in northern France along the Belgian border and is in the heart of Flanders, less than half an hour from Lille and Dunkirk. Godewaersvelde covers 1189 hectares or nearly 12 square kilometers and is crossed by several county roads: the R & D 948 which connects at the A25 interchange in Poperinge, 139 R & D that leads to Boeschèpe and Eecke, DR 18, which connects Route Méteren to Poperinge.

Etymology

The name of the commune means "Godafritha's Heath" or "Godefried Fields".

British soldiers called it "God" during the First World War. A popular story claims that Godewaersvelde means "God bless our fields", but it appears to be unfounded, and is dismissed by linguists and historians.

Another WWI troop nickname was "Gerty Wears Velvet".[3]

Dutch

Godewaarsvelde; Frans-Vlaams: Godsvelde; official French: Godewaersvelde is in Franse Westhoek, in the Nord Department, France. The community has 2000 dwellers. In the place where French Flemish dialect and in the Westhoek becoming known as Godsvelde is spoken.

Famous people

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Répertoire national des élus: les maires. data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022. fr.
  2. https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/geographie/commune/59262-godewaersvelde INSEE commune file
  3. Daily Telegraph, Saturday 27 April 1918, reprinted in page 32, Daily Telegraph, Friday 27 April 2018; see English-language names given by WWI troops to places affected by WWI
  4. Sources: Jozef van Overstraeten1see also La Voix du Nord, News / Hazebrouck / Page 4 / Article 2 Edition Sunday, April 24, 2005