At 13 o’clock the regimental sergeant-major was waiting for us in bloc B, which hides more than someone would expect at first sight. With our petzl in our hand and the RSM leading the way we entered the notorious caves beneath the General’s Bloc. In advance the RSM sparked our interest by telling us some stories about his previous recces below ground. We could expect an old library with law books that dated back to the 17th century and the old concierge quarters.
At 13 o’clock the regimental sergeant-major was waiting for us in bloc B, which hides more than someone would expect at first sight. With our petzl in our hand and the RSM leading the way we entered the notorious caves beneath the General’s Bloc. In advance the RSM sparked our interest by telling us some stories about his previous recces below ground. We could expect an old library with law books that dated back to the 17th century and the old concierge quarters.
So of course we were bursting with curiosity when the RSM took us to the library. But when he opened the door and started explaining, his first words were: “Ow two weeks ago the books were still here…”. So far the library. But we never lost hope and with renewed energy we continued through the maze. Now we were going to the concierge quarters. On our way we passed some rooms with tons of shelves where the archives used to be. When we entered the living room and the kitchen of the concierge we noticed something strange.
Although we were belowground it wasn’t cold, it was even quite hot. The heater was turned on all the way! Was the concierge still alive and living here? Or was his ghost still wandering around the school looking for some innocents students he could catch? Until this day, the mystery remains unsolved… luckily the students do save energy because when they leave there heater on, they get punished, isn’t it? We hadn’t much time to think about it, because the RSM already wanted to show the next attraction on his tour, the bathroom of the concierge. The bathroom may have been in good condition at the time, but it was clear that now those times have passed. Next up was the concierge his bedroom. It’s fair to say that with some creativity and craftsmanship you can put his bed back together and have a little rest. Al of a sudden everyone almost shit his pants when a flashlight shone in our direction from a small crawl.
Luckily it was only Sophy, who with her small stature was probably the only one in the team who could crawl into such a space. In the past, all the buildings of the school were connected to each other by means of such corridors. When the campus was renovated, most of it was filled with concrete. In these basements, during the first week of the first year students were often organized activities, such as a full ops ramping trip, to integrate the new students and show them around under the campus Renaissance.
While we were walking through the maze of rooms, corridors and tunnels we noticed that some people had been here before and they left some inscriptions on the walls. Maybe they were hieroglyphics, maybe murals of the cavemen, but it’s fair to say they looked almost like promotion numbers...
Lukas Bouckenooghe
157 SSMW
