An eye witness to the entry of the victorious Germans into Brussels
describes the advance as a wonderful sight. He writes as follows:
“The German entry into Brussels was a wonderful and impressive sight. I
have seen many military parades in time of peace, but never a parade on
so vast a scale, which went on without a hitch. It was impossible to
imagine that these men had been fighting continuously for ten days, or
that they had even been on active service. First of all came six
cyclists, then a detachment of cavalry, then a great mass of infantry,
then guns and field guns and more infantry, then huge howitzers, then a
pontoon train and then more infantry from 1.30 o’clock Thursday until
Sunday morning without a break.
“The pontoon trains were especially impressive. They were carried upside
down on trolleys, drawn by six horses. All cavalry horses as well as the
horses of the artillery and commissary were in wonderful condition. The
men also were very fresh and keen. Each company had a stove, the fire of
which was never out. There was always some hot drink ready for the
troops and the German soldiers told me that it is only this hot coffee
and soup which kept them going on long forward marches.
“The inhabitants of Brussels turned out by thousands to watch this
endless procession of Germans as they marched by singing all sorts of
songs and national airs. They sang in excellent tune, one company taking
up the refrain as soon as another stopped. Like everything else their
singing is perfectly organized.
“An aeroplane kept its station ahead of this advancing horde and it
signalled both day and night by dropping various colored stars. What
these signals meant I do not know, but all movements of the troops were
regulated by them.
“I became overwhelmed after watching this immense mass of men marching
by without a hitch for three days. I never believed such a perfect
machine could exist.”