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BRAVE BELGIANS
From the French of
BARON C. BUFFIN
by
Alys Hallard
Preface by
Baron de Broqueville
Belgian Minister of War
Awarded the Audiffred Prize by the French Academy of
Moral and Political Science
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
1918
Copyright, 1918
by
G. P. Putnam's Sons
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
Foreword
St. Pierrebrouck.
January 15, 1916.
My dear Friend:
I am glad to hear that you have now completed the work you undertook of
collecting, from our soldiers themselves, these accounts of the war.
They will certainly help people to know, and to appreciate, what you so
rightly call our heroic and valiant Belgium.
You could not have employed your talent and activity in a better way.
As it is not yet possible to write the History of the tragic days
we are living, it is highly necessary to collect the most striking
episodes, and to prevent the loss of testimony to which posterity can
appeal when it wishes to judge the men and things of our times. The
accounts that you have collected so patiently help us to live over
again the whole campaign, from the startling revelation which the
glorious days of Liége were for many of us, down to the hard moments
through which our army is passing in its victorious defence of the Yser.
"The determined resistance," our King called it in his memorable speech
to Parliament. How we see this determined resistance in the magnificent
enthusiasm of our soldiers, arresting, around the Liége forts, the
first wave of invaders, without troubling about the human torrent
rolling onwards towards them from the whole of Germany! How we see it,
too, in the tragic episodes of the invasion, in the bold adventures of
our volunteers, in those glorious deaths of which your book reminds us,
deaths of which we cannot think without a pang at our hearts!
Your accounts prove to us how the unanimous will of the nation
galvanised the army and how the example of our chiefs, from the King
down to the merest sub-lieutenant, encouraged and brought about the
most noble self-sacrifices. These accounts prove to us, thanks to many
details of episodes lived through during these eighteen months of war,
what a quantity of virtues our magnificent little army, brave and
studious as it is, held in reserve for the hour of danger.
Well-known figures and deeply regretted friends are evoked in these
pages by their sorrowful comrades. These rapid sketches, written in
campaign diaries by those who shared the same dangers and sacrificed
everything to the same cause, have a special value. The modesty of the
man who tells the story is still another homage rendered to the whole
Corps, and it is to the Army, to the traditional, disciplined, national
force, that our admiration goes out, when we read of the fine deeds
described in this book.
On reading it, the country will better understand the affection and
respect it owes to the soldier from whom it may demand, some future
day, all that those of our day have endured and given.
In your former book, you retraced for us the early life of Leopold I.,
our first king. When I congratulated you on your conscientious work,
in depicting for us the early days of the man who has very justly been
called Leopold the Wise, I little thought that you would soon be the
chronicler of the army of his grandson, acknowledged by the whole
world, as the champion of loyalty and honour, the incarnation of an
oppressed and valiant country.
How times have changed since then!
The horizon is brightening, though, and I hope that, in order to
complete your work, you may be able to connect the past with the
present and sketch for us the History of this gigantic struggle, in
which the indomitable courage of the Belgians, led by Albert I., will
have preserved, for our country, the Independence, and the Liberty that
the political spirit of our fathers had won for it under the reign of
Leopold.
Accept, my dear friend, my best wishes,
Broqueville.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
The Defence of Visé 1
From the account given by Deputy Staff Major
Collyns of the 12th Line Regiment.
CHAPTER II
The First German Flag Taken 10
From the account given by Deputy Staff Major
Collyns of the 12th Line Regiment.
CHAPTER III
The Attack on the Offices of the 3rd
Division 17
From accounts by General Major Stassin, Commanders
Vinçotte and Buisset, Captains Lhermite and
Renard, Adjutant Burlet and Private Poncelet.
CHAPTER IV
The Sart-Tilman Combat 24
From an account given by Père de Groote, Army
Chaplain to the 1st Regiment of Unmounted
Chasseurs, and completed by Major N---- of the
4th Regiment of Unmounted Chasseurs.
CHAPTER V
The Retreat of the 800 34
By Captain ---- of the 14th Line Regiment.
CHAPTER VI
Chaudfontaine 41
By Count Gaston de Ribaucourt, Sub-Lieutenant of
the Heavy Howitzer Corps.
CHAPTER VII
Loncin Fort 51
From accounts by the Army Doctors: Maloens, of
the 3rd Battery of Heavy Howitzers; Courtin, of the
1st Chasseurs; Roskam, of the 14th Line Regiment;
Defalle, Director of the Calais Municipal Crèche
Ambulance; and Quartermaster Krantz, of the
Gendarmerie.
CHAPTER VIII
Haelen 63
By Colonel Baltia, Chief of Staff of the 1st Cavalry
Division.
CHAPTER IX
The Budingen Combat 77
Death of Lieutenant Count W. d'Ursel. By Colonel
de Schietere de Lophem, Commander of the 4th
Lancers.
CHAPTER X
Aerschot 87
From the report of Captain Commander Gilson, commanding
the 4th Company of the 1st Battalion of
the 9th Line Regiment.
CHAPTER XI
A Few Episodes of the Retreat of Namur 96
By Captain Paulis, Artillery Commander.
CHAPTER XII
Death of Corporal Trésignies 113
From the account given by First Sergeant-Major ----
of the 2nd Regiment of Unmounted Chasseurs.
CHAPTER XIII
The First Attack of the Retrenched Camp
of Antwerp 116
By Father Hénusse, S.J., Army Chaplain to the 84th
Artillery Battery.
CHAPTER XIV
The Re-Taking of Aerschot 122
By Sub-Lieutenant Ch. Dendale of the 7th Line
Regiment.
CHAPTER XV
A Fine Capture 127
By Staff Deputy Captain Courboin.
CHAPTER XVI
The Second Sortie from Antwerp 131
Episode of the Battle before Over-de-Vaert (Haecht).
By Lieutenant L. Chardome of the 14th Line
Regiment.
CHAPTER XVII
The 1st Regiment of Lancers 140
By Staff Deputy Colonel E. Joostens.
CHAPTER XVIII
The Termonde Bridge 150
By an officer of the 4th Artillery Regiment.
CHAPTER XIX
The No. 7 Armoured Car 155
By Sub-Lieutenant G. Thiery, of the 1st Regiment of
Guides, in command of the group of armoured cars
of the 1st Cavalry Division.
CHAPTER XX
The Wavre-St. Catherine Combat 169
By Sub-Lieutenant Henroz, in command of the 1st
Company of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment
of Fortress Carabineers.
CHAPTER XXI
The Death-Struggle of Lierre Fort 184
By an officer of the garrison.
CHAPTER XXII
Prisoner in the Soltau Camp 197
From the account given by Amand Hasevoets, First
Sergeant of the Regiment of Fortress Grenadiers.
CHAPTER XXIII
The Last Fragments of Antwerp 209
By Artillery Captain M---- C----.
CHAPTER XXIV
Tournai 228
By General-Major Frantz.
CHAPTER XXV
Dixmude 236
From an account given by Ernest Collin, a private of
the 12th Line Regiment, and completed by Ernest
Job, a corporal in the same regiment.
CHAPTER XXVI
Eight Days in Dixmude 256
Extracts from the Diary of an Artillery Observer, by
F. de Wilde of Brigade B (formerly 12th Brigade).
CHAPTER XXVII
Four Hours with the Boches 271
From the Diary of Dr. van der Ghinst, of the Cabour
(Adinkerque) Military Ambulance, and an account
given by Léon Deliens, Private of the 11th Line
Regiment.
CHAPTER XXVIII
The Tervaete Charge 283
By Artillery Captain M---- C----.
CHAPTER XXIX
A Reconnaissance 287
From the Diary of Father Hénusse, S.J., Chaplain of
the 84th Battery.
CHAPTER XXX
The Irony of Fate 295
By M. Sadsawska, Civic Guard, Motorcyclist of the
1st Line Regiment.
CHAPTER XXXI
Observers 299
By Artillery Captain M---- C----.
CHAPTER XXXII
A Patrol 312
By Artillery Captain M---- C----.
CHAPTER XXXIII
The Death March 319
By Doctor Duwez, Army Surgeon to the Regiment of
Grenadiers.
CHAPTER XXXIV
Shelter D.A. 327
By Dr. Duwez, Army Surgeon to the Regiment of
Grenadiers.
CHAPTER XXXV
Steenstraete 337
By Dr. Duwez, Army Surgeon to the Regiment of
Grenadiers.
CHAPTER XXXVI
Lizerne 340
By Dr. Duwez, Army Surgeon to the Regiment of
Grenadiers.
CHAPTER XXXVII
Death of Sergeant Count Charles d'Ansembourg 344
By Dr. Duwez, Army Surgeon to the Regiment of
Grenadiers.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
A Guard on the Yser:--The Death Trench 350
By Corporal J. Libois, of the 12th Line Regiment.
CHAPTER XXXIX
Nieuport in Ruins 361
By Sub-Lieutenant L. Gilmont, Director of the Automobile
Park, Ocean Ambulance, La Panne.
CHAPTER XL
The St. Elisabeth Chapel 368
By Marcel Wyseur, Registrar to the Military Court.
La Panne, August 26, 1915.
Brave Belgians
CHAPTER I
The Defence of Visé
From the Account Given by Deputy Staff Major Collyns of the 12th Line
Regiment[1]
In order that the reader may have a connected idea with regard to the
episodes related in the following chapters, the main lines of the
preliminaries of the war must be remembered. On the 2nd of August,
1914, at 7 P.M., Germany presented an ultimatum to Belgium. The
Belgian Government replied at 7 A.M. the following day that "it would
resist, by all means within its power, any attempt to violate the
rights of Belgium."
On the morning of the 4th of August, the German extreme right,
composed of 12 Regiments of Cavalry and of Battalions of Chasseurs,
brought in motor-cars, crossed the frontier and endeavoured to seize
the Visé bridge. This attempt did not succeed. The enemy then extended
its movement in a northerly direction, crossed the Meuse at the Lexhe
ford and endeavoured to crush the resistance of the fortified place
of Liége. On the 5th of August, troops of the 3rd, 4th, and 7th Corps
made an assault on that part of the defence front comprised between
the Meuse and the Vesdre. Before the Barchon, Evegnée, and Fléron
Forts, the assailants were driven back with sanguinary losses.
Between the Barchon Fort and the Meuse, the 7th Corps broke through
the lines, but it was counter-attacked by the 11th Brigade with a
bayonet charge, and thrown back in absolute disorder in the direction
of the Dutch frontier.
Fresh assaults began in the night between the 5th and 6th of August.
Fresh troops belonging to the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Corps took
part, and the attack extended over the whole ground between the Liers
Fort and the Meuse, above Liége, that is on a front of about 22 miles.
The Belgian troops had to face danger on every side at the same
time and, after a most heroic defence, the 3rd Division fell back,
exhausted. The Forts continued to resist and the last one fell on the
17th of August.
During the night of August 1-2, 1914, Lieutenant-General Leman,
Military Governor of the fortified position of Liége, entrusted to me
the defence of the Visé and Argenteau bridges. It was an important
mission, as German forces were massed at the frontier and were
preparing to violate our neutrality.
I hurried to the barracks, called up my Battalion[2] of about four
hundred men, and started for Visé, where I arrived at seven in the
morning. The whole day was taken up in organising the defence. A
company was placed at each of the bridges of Visé and Argenteau, which
are about two miles apart; a platoon of about thirty men were told off
to guard the Lixhe ford, about six miles to the north; outposts were
sent to the right bank of the river, with instructions to send out
patrols and reconnaissances in the direction of the frontier. The rest
of the Battalion remained in reserve at Haccourt. The soldiers were
enthusiastic and had perfect confidence. Most of them looked upon the
war as a kind of pleasure party, which would relieve the monotony of
their barrack life, and their good humour increased, thanks to the
cordial welcome they received from the population.
In the evening, Captain Chaudoir arrived with about sixty men. He was
in command of the Mounted Chasseurs of the Liége Civic Guard. They
were all brave fellows, courageous and ready for anything, but their
equipment was very defective and they were even short of rifles. I
accepted their services, nevertheless, and entrusted them with the
surveillance of the valleys of the Meuse and the Geer.
The inhabitants of Visé also offered their help.
"I am a good shot," said a lawyer, "and I want to do my share. Put me
in the firing line."
"No, I cannot have any civilians," I replied, categorically, and I sent
them all away.
On the following day, August 3rd, M. Delattre arrived. He is an
engineer, a specialist in explosives, and he had been sent by the Staff
to attend to the obstruction of the right bank of the river and the
destruction of the bridges. Groups of workmen, under his orders, felled
trees with which to bar the roads, placed mines in the piles and, in
short, put everything in readiness for the blowing up of the bridges,
if necessary.
This fresh responsibility did not by any means lessen my anxiety.
It was very difficult to realise what the situation really was. The
most extraordinary rumours circulated and were believed, no matter
how improbable they might seem. The Staff of the 3rd Army Division
announced to me, by telephone, that German troops had crossed the
Netherlands and were advancing through Limbourg. Thanks to the
telephonic communication I had established with the _gendarmerie_
stations, and with Lieutenant de Menten, who was on the watch with a
platoon of the 2nd Lancers, near the Dutch frontier, I obtained exact
information with regard to the enemy's movements, and was able to let
the Commander of the Division know that the rumours were inexact. They
had been invented by Boche spies, and circulated by scaremongers.
Towards evening, General Leman warned me that two divisions of the
enemy's cavalry had invaded our territory. He ordered me to blow up the
Visé and Argenteau bridges. I transmitted the order to Delattre and,
whilst he was making his final arrangements, I withdrew my outposts
from the right bank of the river and, for fear of accidents, proceeded
to evacuate the houses in the vicinity. When everything was quite
ready, Delattre came to me.
"You can make your mind easy," he said, "we have taken the precaution
to put a double charge, so that whatever----"
The sound of an explosion interrupted his speech and we both hurried
away full of confidence. Our disappointment can easily be imagined,
for great blocks of macarite had not exploded. The Visé bridge was
weakened, but it was still practicable for carriages. At Argenteau, I
was told, the result was no better.
"Bad work!" declared a Sergeant, who appeared to be as mortified as
I was. Several civilians were jeering. I pitched into them and that
soothed my nerves.
We made use of the telephone at once and asked the Staff at Liége
to send us fresh explosives immediately. The delay seemed to us
interminable and we wondered whether we should be surprised by the
enemy.
The motor-cars arrived at last. We placed the powder, and by six
o'clock all the necessary measures were taken. This time the explosion
was formidable. Great blocks of stone, a cubic yard in diameter, were
flung two hundred yards away. The middle of the bridge, about fifty
yards in length, fell into the Meuse.
A most unfortunate accident now happened. The shock produced by
the explosion destroyed the telegraphic and telephonic lines and
interrupted all communications. I wondered what was to be done. Was my
mission ended, as the bridges no longer existed? Ought I to return to
our fortified position of Liége or stay and defend the passages of the
river?
None of the couriers I sent to General Leman came back. I was therefore
obliged to decide for myself. I was there and I determined to stay
there. At daybreak, on the 4th, I endeavoured to complete the defence
by utilising the houses overlooking the bridges, as from them it would
be possible to fight the enemy on the opposite bank of the river. My
information service left much to be desired. From time to time, my
soldiers crossed the river, in two little boats which we had discovered
by chance, and went in search of news. It was in this way that I learnt
the fact that an important corps of the enemy's cavalry was at Berneau
and that it was followed, at a short distance by a strong force of
infantry.
Suddenly, we heard a buzzing overhead and a _Taube_ appeared in the
sky. For a few minutes the sinister bird hovered over us, flinging down
General von Emmich's proclamations. It then returned to the enemy's
lines, taking back very inexact information. In the first place, it
could not see my troops hidden behind the houses, and it is very
possible, thanks to its height, that it did not see that the bridge was
destroyed, as the middle part was lying downwards in the Meuse.
Warned by the aëroplane I modified my arrangements and collected all
my forces at Visé, with the exception of one Company which I had left
at Argenteau. It was very fortunate that I acted in this way, as, at
one o'clock, some Death's Head Hussars appeared in sight and, without
any hesitation, made straight for the bridge. My soldiers watched them
anxiously, their fingers on the triggers of their guns. "Wait," I said,
"wait, let them come nearer." As soon as I saw them on the first part
of the bridge, I yelled out "Fire!" "Piff! Paff! Piff! Paff!" ... With
the sudden crackling sound of the firing, the terrified horses reared,
kicked, and struggled, and the horsemen rolled into the river; others,
turning quickly around, rushed into the ranks that were following,
collided with them and, in wild flight, escaped through the fields of
clover and oats. All was helter-skelter! Just at this moment, heavy
firing began from the houses on the right bank near the river. Unseen
by us, some Germans had entered these buildings and were now protecting
the retreat of their cavalry. From one bank to the other, the firing
continued at intervals, but without much damage on either side. During
a lull, I called out to my brave men: "Permission to grill one!" Ah,
how joyfully they revelled in that cigarette! The baptism of fire had
not produced the least emotion. They were all smiling and joking with
each other, and as soon as the enemy recommenced the firing, the
combat continued as gaily as possible.
Sheltered by a wall, their jerseys unbuttoned, the men of my reserve
contingent were fortifying themselves by devouring bread and butter.
The idea suddenly occurred to me to try an experiment. "Well," I
said, "are you not proud to take part in the firing? As you see, we
have stopped the Boches. It is not finished, though, and just now I
shall want three of you, three of the bravest, who fear nothing. Who
volunteers?" Before I had finished speaking, every one of them shouted:
"I do, Major."
The German artillery had now come into line. Two or three batteries on
the slopes of Fouron, to the north-east of Visé, had opened fire. In
spite of my men's courage, I felt it was necessary to stimulate them a
little. They were only four hundred strong and, without artillery or
machine-guns; they were fighting an enemy infinitely superior. I went
to all the different shelters and affected the most hilarious gaiety.
"We are going to have fine fun," I said to them. "The Boches have never
yet managed to fire straight with their cannons, and their projectiles
will fall everywhere except in the houses we are occupying." This
succeeded very well and the men greeted the German shrapnels, which
were bursting at tremendous heights, with laughter. My joy was great,
for if the artillery had fired straight into the houses, our position
would have been impossible and we should have been obliged to retreat.
Ah, if we had only had a few guns, how many of our adversaries we
should have brought down!
During the combat, some of the horsemen of the Civic Guard told me
that a huge infantry column had crossed the Meuse, north of Visé and
that a battery was already directing its firing on us. This news
seemed all the more probable, as we heard a cannonading which appeared
to be coming from a height on the left bank. Isolated as we were,
and not having received any instructions, my situation was extremely
disquieting. In order to protect my retreat, I gave orders to the
2nd Company to prevent, by its firing, any movement of the enemy
southwards. To the 1st Company, I gave orders to go towards Hallembaye
and strengthen the outpost at Lixhe and, at the same time, to observe
how the land lay towards the north.
Presently the 2nd Company had to undergo such violent firing from
musketry and machine-guns that Captain François, who was in command,
was obliged to evacuate certain houses along the Meuse, as the walls
were pierced by the balls. Captain Burghraeve, too, in command of
the 1st Company, sent me word that the German artillery was sending
a veritable storm of shells of every calibre on to the troops that
were defending the Lixhe ford, and that the men, lying down under each
fresh burst, were unable to reply, and still more unable to observe the
country round. It was, therefore, possible for the Germans to cross
the Meuse without being seen by them so that he could not warn me.
"Hold out," I replied, "it is all right!" At the same time, I continued
encouraging my brave men who were resisting energetically at Visé.
By 4.30, the development of the enemy's front was getting more and more
extensive. The weakness of my forces, part of which could do nothing on
account of the adverse firing, made me decide to evacuate my position,
under cover, at the different points occupied, of our rear-guard. This
retreat took place in perfect order, without the enemy being aware
of it. The 1st Company, in spite of its dangerous situation, also
succeeded in withdrawing, group by group. The Lixhe post was now the
only one to cause us any anxiety.
Crouching down in the beet-root fields, our comrades awaited a lull
in the steel whirlwind, in order to get up and make a rush forward.
Fifty yards farther on, they threw themselves down again. The German
artillery increased its firing, the earth shook, and clouds of dust
flew about everywhere. With intense emotion, I watched this terrible
race. Finally, thank God, they were all there with us. The soldiers
had their coats, shakos, and kits pierced with balls. Two men saw the
bicycles they were holding shattered by shells. By the most unheard-of
good luck, not one of them was wounded.
Our total losses amounted to two men killed and ten wounded. The
inhabitants of Visé told us afterward that the enemy had suffered
greatly, and that a number of carts took away their wounded.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Now Lieutenant-Colonel, Commander of the 1st Line
Regiment.]
[Footnote 2: The Battalion, at the moment, consisted of four
contingents of militia, as the general mobilisation, decreed on July
31st, was not yet complete.]