THE BELGIAN FRONT
AND ITS NOTABLE FEATURES
VIEW OF FRONT LINE THROUGH THE FLOODS
The Belgian Front
AND
ITS NOTABLE FEATURES
BY
CAPTAIN WILLY BRETON
OF THE BELGIAN ARMY
Translated from the French
LONDON:
CHATTO & WINDUS
MCMXVIII
The illustrations are from photographs
taken by the PhotographicService
of the Belgian Army
Command
THE BELGIAN FRONT
AND ITS NOTABLE FEATURES.
The Belgian Army's Activities since the Battle of the Yser.
Everyone knows how severely the Belgian Army was tested in the initialstages of the campaign. Caught unawares by the war while in the midst ofre-organisation, it had to struggle alone, for long weeks on end,against forces greatly superior in both numbers and equipment, suddenlyhurled against it in accordance with a deliberate and carefully plannedscheme of attack.
Yet the Belgian Army bravely faced the enemy, grimly determined tofulfil its duty to the last, and at once aroused enthusiasm by itsheroic resistance at Liège, from August 8 onwards, to the onset ofseveral army corps. On the 12th the troops emerged victoriously from thebloody engagements at Haelen; and not till the 18th, and then only toescape being overwhelmed by the ever-rising flood of invasion, did theBelgian Army abandon its positions at La Gette and fall back on Antwerp,the national stronghold in which would be concentrated the whole of thecountry's powers of opposition. Its retreat was covered by rearguardswhich fought fiercely, especially at Hautem Ste. Marguerite. Namur,threatened since August 19th, fell to the enemy on the 23rd, afterseveral of its forts had been destroyed by a terrific bombardment andthe complete investment of the position made further resistanceimpossible. By a desperate effort, some 12,000 men of the 4th Divisionescaped the assailant's grip and succeeded in reaching France in thefirst instance, and Antwerp subsequently.
The army, left to its own devices in the great fortress which it stillhoped to make impregnable, continued the stubborn fight against itsimplacable foe, though it had[Pg 6] suffered cruel losses and the Germans hadinitiated a reign of terror in the invaded provinces. It did everythingpossible to assist the Allies against the common enemy; first, by asortie, made while the battle of the Somme was in progress; and then bya second vigorous and timely attack which coincided with the immortalvictory of the Marne. For four days (September 9-13, 1914) the Belgiantroops hurled themselves on the strong German positions facing Antwerp,drove back the masking forces in them, and prevented three wholedivisions from going to the support of von Kluck's hard-pressed army.The part played by the Belgian Army in the battles of the Marne was,although an indirect one, very important and effective—as the