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Title: The Campaign Round Liege
Author: J. M. Kennedy
Release Date: January 5, 2018 [EBook #56316]
Language: English
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The Daily Telegraph
WAR BOOKS
THE CAMPAIGN ROUND LIÈGE
The Daily Telegraph
WAR BOOKS
CLOTH 1/- NET.
VOL. I. (_3rd Enormous Edition._)
_HOW THE WAR BEGAN_
_By W.L. COURTNEY, LL.D., and J.M. KENNEDY_
Is Britain's justification before the Bar of History.
VOL. II.
_THE FLEETS AT WAR_
_By ARCHIBALD HURD_,
The key book to the understanding of the NAVAL situation
VOL. III.
_THE CAMPAIGN OF SEDAN_
_By GEORGE HOOPER_
The key book to the MILITARY situation.
VOL. IV.
_THE CAMPAIGN ROUND
LIEGE_
¶ Describes in wonderful detail the heroic defence of Liege, and shows
how the gallant army of Belgium has upset and altered the whole plan
of advance as devised by the Kaiser and his War Council.
THE CAMPAIGN
ROUND LIÈGE
BY
J.M. KENNEDY
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
W.L. COURTNEY, LL.D.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO
MCMXIV
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION 7
I. OUTBREAK OF WAR--INVASION OF BELGIUM
AND LUXEMBURG--THE FIRST
FIGHTING AT LIÈGE 29
II. FRENCH JOIN BELGIANS--DETAILS OF
THE BATTLES--GERMAN SPY SYSTEM--RAIDS
BY UHLANS 51
III. PRELIMINARY ATROCITIES--BRAVERY OF
THE BELGIANS--BATTLE OF HAELEN-DIEST 75
IV. LIFE AT BRUSSELS--FRENCH ADVANCE--CAPITAL
REMOVED TO ANTWERP 94
V. PREPARATIONS AT NAMUR--SCENES AT
LIÈGE--GERMANS PRESSING FORWARD--OCCUPATION
OF BRUSSELS 111
VI. BRITISH TROOPS IN ACTION--THEIR
"CUSTOMARY COOLNESS"--ZEPPELIN
AT ANTWERP--GERMAN ATROCITIES--LORD
KITCHENER'S SPEECH 134
INTRODUCTION
"To attack always, to attack everywhere, and to overlap in the attack"
is the essential principle of German military training. This is the
principle which is acted upon when hostilities definitely open and the
diplomatist retires into the background. There is only one means by
which it can be carried into effect, and that is to have overwhelming
numbers of men ready to pour into the field and bear down opposing
forces by sheer weight. At Liège, at Namur, at Charleroi, or in the
Vosges, the mowing down of the invading hosts by rifle or cannon must
have seemed to the defensive troops as wearying and useless a task as
cutting off the heads of a hydra; for two German soldiers appeared to
rise out of the ground for every single one that fell.
This was one great advantage with which the German army entered upon
the war. For years past strategic railways have been under construction
on the Belgian border--railways designed, not for the conveyance of
goods or passenger traffic (for there was none), but for the conveyance
of German troops from Cologne and other places to north-east France
through Belgium and Luxemburg. The plans of the German General Staff
were admirably conceived. One observer compared the advance of the
invading army to a human tidal wave spreading through the valley of
the Meuse. True, there were one or two small hitches. It was clear
from the stories told by the prisoners taken by the Belgians at Liège
that the German commissariat was unexpectedly defective. Again,
insufficient preparations had been made for besieging Liège itself, and
it was not for some days that it was found possible to bring up the
great siege guns which should have been there from the very beginning.
These faults, however, were not the result of negligence so much as
of conceit and of too great a belief in the invulnerability of the
German arms. According to a message quoted in the present volume, the
Kaiser waved his hand through the air and said: "I will go through
Belgium like that." He did not; and the delay consequent upon the
stubborn defence of Liège interfered with the German plans at the
outset and gave the French time to complete their mobilisation. The
effects of this delay are, indeed, incalculable, especially in view
of the unexpected rapidity of the Russian mobilisation, and General
Rennenkaempf's advance through East Prussia. Still, once the Germans
realised that they had to meet resistance in Belgium it must be
acknowledged that they took immediate steps to break it down. Large
siege guns were hurried to the front, with the result, so far as can be
ascertained from the meagre news which is allowed to pass the Censors
on both sides of the Channel, that four of the strongest forts at Namur
fell after a three days' siege. Nothing, at first, seemed to be able
to stop, or even to check, the advance of 2,000,000 Teutons.
Although only a few details have been allowed to leak out, the
admitted facts all go to show that the German onslaught on France
through Belgium has been successful, but delayed. It is said that the
invaders expected to be in Paris within two weeks of crossing the
frontier, after which they expected to be able to turn the bulk of
their mighty army towards Russia before the Tsar's forces could be
properly mobilised--before, at any rate, they could take the field
and begin their advance into East Prussia. To this extent the plan
has miscarried, thanks to the gallant resistance of Liège. Unless the
Germans were in full possession of the railways at Liège and Namur an
entry into France would have been dangerous, since the free passage of
reinforcements could not be guaranteed. As it was, the Russians were
in possession of Eydkuhnen before the Germans were in possession of
Liège; and the German advance on Namur coincided in point of time with
the Russian advance on Insterburg.
While the German plans have miscarried to this extent, it would be
foolish not to realise that they have succeeded in other respects. A
glance at the map will show this; for if the official communiqués tell
us little else they tell us, at least, what the approximate position of
the armies was at given dates. On August 15th and 16th, for instance,
and even, we may assume, on the 17th, the German army stretched in an
irregular line from Maastricht to Alt Breisach, through Huy, Arlon,
Longwy, and Metz. The southern portion of it, composed chiefly of
Bavarians, lay from Château Salins to Strassburg, and thence to the end
of the long line in the neighbourhood of Alt Breisach. The French army
lay opposite in a nearly parallel line. French regiments had reached
and reinforced the Belgian lines at Malines and Louvain, and the main
body of the French army was spread out along a front of nearly three
hundred miles from Tirlemont to Mülhausen, via Namur, Mézières, Verdun,
Sarreburg, Cirey, and Colmar.
As the Germans had opened their southern campaign by invading French
territory at Cirey and Longwy, the position of the French army at this
time makes it clear that General Joffre had taken the offensive. The
Germans had been driven back over their original lines; Alsace had been
invaded by the French; Altkirch and Mülhausen had been captured, and
even Strassburg was menaced. This right wing of the French forces--the
wing which had been thrust forward into Alsace--was based, of course,
on the impregnable fortresses of Belfort and Epinal. As the subsequent
developments showed, this invasion of Alsace was a strategic error, and
this was acknowledged almost in so many words before a week had passed.
Why, at this early stage, a forward move was made in this direction
was never explained. There were critics who not unreasonably called
it "fancy work." Certainly, it was to be expected that the Germans
would advance from their southern base of Strassburg, and their
central base of Metz; but the really serious work of the campaign,
as everybody expected, was to be in the north-east. The advance into
Alsace gave General Joffre an opportunity of issuing a proclamation to
the Alsatians which, in view of their treatment by the Germans for more
than a generation, naturally rejoiced them. But it was an advance which
had to be paid for in another direction, when the main body of the
German army began to make its way across the Upper Meuse.
If the position of the German troops has been traced as indicated,
the line will be almost straight, except towards the south, where the
Germans have had to give way before the French in Alsace. A day or
two later, however, the line will be anything but straight. By the
20th, although there is still fighting at Liège, and Brussels has not
yet been occupied, there is a distinct German advance towards the
north-west. The invaders have pushed on to Malines and Louvain, and, in
the centre, they menace Namur. They have also brought up large forces
to Givet, Dinant, and Sedan. They are cut down by the thousand; their
dead fill the trenches; the defenders wonder how the officers can
possibly induce their men to advance in such close formation, since
they are certain to be annihilated. There is a reason, nevertheless,
and a good one; for the time being there is no limit to the number of
men who can be brought forward to take the places of those that fall.
The result is a slow German advance, and everywhere the Allies, though
stubbornly contesting every inch of the ground, slowly retire.
By the 22nd there is a further decided change. Brussels has been
occupied, and the German forces are converging on Charleroi in, so far
as we know, six or seven parallel columns. From Enghien, from Hal, from
Nivelles, from La Hulpe, from Wavre, and from Jodoigne, the Kaiser's
troops make their way into the country lying between Namur and Mons. We
do not know, at this time, precisely where the British troops are, nor
are we at liberty to guess the strength of the French in this district.
We are soon to know, however. A battle rages for three or four days at
Charleroi; the French retire in good order; and two thousand British
casualties are reported. Our troops and the French troops have behaved
with the utmost gallantry; but, so far as we can ascertain, they have
been outnumbered by two to one--perhaps in an even greater proportion.
Set the minute hand of a clock at eleven, and the hour hand at five.
That will, roughly, indicate the position of the German army (with the
Belgian, British, and French troops in an almost parallel line) about
August 17th to 19th. Then bend the minute hand of the clock to nine.
That will convey a correct impression of the broad sweep made by the
northern wing of the German army within four or five days; and it must
be acknowledged, unfortunately, that it swept the Allies in front of it.
The result of the first stages of the Charleroi fighting made one
or two things evident. In the first place, it was then known that
the strength of the opposing German armies had been considerably
under-estimated; they had succeeded in bringing up very strong
reinforcements, with field guns and adequate munitions, through Liège.
Secondly, it was seen that the French had not advanced northwards
in sufficiently strong force. General Joffre had concentrated on
Alsace and the Ardennes, rather than on the Namur front. The official
statement published in Paris shows the French position at the
commencement of the battle:
An army starting from Northern Woevre and proceeding towards
Neufchateau is attacking the German forces which have marched through
the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg on the right bank of the Semois, and are
going in a westerly direction.
Another army, which had started from the region of Sedan, is crossing
the Ardennes, and is attacking the German forces which are marching
between the Lesse and the Meuse.
A third army, from the region of Chimay, has begun an attack on the
German right between the Sambre and the Meuse. This army is supported
by the English army, proceeding from the Mons region.
In this statement, as Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett remarked at the time,
several very important facts stood forth clearly:
(1) The French armies had never held the line of the Meuse and of the
Sambre in any strength.
(2) The German armies, before the commencement of the fighting at
Charleroi, were in possession of the country contained within the
triangle, of which Namur is the apex, between the Sambre and the
Meuse.
(3) Before some of its forts fell, Namur must have been entirely
isolated, and attacked not only from the north but also from the
south; and the French armies were not in a position to reinforce the
garrison unless they sent forward some detachments before the Germans
crossed the Sambre.
(4) In the fighting between August 18th and 22nd or 23rd it was
the French armies who attacked and not the German--except in the
neighbourhood of Mons.
Reference has been made to the triangle of which Namur is the apex.
This, it was generally believed by the military critics, was the angle
which the French were ready to occupy, if they had not, indeed, already
occupied it, before the fighting at Charleroi began. The discovery that
this triangle was really in possession of the Germans came as a shock.
Exaggerated hopes gave way to exaggerated fears; and it was even held
that the Germans had a reasonable chance of breaking through the French
lines in the north and advancing on Paris before the Russians could
advance much further into Germany.
It is to be presumed that these fears are exaggerated, and that General
Joffre can shift his men from Alsace to the north. One gathered that
eighteen German army corps had advanced through Belgium, and that only
three or four had been left to watch over Alsace-Lorraine. It would
be unwise to hazard any conjecture as to the strength of the French;
but if it were said that the proportions were just the reverse the
statement might not be far out. At any rate, the fact remains that
at the time of writing the French advance has been entirely checked;
and the Allies are now on the defensive. If General Joffre had chosen
to remain on the defensive from the first instead of advancing into
Alsace; or, on the other hand, if he had considerably strengthened his
force in the north and advanced in that direction with the object of
establishing himself at Namur, the position would have been totally
different. The numbers of the opposing forces would, at least, have
been better proportioned, and the "human tidal wave" could have been
held back.
There is, of course, another side to the story. Although the Allies
had to retire, the retirement was carried out in good order. German
prisoners bore flattering testimony to the accuracy of the British
firing, and it was admitted that the invaders had lost very heavily--so
heavily, in fact, that they could not proceed with their advance for a
day or two. Furthermore, there was no particular reason why, at this
stage, the Allies should have wished to assume the offensive at all.
They were not driven out of their original defensive positions; they
merely failed, by their forward movement, to dislodge the Germans,
who were greatly superior to them in numbers. The net result of the
fighting was that the Allies had simply to abandon their offensive--an
offensive which does not appear to have been included in their original
plans. In the official statement already quoted there was a passage
saying: "On the orders of General Joffre our troops and the British
troops took up positions on the covering line, which they would not
have left had not the admirable Belgian effort enabled them to enter
Belgium." Commenting on this, Mr. Ashmead-Bartlett said:
The only deduction one can draw from this is that these operations
were never included in the pre-arranged plan of campaign, and that
they were only undertaken on the supposition that Namur, isolated and
surrounded by the enemy, would be able to offer the same prolonged
resistance as Liège, which would give the Allies time to advance in
strength and occupy the triangle formed by the junction of the Sambre
and the Meuse. The unexpected fall of this fortress at the very apex
has now forced General Joffre to fall back on his original line of
defence along the French frontier.
As will be seen from telegrams quoted in the course of the following
pages, German cavalrymen made a series of raids through northern
Belgium, and took possession of Ghent and Bruges, even penetrating as
far as Ostend. These raids, similar to many others in the central and
southern parts of the country, were carried out--the Germans admitted
it officially--with the aim of terrorising the civilian population. It
appears to be a German belief--quite erroneous!--that when the civilian
population is terrified by raids of this nature it brings pressure to
bear on the Government to "stop the war." On August 26th, in order to
check further German advances of this kind along the coast, a large
force of British marines took possession of Ostend.
As moral effects count for as much in war as the effects of accurate
marksmanship or the "pounding" of siege guns, it should be stated
that the Belgian resistance did more than delay the German advance.
It had an effect which, in this war, was of even greater importance.
For forty years all Europe had been brought up to believe in the
invulnerability of the German army. The mere threat of German
intervention was enough to turn the scales in favour of any proposals
which were being urged by German diplomats. It almost became an
accepted axiom of diplomacy and war that the Germans would always win
and that their opponents would always lose. Certainly the Germans,
and above all the Prussians, lost no opportunity of impressing this
fact upon the world at large. To a supreme belief in themselves they
added a disdainful arrogance of the rest of mankind which was, for an
extraordinarily long period, found effective and impressive.
* * * * *
The atmosphere which this attitude brought about, the atmosphere of
terror which had enveloped Europe for so many years, was swept away,
once and for all, by the Belgian army at Liège. Such was the awesome
feeling inspired by the mere name of Germany that we should have hardly
been surprised to see the Belgians turn tail and throw down their arms
without firing a shot. What did happen we all know. The forts, which
the Germans expected to capture in a few hours, were still holding out
after twelve days. In the field, small forces of Belgians time and
again cut up forces of Germans out-numbering them by three or four to
one. In some outpost engagements, on a scale which would have entitled
them to be called battles a century or so ago, the invaders were beaten
back time after time--cavalry, infantry, and artillery were equally
ineffective against the Belgian arms. It was only by sheer weight of
numbers that the Belgians were forced back into Antwerp, and even then
they preserved their ranks intact and were ready, after a few days'
rest, for a further onslaught.
The importance of this great moral change should be emphasised.
The German army will never again represent invulnerability; it will
stand rather for pure savagery. Reference has already been made to
the raids undertaken by German cavalry for the purpose of terrorising
the civilian population. As the telegrams in this volume will show,
intimidation did not stop at mere raids, fuss, and noise. Inoffensive
civilians were shot on the slightest provocation; houses were looted;
villages burned; women and even young girls outraged; boys battered
to death with the butts of rifles--and all this was done, not because
the men got out of hand and "saw red"; but systematically, because the
invaders wished to terrorise the civil population. When this statement
was first made it seemed incredible--the methods of the Huns or the
Tartars in the twentieth century. Some refutation, some attempt at
refutation, from the German side was awaited. It did not come. Instead
there came an admission of the truth of the allegations which had been
accumulating for several days.
After the outbreak of war it was customary for the German "wireless"
stations to send out war "news" at Nauen or Norddeich. This was picked
up by the Marconi Company and given out to the English Press. The
"news" was usually exaggerated and in many cases utterly mendacious.
But hidden away at the end of a batch of these messages which reached
London on August 27th was to be found an appalling paragraph, which, in
the course of a very few lines, admitted publicly and officially the
terrible charges of barbaric savagery that during the preceding days
had compelled the Belgian Government to appeal to the judgment of the
civilised world.
Special stress must be laid on the official character of this
confession, because it is notorious that nothing can be transmitted
from the German wireless stations under war conditions without the
express sanction and approval of the Berlin Government.
The statement in question is as follows:
The distribution of arms and ammunition among the civil population of
Belgium had been carried out on systematic lines, and the authorities
enraged the public against Germany by assiduously circulating false
reports. They were under the impression that, with the aid of the
French, they would be able to drive the Germans out of Belgium in two
days. The only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil
population has been to interfere with unrelenting severity and to
create examples, which by their "frightfulness" would be a warning
to the whole country. The increased war contribution levied on the
Province of Liège has also had an excellent effect.
Could a confession be more frank or candid? Could any statement nerve
us, as we have never been nerved before, to resist the menace of
Prussian militarism to the uttermost?
CHAPTER I
Outbreak of War--Invasion of Belgium and Luxemburg--The First Fighting
at Liège
In the first volume of this series, "How the War Began," the causes
leading up to the great conflict were dealt with in detail. It may be
briefly recalled that on Thursday, July 23rd, the Austro-Hungarian
ultimatum was sent to Servia, the Belgrade authorities being allowed
only forty-eight hours in which to reply. The next day saw the holding
of a Cabinet Council in Russia. On July 25th the Austrian Minister left
Belgrade because the reply handed to him by the Servian Cabinet was
deemed unsatisfactory. Sir Edward Grey, on Monday, July 27th, announced
his plan for a "Four-Power Conference"--Germany, France, Italy, and
ourselves--a plan which had to be abandoned owing to the hostility
of Germany. On July 28th, Austria-Hungary declared war on Servia;
a partial Russian mobilisation was ordered on the 30th; Germany
mobilised on the 31st.
It became evident at once that it was the aim of the German General
Staff to cripple the French army immediately, so that the German
soldiers, who were concentrated on the French and Belgium frontiers,
could be hurried back to East Prussia to meet the Russian forces
later on. Before any definite declaration of war had been made,
indeed, either against France or Russia, German patrols invaded French
territory on the night of July 31st, seized several locomotives, and
cut the telegraph and telephone wires. This may be regarded as the
first act of war, though the French outposts were withdrawn in order
that they might not come into actual conflict with the invaders just
then.
So serious had the international situation become, that the smaller
countries began to make preparations lest their territory should be
violated. On Friday, July 31st, the Belgian Government ordered a
partial, and the Dutch Government, a complete mobilisation; and before
the week-end had passed practically all Belgium was in arms. The
Stavelot-Malmedy route near the German frontier was strengthened by
advance cavalry outposts; dirigibles were got in readiness; the Meuse
strongholds were fully garrisoned, and barbed wire fences were erected
everywhere. On August 2nd, without having yet declared war, Germany
invaded the independent state of Luxemburg, the neutrality of which
had been guaranteed by the Treaty of London of 1867, by Great Britain,
Austria-Hungary, France, Prussia, Russia, Italy, Holland, and Belgium.
The German soldiers arrived at the station of Luxemburg during the
night, seized the station and the Government offices, and held the
bridges on the Trèves and Trois Vierges lines, so as to ensure the
passage of military trains across the Grand Duchy. The Grand Duchess
was rudely treated by the German officers, and imprisoned in her
palace; and the invaders positively refused to withdraw. It was
admitted a day or two afterwards by the Imperial Chancellor, speaking
in the Reichstag, that the violation of neutral territory was wrong,
but that the Germans were determined, in his now famous phrase, to
"hack their way through."
At the same time the German army penetrated French territory at two
points, namely, Longwy and Cirey-les-Forges.
It was stated on August 2nd that the number of Germans who had crossed
the Grand Duchy was about 100,000, and that they were concentrating
in Belgian territory in the neighbourhood of Liège. Strong guards
were posted round the railway lines. On Sunday, too, a despatch from
Luxemburg announced that the Luxemburg Minister of State had received,
through the German Minister there, a telegram from the Imperial
Chancellor stating that the military measures taken by the Germans in
Luxemburg did not constitute a hostile act against the Grand Duchy.
They were simply measures taken to protect the working of the railways
connected with the German system against a possible attack by French
troops. Luxemburg would be completely indemnified for any damage that
might be done to the lines.
[Illustration]
Although Germany formally declared war on Russia on July 31st, no
great military efforts were made in the east. On the other hand, the
movements already made against France were followed up with energy,
in spite of the fact that diplomatic relations had not actually been
severed. What the next German step was may be seen from the following
brief statement, which was made by Sir Edward Grey in the House of
Commons on the evening of August 3rd:
Germany sent yesterday evening at seven o'clock a Note proposing to
Belgium friendly neutrality covering a free passage through Belgian
territory, and promising the maintenance of the independence of the
kingdom and possessions at the conclusion of peace, and threatening in
the case of refusal to treat Belgium as an enemy.
A time limit of twelve hours was fixed for reply.
Belgium answered that an attack on their neutrality would be a
flagrant violation of the rights of nations and that to accept the
German proposal would sacrifice the honour of a nation conscious
of its duty. Belgium is firmly resolved to repel aggression by all
possible means.
King George at once signed the Proclamation ordering the mobilisation
of the entire British army and embodying the Territorials. This cynical
disregard of a Treaty to which Germany had affixed her signature could
be redressed in only one way. While the British Expeditionary Force was
being prepared, however, the Germans were making haste to secure their
positions in Belgium and on the French frontier, and their movements
were reported from the outset by the special correspondents of _The
Daily Telegraph_. On August 4th, by order of the Belgian General
Staff, the railway bridges at Lavaux and Bastogne were destroyed, so as
to delay the Germans if they advanced through Luxemburg: everywhere the
conditions in Belgium were those of war. Civilians in all directions
took refuge in the towns, and the roads were blocked by wagons and
ploughs. On the Luxemburg frontier many German patrols and posts were
seen. The Germans occupied the whole of the province, with the object
of facilitating the concentration of their army.
A correspondent, returning from Longwy, the great natural fortress
which forms the advance guard of the French covering troops, found it
necessary, owing to military obstacles, to perform some part of the
journey on foot. The roads were barred by sentries and posts at all
points. The officers of the garrison asked him to assure the English
that the morale of the army was superb. Certainly, the correspondent
added, he had never seen French soldiers so calm, cool, and confident.
On the same day the Germans entered Belgium at three points--Dolhain,
Francorchamps, and Stavelot; and other forces advanced from Luxemburg
in the direction of Longwy, Villerupt, and Thionville. In the evening
Belgium was declared to be in a state of war with Germany. The German
raids, following upon the insolent demand that German troops should be
allowed to march through the country, had caused an intense feeling of
indignation throughout Belgium.
At the Brussels recruiting station men of all ages literally fought to
enlist and get rifles. There was wild patriotic enthusiasm and no sign
of fear.
At an extraordinary sitting of Parliament many members appeared in
military uniform, ready to start for the front.
The King delivered the following speech to the deputies:
Never since 1830 has a graver hour sounded for Belgium. The strength
of our right and the need of Europe for our autonomous existence
make us still hope that the dreaded events will not occur. If it is
necessary for us to resist an invasion of our soil, however, that duty
will find us armed and ready to make the greatest sacrifices. Our
young men have already come forward to defend the Fatherland in danger.
One duty alone is imposed upon us, namely, the maintenance of a
stubborn resistance, courage, and union. Our bravery is proved by our
faultless mobilisation and by the multitude of voluntary engagements.
This is the moment for action. I have called you together to-day
in order to allow the Chambers to participate in the enthusiasm of
the country. You will know how to adopt with urgency all necessary
measures. Are you decided to maintain inviolate the sacred patrimony
of our ancestors?
No one will fail in his duty, and the army is capable of performing
its task. The Government and I are fully confident. The Government is
aware of its responsibilities, and will carry them out to the end to
guard the supreme welfare of the country. If a stranger should violate
our territory he will find all the Belgians gathered round their
Sovereign, who will never betray his constitutional oath. I have faith
in our destinies. A country which defends itself wins the respect of
everyone, and cannot perish.
God will be with us.
Deafening cheers welcomed the announcement that M. Vandervelde, the
leader of the Socialists, had been nominated as Minister of State, to
show that men of all parties were now united for the defence of the
flag. The King's speech, appealing to the devotion of the whole nation,
and expressing confidence in the fate of a neutral and peaceful
country which had been so unlawfully attacked, caused an indescribable
outburst of loyal and brave assent. All bills regulating a moratorium
and the recall of more army drafts were voted without a minute's
discussion.
While the King and Queen left the Palace amid wonderful ovations,
emotion increased when the Premier, M. de Broqueville, announced that
Belgian territory had already been invaded by Germans, and when he read
the recent Germano-Belgian diplomatic notes, threatening Belgium with
Germany's dire vengeance for defending her neutrality.
The King started for the front at once.
On August 5th, Dr. E.J. Dillon, one of _The Daily Telegraph's_ special
correspondents, wired:
I received information this morning that British troops had landed and
were on their way to the frontier to defend Belgian neutrality. I at
once drove out to Laeken, through which suburb they must pass. There
I learned that the news was premature. French regiments are alleged
to have arrived at Namur. Others are marching into Belgium. It is
reported here that the German troops, when entering Belgian territory,
were fired upon from houses in Visé, whereupon they decimated the
population, sparing neither age nor sex.
All these reports must be received with circumspection. I myself,
however, have witnessed scenes of poignant grief, the actors in which
were relatives of the people in Visé, who had heard the narrative and
believed it. The authorities naturally keep such things dark in order
not to frighten the population, which is incensed against the Germans.
Belgium is beset with German spies, who even now continue their
work, with marvellous deliberation and courage. Wireless telegraphic
apparatus is alleged by the authorities to be still employed by the
German agents, some of whom have been arrested. The population of both
Brussels and Antwerp are excited against the Germans. The authorities
are now effectually protecting the shops. Twenty-five thousand
Germans, many occupying influential positions, reside in Antwerp,
and the public desires their expulsion in the interests of defence.
Belgians have been expelled from Germany and forbidden during the
railway journey to look out of the windows or speak any language but
German.
This morning a German eagle-shaped aeroplane was hovering over Liège
city. A Belgian aviator rose higher, and descended heavily upon
the German craft, cutting it in two. The Belgian is said to be but
slightly wounded. As his name is not given the narrative is open to
doubt.
An eye-witness of the combat at Visé affirms that a squadron of
Prussian cavalry moved towards Visé Bridge, in which the Belgians had
made a breach sixty mètres wide. The Belgians, hidden among the broken
piers, opened a cross-fire, almost annihilating them. At the same time
shots were fired from the houses on the right bank of Visé, which was
already occupied by the Germans. It was then that the indiscriminate
massacre of the inhabitants by the German soldiers began. They also
fired upon the Red Cross ambulance.
The latest news received from the front on the same day stated that
under the protection of the long range guns of the fortress of Liège
the Belgian troops were putting up a fine defence against the German
invaders. They inflicted great losses on the enemy, whose attempts to
cross the River Meuse by means of a pontoon bridge had failed. This,
it was stated, would compel the Germans to cross the Meuse on foot at
the Dutch frontier. The attitude of the Dutch towards them was not yet
known.
Official news received at Brussels stated that a fierce fight had
occurred at Liège. The present situation was understood to be very
favourable for the Belgians, who had victoriously repulsed all the
German attacks. The Germans, who endeavoured to pass through the spaces
between the forts, were driven back by a mixed brigade.
It was said that not a single one who passed the intervals returned.
The German shells were unable to pierce the defences. German aeroplanes
showed themselves much inferior to the Belgian. None of the Belgian
aeroplanes sustained any accident, but several of the German did so.
It was confirmed that the Germans behaved disgracefully at Visé. They
shot many civilians, expelling the remainder of the inhabitants and
giving the town to the flames.
* * * * *
The _Rotterdamsche Courant_ in a leading article said that Holland
had read with satisfaction Sir Edward Grey's statement that it
was obligatory on the Great Powers to maintain the neutrality of
the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark. Holland also observed with
satisfaction that Germany was avoiding the Dutch frontier.
The engagement referred to above was generally known as the first
battle of Liège. Subsequent particulars of it showed that the Belgian
forces captured seven guns, and that 8,000 of the invaders were killed
and wounded. On Wednesday, August 5th, in an encounter between the
Vesdre and the Meuse Rivers a single Belgian squadron annihilated six
German squadrons. The Seventh German Corps suffered enormous loss, 800
prisoners being brought into Brussels. The encounter began in the early
morning, and lasted till five in the afternoon.
Germans, with the Seventh Army Corps supported by a large mass of
cavalry, began a violent attack against the south-eastern section of
the Liège stronghold, not engaging the forts with their artillery, but
trying to reach the interior of the stronghold through the intervals.
The ground was mined in several places, and all the battalions were
destroyed. The German loss was enormous. That of the Belgians was very
much less.
Early on Wednesday morning, by force of numbers, the German advance
guard succeeded in entering Liège. Fighting went on in the street for a
time.
In view of the strength of the fortifications at Liège, the strategic
position of the town, and the fact that the main body of the Belgian
army was concentrated there, it became evident that the invaders could
not advance without either "containing" Liège--_i.e._, surrounding
the place with a large body of troops, and, as it were, imprisoning
the garrison without making any attempt at capture--or reducing
the fortresses to such an extent as to drive the main body of the
Belgian army before it. The latter plan was adopted and was eventually
successful; but not before the heroic garrison, though greatly
outnumbered, had succeeded in delaying the German advance for nine or
ten days. As time was an essential factor in the German programme, it
is difficult for us to over-estimate the advantage which thus accrued
to the defenders of Western Europe.
The town of Liège stands on the Meuse, close to the point where the
hills on its left bank come to an end, and near the spot where the
valleys of the Vesdre and Ourthe on the other side afford routes
for roads and railways, east to Verviers and southwards towards the
Ardennes. The main stream divides the far-extending city into an older
town, wherein is situated the citadel and most of the public buildings,
and a newer suburb containing the manufacturing establishments and
dwellings of the artisans. The most noteworthy buildings are the
magnificent church of St. Jacques, dating from the eleventh century,
the handsome Académie des Beaux Arts, the Theatre Royal, built upon
the model of the Odéon at Paris, the Palais de Justice, and Town Hall.
Liège owes much of its prosperity to the fact that it is the centre of
a rich coal district, some of the mines actually extending under the
houses and streets.
Iron industries and coal increased its population from 113,000 in
1873 to 169,000 in 1910. The iron manufacturers are chiefly concerned
with the production of cannon and those implements of war for which
the adjoining township of Seraing is especially famous. The textile
industry also employs thousands of workers, while paper, oil, tobacco,
leather, gold and silver ware, bicycles, watches, and light machinery
of all kinds are manufactured in the busy quarters. Known to the
Germans as Lüttich, the city is the capital of the Walloons, a race
who have been described as "marked by an indefatigable industry and
a fierce and implacable spirit of hostility towards those who have
attempted to infringe their privileges." Since its foundation the town
has been the scene of endless fighting. Charles of Burgundy sacked it
in 1468, and put thousands of its brave inhabitants to death. It was
stormed by Maximillian I. in 1649; three times by the French between
1675 and 1691; and was captured by Marlborough in 1702. In the wars of
1792-94 French and Austrians fought repeatedly for its possession,
the height of Robermont outside the defences being the spot where the
Prince of Coburg was defeated by Marshal Jourdan on September 19th,
1794, in the last battle fought by the Austrians on Belgian soil. The
citadel, 500 feet above the sea level, whence the approach of the
Germans was anxiously watched, commands a view over the whole of the
city and the populous and industrious valleys of the Meuse, while
in the South can be seen from its summit the peaks of the Ardennes
and northward the Petersburg near Maastricht and the broad plains of
Limburg.
Hardly had the siege begun in earnest when a small body of Uhlans, who
had been directed by spies to the headquarters of General Leman, the
Belgian commander, made a determined attempt to assassinate him by
forcing their way into his office and shooting at him with revolvers.
One of the General's brother officers lifted him up bodily, carried him
to the yard at the back of the house, and dropped him over the wall
into the yard alongside. This promptness, in the momentary confusion,
was believed to have saved General Leman's life. Two Belgian gendarmes
and an officer were killed; but the other Belgians present shot dead
the Uhlans who had made the daring raid. There were eight of them in
all--two officers and six men.
In a despatch sent off in the evening of August 6th Dr. E.J. Dillon
briefly summed up the early fighting. The invading army, he stated, at
first expected a mere nominal resistance. Disappointed, they despatched
forces to the north and south-east of Liège, where are the forts of
Barchon, north of Evegnée, of Fléron and Chaud-fontaine to the east,
and of Embourg and Boncelles to the south. The attacks proceeded at
various points along this front.
The position at Liège was defended by forts and also by field works,
trenches, barbed-wire entanglement, and mines, with artillery served by
mobile troops, under improvised cover, who occupied the spaces between
the forts, but hidden behind them so that the Germans who endeavoured
to pass through these spaces in order to surround the forts were unable
to determine the position of the field works and direct their artillery
fire against them. This piece of strategy proved fatal to the enemy's
troops, who were exposed to artillery fire from the forts, and cut
down piecemeal by the defenders within the spaces. The country was
favourable to the invaders, owing to the ravines, woods, and winding
roads, which enabled them to advance under natural cover. Despite this
advantage, the Belgians, who displayed genuine heroism, drove them back
with slaughter, but not without themselves making heavy sacrifices,
which they did with a degree of valour that commanded universal
admiration. The Russian Tsar sent his hearty congratulations.
During the night of Wednesday--Thursday, a tremendous assault was
undertaken by the Germans, in which the entire Seventh Army Corps took
part. The Belgians manfully held their positions, while the whole
country around, illumined by dazzling searchlights, quaked as if shaken
by a seismic convulsion. The grey light of morning revealed hundreds of
German corpses and also the advance of the German forces against Fort
Barchon. The Belgians having formed a mixed brigade of two regiments,
proceeded to effect a daring counter-attack from the heights of Wandre.
Their advance was as irresistible as an oceanic tide. The Germans stood
a few minutes awaiting the onset, and then fled panic-stricken. The
Seventh Corps was broken, and a few hours later 5,000 fugitives passed
by Maastricht, where they were received, fed, and, curiously enough,
sent to Aix-la-Chapelle.
On the south the spaces between the forts of Embourg were the objective
of a resolute attack. The invaders advancing within three hundred yards
of the Garde Civique were first deprived of their colonel, whom a
soldier shot dead, and were then literally mown down like grass by the
scythe.
Meanwhile the German artillery fire was concentrated upon the Château
of Langres, opposite Fort Embourg. Under cover of a heavy artillery
fire a body of German troops surrounded the Château when suddenly a
grey cloud with flame arose, followed by a terrific explosion. The
Belgians having mined the Château had blown it up, and many Germans
with it.
The upshot of this brilliant stand made by the Belgians was the
maintenance of all the forts, the capture of numerous prisoners and
seven guns, the death of 800 and the disablement of thousands of the
enemy, and the defeat of the two crack corps of Brandenburg.
After this defeat the Germans sent a parlementaire to demand the
surrender of Liège, threatening an attack by a Zeppelin airship as
the alternative. General Leman's refusal was speedily followed by an
advance executed by the Tenth Army Corps. It was repulsed.
[Illustration]
The Belgian War Office stated that the German invaders, having
already lost about 25,000 men, killed, wounded, or taken prisoners,
requested the Belgian authorities to grant a twenty-four hours'
armistice. This was refused.
CHAPTER II
French join Belgians--Details of the Battles--German Spy System--Raids
by Uhlans
French outposts effected a junction with the Belgians on the 7th.
Before they could offer effective assistance, however, the first
battle had already taken place. The Germans, profiting from their
previous experience of the Belgian forces, had this time taken greater
precautions and brought up more men. A _Daily Telegraph_ correspondent
said that he could clearly see from the hill the Germans in little
boats and others building a pontoon over the Meuse south of Visé. The
horses were swum across. The crossing was carried out in half a dozen
places with great regularity. The Germans did not seem much concerned
at the fire of the Belgian forts. The Belgian troops were spread out
over the rising ground. Fire from a German mitrailleuse kept the
Belgians at a distance, and slowly the whole hillside became covered
with German soldiers, who drove the Belgians before them.
Near Visé an automobile arrived with five Belgian civilian guards. They
alighted from the car and advanced on foot. A German patrol called on
them to halt, and instantly the Belgians fled. Four escaped; one fell
wounded. As they passed him the Germans said that when they came back
they would kill him.
By five o'clock a large force of Germans had crossed the Meuse and
commenced to march south on Liège. The Belgians tried to harass the
Germans by firing into the progressing columns. At last the Belgians
ceased firing and retired. From the houses along the road the people
took to flight in despair.
In the village of Eben people were calm, looking with astonishment at
the tremendous body of troops passing along the route. They were not
molested at all as the Germans progressed towards Liège along both
banks of the Meuse.
With characteristic optimism Germans said: "In two days we will have
Liège, and within a week we will be before Paris." The Germans did not
seem to have any idea, in fact, that in front of Liège they might have
an encounter with the French Army.
An incident was reported which showed how little the German soldier
knew about the war in which he was engaged. Amongst the wounded in
Maastricht was a young German of eighteen who believed that he had been
fighting the French. Great was his surprise when he was told he had
been fighting the Belgians. "The Belgians!" he said, "but we have no
quarrel with the Belgians!" He was under the impression that he had a
French bullet in him.
Already the advance guard was fighting near Liège, and the Germans
agreed that they had lost heavily. They said, "Cost what it may, we
will take Liège." Fort Pontisse, near Liège, was heavily attacked.
Some of the wounded Germans received bullets in the back in the
encounter at Visé. It was believed that, by mistake, one body of
Germans fired into another. Twenty-six were killed and wounded. Small
wonder that the feelings of the people were filled with anguish at
Maastricht, as at all hours of the day motor ambulances came in from
the battlefield. The seriously wounded were brought to Maastricht,
where there were surgeons. The less seriously wounded were taken to
Eysden.
A Dutch lady with two children took to flight from Visé on hearing
that the Germans were approaching. She was stopped by a body of
Germans, who compelled her to go with them to Visé and afterwards
show where they could get provisions. Finally she was escorted to the
frontier.
In a later telegram the same correspondent said:
I have just returned from the frontier village of Mesch, where I saw
the most magnificent and impressive sight of a vast German army. From
the hill on which I was standing I could see the German troops come
up before me, artillery, cavalry, infantry, and all, while behind the
hill I could hear the boom of gun fire.
As the Holsteiner Dragoons passed I could see on their colour the
date 1871. Then I saw fifteen farmers with bent heads led forth as
prisoners. Their crime was that they had defended their homes.
Then an aeroplane flies overhead. Is it German or Belgian? Will it
drop bombs? It passes on. And then I am approached by German soldiers,
who point revolvers at me, and order me to retire, for in my eagerness
I had stepped beyond the Dutch frontier post.
In a still later message he writes:
The Belgians have destroyed several bridges on the light railway from
Tongeren to Bilsen.
Several important despatches appeared on Monday, August 10th, giving
particulars of the movements of troops during Saturday and Sunday.
There were no movements by the Germans for three days. Beyond the range
of the forts' fire they rested, recovering strength. The threatened
attack along the river Ourthe was suspended. These facts, in the view
of the Belgian General Staff, denoted insufficient preparations and
showed that the German concentration had not been fully carried out.
The situation, in their opinion, gave every assurance that merited
punishment would follow the invasion.
Liège was invested by the Germans on Sunday night, but this was
expected, and was regarded as unimportant. The forts were known to be
ready for further and prolonged resistance, while the foe's stock of
projectiles was evidently short. The Belgian field forces, apart from
the Liège garrison, were massing in the right directions. The portion
of Belgian Luxemburg invaded by the Germans was being cleared of them
by the advancing French troops, who marched forward with the greatest
speed and energy and got good assistance from a division of Belgian
cavalry.
Many trains conveyed more French troops to the front via Brussels.
King Albert reviewed and congratulated the triumphant Third Division,
which had been keeping the foe at bay at Liège.
Liège city possessed an old disused fortress, which the Belgians blew
up to prevent the Germans from availing themselves of it.
It was reported, and afterwards confirmed, that many Bavarians were
deserting or refusing service, the idea of fighting peaceful Belgium,
whose Queen is a beloved Bavarian princess, being very unpopular.
A Belgian who passed through Rotterdam on Saturday evening said: "I
left Liège on Saturday morning, and then the town was still defending
itself valiantly. Not one of the forts was then in the hands of the
Germans. An armistice of three hours was agreed upon to bury the dead,
who lay all around."
The man, who was evidently highly wrought up after the terrible
experience of the siege, declined to say more. The German prisoners
captured had very few cartridges, from which it was assumed that the
Germans had some difficulty in bringing up ammunition and supplies.
How deadly a task the Germans had undertaken in rebuilding the bridge
over the Meuse was illustrated by the following telegram sent by the
_Rotterdamsche Courant's_ correspondent at Maastricht on Saturday
afternoon:
The pontoon bridge built by the Germans was shot away, so that further
troops cannot cross. The 90th and 25th German Regiments, which
supported the bridge-builders, were mown down by the quick-firing
guns. A wounded Belgian was asked how the Germans had fared. He
replied in one word, "Annihilated." Those of the wounded who can be
transported by rail are to be brought from the hospitals at Maastricht
to Alkmaar.
The gallant defence offered by the Belgian garrison was not to pass
without suitable recognition. On August 7th, the French President, M.
Poincaré, despatched the following telegram from the Elysée to the King
of the Belgians:
I am happy to announce to your Majesty that the Government of the
Republic has just decorated with the Legion of Honour the gallant town
of Liège. It wishes thus to honour the courageous defenders of the
place and the whole Belgian army, with which since this morning the
French army has been shedding its blood on the battlefield.
In the view of a very high military authority, the severe check
inflicted by the Belgian garrison of Liège on the German VII. Army
Corps was of cardinal importance. The German General Staff made no
secret of the fact that they looked forward to an easy task in marching
through Belgium. An officer in the German War Office recently stated
that they counted on the benevolent neutrality of Belgium at worst;
and, more probably, the King of the Belgians would range himself on the
German side.
Some time ago a military mission, at the Kaiser's invitation, attended
manoeuvres of special importance near Berlin. In conversation with the
senior British officer present the Kaiser said: "I shall sweep through
Belgium thus"--and waved his arm in the air.
The authority alluded to expressed the opinion that the line of the
Meuse could now be held, but that the crucial trial of strength would
occur when the main bodies of the two field armies met in the open.
What was of no less interest, as showing the elaborate methods adopted
by the Germans for years beforehand, was Dr. E.J. Dillon's account of
the Germans in Belgium before and after the outbreak of war. Dr. Dillon
telegraphed from Brussels on Sunday, August 9th:
It is a noteworthy fact that during the fierce fighting of the past
few days a disproportionately large number of officers as compared
with privates were disabled owing to their distinctive uniforms, and
among the officers were a disproportionately large percentage of
surgeons, whose uniform is still more conspicuous. The War Minister's
attention is being drawn to the advisability of rendering the outward
marks of rank differences less noticeable at a distance.
The Belgian Government has decided not to proceed to the expulsion
of Germans en masse, although the country is infested by spies and
agents, who make desperate efforts to reveal and frustrate the plans
of the military authorities. In the German Consulate and the German
school wireless telegraphy apparatus were discovered. At Antwerp,
where the Germans had for years wielded paramount influence, many of
them repaid the hospitality shown them with perfidious hostility.
Two sons of the principal German firm in Antwerp, which has been
established for over twenty years there, have been arrested on a
charge of treason. Even the School of Aviation had trusted a caretaker
of German nationality, who has occupied this and similar posts for
eighteen years, and was discovered on Friday working the wireless
telegraph apparatus. He was arrested, tried, and condemned.
Nowhere in Belgium were the Germans more at home than in Antwerp;
nowhere have they proved such relentless enemies to their hosts. When
quitting the city on Friday some of them exclaimed, "We are going now,
but we will return shortly escorted by troops." The bitterness against
Germany in Antwerp is intense, but there and throughout Belgium the
German prisoners and wounded are treated with the utmost consideration.
The Germans, who were hospitably received in Holland, fed, and sent
home, were not, as the Belgian Press believed, soldiers, but fugitive
civilians. Holland has scrupulously discharged her duties as a neutral
State.
The Flemish population of Belgium is making heroic sacrifices for the
struggle, which has only been begun. The smiling suburbs of Antwerp,
with their gardens, lawns, thickets, and luxurious villas, are being
disfigured beyond recognition in order to meet the requirements of the
military strategists, and the owners look on with grim approval at the
destruction of their cherished property.
The narrative of how the neutrality of Luxemburg was violated is
interesting. On Sunday morning while I was painfully travelling through
Bavaria towards the Rhine the population of Luxemburg awakened to find
all the ways of communication in German hands. Everywhere detachments
of German soldiers were stationed, but what most astonished the
simple-minded citizens was this--that the detachments were commanded
by the employés of commercial and industrial firms established in
Luxemburg who two days previously had been at their offices as usual.
Now, attired in military uniform, they were at the head of bodies of
German troops, leading them through the streets, directing them to
places where perquisitions might be made or arrests effected, and
giving them the benefit of their admirable knowledge of the town and
people.
This they did with noteworthy results. Thus they denounced some 200
Alsatians who had not served in the German army, and who naturally
reckoned on a safe asylum in neutral Luxemburg. These unfortunate
men were roused from their sleep and spirited away, their appeal for
humanitarian treatment being answered by violence or threats.
A German major who was first to cross the Adolf Bridge found his way
barred by the Cabinet Minister M. Eyschen, who, having arrived in a
motor, turned the car lengthwise across the bridge. Taking out a copy
of the Berlin Treaty, he showed it to the German officer, who remarked,
"I am acquainted with it, but have orders which I must execute."
Immediately afterwards the Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide drove up in an
automobile, which she also turned lengthwise across the bridge, saying
that the neutrality of Luxemburg must be respected, and that she would
telegraph to the Kaiser, whereupon the major curtly answered, "You had
better go home quietly."
The commander of the Luxemburg army, Vandyck, came up just then and
remonstrated with the German officer, who retorted, "If these are not
your methods they are ours," and, putting a revolver to his head,
cried, "Clear out!"
Soon afterwards the work of military destruction began, villas and
farmhouses being demolished, and thickets cut down for strategic
purposes. Terror reigns throughout Luxemburg since then. A farmer
with provisions, being stopped and his wagons seized, grumbled. He
was arrested, taken before a Court-martial, and has not been heard of
since. From Luxemburg to Rodange the fields are devastated, houses
razed to the ground, trenches dug, and whoever casts a glance at these
is arrested as a spy. In a word, the population of the Grand Duchy is
learning the meaning of the words "reign of terror."
Military experts here hold that some days must elapse before important
aggressive operations are resumed by the German army. They explain the
miscalculation of the invaders as follows:
Germany secretly moved forward about 900,000 men towards the
Franco-Belgian and Russian frontiers during the week ending August
2nd, with the object of being able to surprise and overpower the
resisting forces at the very outset of the war.
In order to accomplish this stroke, which would have had an immense
effect upon the morale of the troops, the men were despatched without
adequate provisions or ammunition, on the assumption that they would
find the former in the conquered districts, and could await the
latter from their own trains of supplies, which would follow shortly
afterwards. The reception at Liège upset this reckoning, and explains
why the prisoners complained of hunger.
These unexpected reverses, which have given time for the junction of
the French and Belgian forces, will now necessitate the definitive
concentration of the German army, which includes the second line of
another million men, and this operation is at present in full swing.
It involves the mobilisation of the Landsturm, or Territorial army,
and according to trustworthy private advices received here, the
officer commanding the Cologne military district has already called
all the men of the Landsturm to arms.
In other words, a tremendous effort will shortly be put forth to burst
through the Franco-Belgian barriers of the forts and men, and inundate
France with German soldiers.
In view of this mighty tide of armed men and the relatively narrow
area through which they must force a passage, it is nowise impossible
that they may at the last moment choose a route northwards of Visé,
and violate Dutch territory. This eventuality should be borne well in
mind by those interested in preparing for it.
One of the curious methods of warfare employed by the Germans is the
despatch of Uhlans in groups of six and eight, who ride for miles in
advance of the army, enter undefended towns and villages, announce the
arrival of the bulk of the troops, and return. It is amazing how far
ahead of the army they advance.
On Friday evening they entered Arlon, and were received in silence,
but when leaving they heard the report of a revolver in the principal
café. Then, turning sharply, they discharged their firearms at the
house, and one rushed with pointed lance against a woman sitting at a
window. She was wounded mortally.
The municipal authorities, fearing further reprisals, drove out in a
motor, with a white flag, found the commanding officer, and tendered
their excuses, promising to punish the person guilty of firing.
The organisation of the German espionage was elaborate beyond belief.
Large German commercial firms established for many years in Belgium
prospered under conditions which rendered competition by Belgians
hopeless. They entertained intimate relations with all classes of the
population, subscribed handsomely to local charities, wielded great
influence in municipal affairs, and were conversant with everything
which the German Government was concerned to know.
The secret of their prosperity was a munificent State subvention from
the Berlin Government. Each German subject who was in the secret
service of the Government had his own work to execute. At Cambria, it
is affirmed, a German firm was charged with the work of having the
bridge blown up. A Belgian servant discovered and denounced the plot.
The authorities shadowed a German merchant day and night, and when
at last he drew near the bridge with the requisite explosives the
sentinel rushed upon him with the bayonet.
The German military captain Erchard was arrested at Ostend on
suspicion. On his person was found a sum of 4,000 francs and a written
order, "Remain Ostend observant," also the key to a cipher with which
he corresponded with the German staff. After his arrest a letter to
him was intercepted from a Belgian offering him important information
concerning the plans of national defence. The writer of the letter has
also been apprehended. In the ancient synagogue of Antwerp, now used
only as a magazine, 3,000 German rifles, carefully wrapped and packed
in cases, have been discovered.
For a day or two the main interest shifted from Liège to Alsace, as on
Sunday, August 9th, a French force advanced into Alsace and occupied
Mülhausen. The men were greeted with unbounded enthusiasm by the
inhabitants; but strategic considerations necessitated the evacuation
of the town shortly afterwards. Another wing of the French army,
however, advanced at the same time into Belgium, and there were several
cavalry encounters, of minor importance, on the banks of the Meuse.
Mr. Granville Fortescue, who, as the special representative of _The
Daily Telegraph_, had spent the first two days of the siege in the city
of Liège, caught the last train from the besieged city and sent his
telegram dated Liège, August 6th, from Brussels. He said:
Last night and early this morning the Germans attacked this city in
force. About 11.30 p.m., on hearing heavy cannonading, I crossed the
river by the bridge Fragnée, and took position on the heights to the
south of the city. It was full moon.
The German attack was directed against the forts at Fléron, Embourg,
and Boncelles. The artillery practice was perfect. Shell after shell
was exploded fairly on the ramparts of the forts. The return fire of
the Belgians I could not judge for effectiveness, as the German gun
positions were admirably concealed. The rough nature of the country
and the darkness favoured the attackers. In my opinion no siege guns
were in action. The Germans used a high explosive shell that burst
with extraordinary vividness.
About three a.m. infantry fire broke out in the woods west of the
River Ourthe, between Embourg and Boncelles. It was impossible to
distinguish anything except the flashes of the rifles. About this time
I heard infantry fire in the west. The country in the vicinity of the
forts has not been cleared, and evidently only hastily fortified.
The Belgian infantry, 9th and 14th Line Regiments, held the country
between the forts Fléron, Embourg, and Boncelles. The 9th Regiment
bore the brunt of the attack, which was repulsed along the line.
With the first rays of daylight, about four a.m., I was able to make
out the troops of the German line of battle.
They were fighting in close order. I could not believe I was watching
the first line, as this seemed to me to be a return to old-fashioned
tactics. But there could be no doubt as to their formation. The
engagement attained its fiercest stage about five a.m. About this
time the fort at Fléron was silenced. I was afterwards told that the
German fire had smashed much of the machinery of the disappearing gun
carriages.
Small parties of German cavalry could be seen in the intervals between
the infantry battalions. But there was no attempt at a cavalry attack.
Towards eight o'clock there was a lull in the attack. The accidental
nature of the country to the south favoured the concealment of the
Germans. I would not attempt to estimate closely their force at
this point. It might have been a division. They were occupying the
intervals between the fortresses, and had as their objective the
bridges south of the city.
The attack was checked all along the line. Battalion after battalion
was thrown back by the Belgians, whose 9th Regiment of the Line fought
like demons.
My own adventures were many and varied. The most stirring was when I
was held up by a lancer, who kept his revolver pointed at the pit of
my stomach while I explained that I was not a German. Four times I was
arrested and brought before the authorities. When I got back into the
town the crowd that swarmed on the streets would one minute surround
me and threaten me as a German, and the next loudly acclaim me as the
first of the arriving English.
That was the question in every mouth. "When would the English come?"
The whereabouts of the French was another topic eagerly discussed by
the mob.
Panic-stricken refugees came hurrying in during the morning, and
continued throughout the day to flood the city. Wherever they could
find listeners, which was easy, they would tell the story of their
night's experiences. One woman with her two daughters had spent the
whole night in the cellar of their home. A shell had exploded in the
kitchen. Had any of her family been injured? someone asked.
"Yes, monsieur, the poor cat was dead." A stout gentleman, with a
pointed grey beard was inconsolable because his "collection of little
birds" had been left behind at the mercy of the Germans.
This influx of frightened outsiders had a very baleful effect on the
people of Liège itself. Naturally the discussion of the number of
killed and wounded on both sides was the principal topic.
Motors carrying wounded soon began to arrive. These stopped before
the hotels or establishments which had been turned into improvised
hospitals. "Fifteen beds ready," "Ten beds for wounded here," were
signs posted on the doors of many houses.
The news was soon current in the city that the fighting had ceased for
the moment. There was to be a conference with the Germans.
The Palace of Liège was now the centre of attraction. "The Germans
demanded the immediate surrender of the forts and the city." "The
Belgians had asked for twenty-four hours in which to consider this
proposal." "The Germans refused, and threatened to bombard the city at
once." These and a dozen other rumours ran through the crowds.
Suddenly a loud explosion set every heart thumping. "Had the
bombardment commenced?" "No, the Belgian engineers had blown up the
arches of the bridge."
But as the afternoon wore on it became known that the Belgian
commanders had refused to give up the city. The bombardment was to
begin at six p.m. That was the last word I got.
The last train out of the city was crowded with refugees fleeing with
such little property as they could gather together. The scenes were
pitiful in the extreme when the train pulled out. Never can one forget
the expression of those left behind.
And the scenes in the train!
I carried a woman who must have been between eighty-five and ninety
years old up the step of the vehicle and to a rude bench in a
third-class carriage. A Sister of Mercy was her only attendant. Before
we were half-way to Brussels a priest had given her extreme unction.
Opposite me sits a man with four five-week old puppies and the mother
in his lap. In the next car are herded a score of German prisoners.
The helmets covered with cloth. The insignia gone.
In order to understand the attack which the Belgians so gallantly
repulsed during the early hours of the morning it is necessary to have
some idea of the country south of Liège.
The most remarkable feature of the terrain is the sharp rise of the
hills south of the River Meuse. From the flat banks of the stream the
land rises at an angle of fifteen degrees until it reaches 300 feet.
These figures are my estimation. The country is wooded and rough.
From a military point of view the section to the south and west of
where the River Ourthe joins the Meuse is extremely important. In the
first place, the Meuse is crossed here by two bridges, one railway
and the other a splendid masonry road bridge built to commemorate the
Liège Exposition. This latter is called sometimes the Pont de Fragnée
and sometimes the Exposition Bridge. The Pont du Val-Benoit is the
name of the railway bridge. The Exposition Bridge has been mined ready
for destruction. I could not get a chance to examine the railway
bridge. The railways from Hervé and Verviers enter the city over this
crossing. As it is certain that the main German force is coming over
these lines of communication, the capture of the bridges must be their
first object.
The angle between the Rivers Ourthe and Meuse is a flat plain. Besides
the railway junction, the angle is occupied by the electric lighting
plant, a smelting works, and a gun and small arms factory. These were
all in full blast during the day. A coal mine was also being operated.
In addition to these plants, whose value to an invading army is beyond
estimation, a force holding the hills to the south would have the city
at its mercy. Again, there is another railway running to Namur. So if
the Germans are to get anywhere near their second objective this line
of communication must be taken.
Nothing could be superior to the resistance put up by the Belgian
army to the attacks made between Embourg and Boncelles. The 9th and
14th Regiments of the Line not only checked the advancing Germans,
but actually threw them back. The Belgians were greatly helped by the
fact that the enemy advanced in close order. Battalion after battalion
of Germans were thrown into the fight in solid formation. It is small
wonder that they were decimated. However, the estimated number of
killed and wounded on their side is certainly exaggerated. Rumour puts
it at 25,000. At the assault of Port Arthur where I saw the Japanese
swarm up the forts at Ban Ju San, and where there were 400 pieces of
artillery in action, the losses from August 16th to the 21st totalled
16,000 on the Japanese side. While the Belgians have inflicted the
severest kind of repulse, yet I cannot believe that the enemy's
casualties reach the figures given. Still, they have been heavy enough
to make them ask for an armistice of twenty-four hours.
The Belgian troops engaged are the 3rd Division and 15th Mixed
Brigade. The Germans are reported as the 7th, 9th, and 10th Corps
under General von Emmich. The detachments of Germans captured which
I have seen have all been cavalry. They are mostly boys of from
eighteen to twenty-four years old. Their grey uniforms are stripped of
all insignia, and they have covered their helmets with grey drill.
In justice to the attacking force, I must say that their artillery
practice was excellent. This fact only adds to the credit of the
Belgian defence.
In all honour to the work done by the army, the spirit of the citizens
of Liège also merits the highest praise. It takes courage to sit
still under a bombardment. And this is what the civilians have had
to do. Their courage was also tested to the utmost by the stories of
murder and rapine told by the panic-stricken refugees coming in from
the outlying towns. Fortunately, so far, the German shells have done
little harm to the city proper. Yet it seems contrary to the spirit
of our boasted civilisation that the rules of war permit an enemy to
drop projectiles among women and children. Liège is a fortified town,
and under this classification it is liable to artillery attack without
notice.
In a subsequent despatch Mr. Fortescue emphasised the fact that the
dogged resistance of the Belgians had been of the highest military
importance for two reasons: in the first place, it had given France
time to complete her mobilisation; and, in the second, it had given the
British army time to mobilise and to begin its landing on the Continent.
At noon on August 11th, the Press Bureau issued a statement showing,
_inter alia_, the disposition of the German forces at Liège, so far
as they were known. The statement said that about two German cavalry
divisions were reported in the neighbourhood of Tongres; three German
corps were still opposite Liège; other German troops were reported to
be entrenching the line of the River Aisne.
The large German force was moving through Luxemburg, and the advanced
troops were now on the Belgian frontier.
CHAPTER III
Preliminary Atrocities--Bravery of the Belgians--Battle of Haelen-Diest
At this stage of the fighting numerous circumstantial stories of German
atrocities began to filter through, though for various reasons large
portions of them were deleted by the Censors. They were generally
summed up in an official statement by the Belgian Government which is
quoted in a subsequent chapter. Dr. Dillon, telegraphing on August
11th, asserted that it was still impossible to throw any light
upon the military operations, which might culminate on Thursday or
Friday in a terrific collision between the forces of disruption and
those of civilisation. Never before, not even during the Japanese
campaign against Russia, had the movements of an army been shrouded
in such impenetrable mystery. Considering the number, audacity, and
ingenuity of the German agents still in Belgium, these precautions
were indispensable. Anyhow, the War Office, the only source of
intelligence, contented itself with a brief assurance that the news was
satisfactory, or that there was no news of importance to communicate.
Concrete facts were learnt mostly from Paris or Holland.
Another fact which was beginning to dawn upon the public was that
the heroic resistance of the Belgian army had been offered hitherto
to covering troops only, and that the enemy's losses did not exceed
5,000, although three German army corps had been thoroughly beaten.
It was believed in Brussels that the hostile main armies would be
ready any time after Wednesday night, August 12th. On the 11th several
detachments of German covering troops were sent forward to the Belgian
advanced posts as feelers. The Belgians when possible concealed
themselves in thickets or in fields, and captured a considerable number
of the invaders.
One Belgian lancer, named Bogaerts, deserves especial mention. His
habit was to sally forth alone, lance in poise, and dash forward
against the Uhlans, one of whom he generally killed or wounded,
whereupon the remainder gave themselves up. In this way he took
fourteen prisoners, wounded several Uhlans, and killed three, without
suffering the slightest injury.
Encounters became frequent in the district stretching from Liège to
Tongres, Hannut, and Tirlemont, whither two divisions succeeded in
penetrating on the 11th.
Already the airships of the different combatants were floating
gracefully into the visual range of the Brussels population, but at
such a height that one could only conjecture the nationality of each;
and the authorities warned the public neither to fear nor attack the
Uhlans.
Anxiety respecting Holland's neutrality was not yet wholly dispelled.
Nobody doubted the firm resolve of the Dutch Government to maintain
its right to hold aloof from the war, but certain misgivings were
entertained as to the adequacy of the troops stationed in the district
where the violation of territory by the Germans was most probable. Some
months previously Dutch Limburg, possessing only a few squadrons of
cavalry, was practically defenceless. Since then a number of infantry
battalions were stationed along the frontier from Maastricht to Venloo,
together with several companies of the local Landwehr. If, as many
military men believed, these troops were the only obstacle to a German
advance in Holland, they constituted an inducement rather than a
deterrent, it was thought.
German spies and secret agents were still numerous and audacious.
Ten days before the declaration of war all trees near the sources of
water in the forest of Soignes, outside Brussels, had notices posted
up in German, with the words, "Potable water." The Mayor of Brussels
had these placards removed, but they were afterwards found posted up
anew. On August 12th when a representative of _The Daily Telegraph_ was
leaving the American Legation, he saw two municipal guards arresting a
lady, whom they politely conducted to the police-station. His chauffeur
cried, "That's no lady. He is a German spy." A couple of men hearing
this rushed up and attempted to maltreat the prisoner, but the guards
protected their charge effectually. At the station the prisoner, who
looked quite collected, was found to be a male German agent possessed
of apparatus for cutting telegraph wires and also of compromising
documents. Belgian treatment of Germans, said the correspondent,
whether civilians or prisoners, erred on side of humanitarianism if it
erred at all.
On the night of August 12th the Press Bureau stated:
Of the twenty-six German army corps the bulk have now been definitely
located, and it is evident that the mass of the German troops are
concentrated between Liège and Luxemburg.
The number known to be on the Western side proves that in the Eastern
theatre of war the frontier, as far as Germany is concerned, is
comparatively lightly guarded, unless by reserve troops.
At this time, beyond some unimportant outpost fighting near Liège, the
position in Belgium was quiet. "A sense of stagnation," as Dr. Dillon
expressed it, was creeping over the public. Of the troops massing
behind the various cavalry covers, of the enemy's numbers, whereabouts,
and plans, nobody but the General Staff knew anything. The vaguest of
conjectures were the sole substitute for knowledge. Some held that the
Germans, disheartened by their failure to traverse Belgium in three
days and by the severe defeat of three army corps, were preparing for
the defensive. This view, taken in official circles, was borne out by
the circumstance that they were entrenching themselves on the River
Ourthe, employing the peasants to make routes in the south of the
province of Liège and in Luxemburg, bringing up fresh troops for the
reinforcement of the line Maestricht-Liège, and withdrawing most of
their covering cavalry regiments.
[Illustration]
Passing from the region of conjecture to that of fact, it was soon
learnt that the enemy's cavalry which advanced on Monday into Belgium
to see how the land lay threw out feelers from Hannut and Saint Trond
towards Tirlemont, Hougaerde, and Jodoigne. They came with artillery
and machine guns, occupied Landen, Neerwinden, Pellaines, and other
places, burning houses and hayricks as they passed. A regiment of
Belgian lancers met them at Dormael, where a sharp encounter gave a
momentary advantage to the defenders, whom the German artillery, which
was opened shortly afterwards, forced to retire.
The Germans then proceeded to shoot seven inmates of the houses on an
unproved charge of firing. They also burned the houses of the village
of Orsmael, and shot three brothers, peasants, on a like allegation.
Universal execration followed the German troops in Belgium, where all
observers were unanimous in accusing them of cruelty towards civilians,
unwarranted by the attitude of the population and forbidden by the
rules of war. Wherever they tarried peaceful inhabitants were shot
down on charges which were emphatically denied by their neighbours. At
Dormael a Uhlan, seeing a priest go forward to administer the last
sacraments to the agonising wounded, cut him down as if he too were a
combatant.
Having compelled the Belgian lancers to retire from Dormael, the German
cavalry advanced in the direction of Tirlemont to the number of about
2,000. Arriving at Bost, which is a mile from Tirlemont, they found
their further advance barred by Belgian infantry, whereupon they fell
back upon Saint Trond and Waremme.
The Belgian troops did not begin the pursuit of the enemy's cavalry
until August 11th, when they drove it beyond Waremme.
Liège became a new centre of an artillery action, both offensive
and defensive. The Germans pounded away at the forts, their shells
exploding on the cupolas and around these, while the forts responded
with vigour unimpaired. Meanwhile the invaders began to construct a
pontoon over the Meuse at Lixhe, for troops and trains of ammunition
and provisions. It was believed that they were also preparing to cross
the river above Liège, for they were forwarding heavy war material in
the direction of Engis.
Meanwhile, the French cavalry showed themselves to the population of
Brussels, who gave them a warm ovation.
The second general engagement in the struggle for the possession of
the Liège forts took place on Wednesday, August 12th, and lasted until
the early morning of the 13th. The Germans attempted a "reconnaissance
in force," and attacked the Belgian army at two points.
Again, however, the Belgian soldier proved more than a match for the
most highly trained troops of the Kaiser. The reconnaissance in force
failed utterly. Two of their finest cavalry divisions and two regiments
of Jaegers suffered heavy losses in killed, wounded, and prisoners.
The attack was made at two points, one to the north of Namur and the
other near Diest, which is a railway junction. About ten in the morning
cavalry patrols reported the advance of the enemy towards Haelen, a
village about three miles south of Diest. At the head of the force rode
the famous 17th Dragoons; behind them marched a regiment of Jaegers
with a battery of artillery and machine-guns. Belgian carbineers
awaited them at Zelck and succeeded in checking the advance until they
could retire on Haelen, which was formerly a fortress.
With reckless courage the Dragoons galloped into what was an armed cul
de sac. In front of them was a battery on the mound of the fort, and
the road was trenched and barricaded. The Belgians opened fire from
buildings which had been loopholed to meet an attack from that quarter.
Under cover of artillery fire and aided by machine-guns the cavalry
attempted to carry the position by assault. It was an enterprise that
did more credit to the courage than to the judgment of the German
soldier.
* * * * *
Mr. William Maxwell, who communicated these facts, added:
At manoeuvres in Germany some years ago I remember the Kaiser asking
Sir Ian Hamilton what he thought of the infantry formation. Sir Ian
ventured to suggest that the formation was too dense. Whereupon the
Emperor rebuked him with these words: "Half of those men would be
killed, but we can afford to lose them." The cavalry seem to act on
this principle. Without a pause they rode upon the barricade, which
they attempted to leap. I counted seven dead horses close to the
barricade, while others lay writhing a hundred yards off, bearing
testimony to the bravery of two-score men who now lie side by side
awaiting burial. So stout was the resistance of the 700 Belgians
who held this position against a division of cavalry and a regiment
of infantry that the enemy soon found it prudent to withdraw. Not
allowed to retire unmolested, though pursuit beyond Zelck would have
been folly, they left behind about forty dead, many wounded, and 300
prisoners.
It was remarkable, according to the accounts of eye-witnesses, how
readily some of these brave men surrendered. One Belgian officer
captured three officers. The first question they asked was, "What is
England doing?" They were evidently ignorant that England had declared
war. Their second question was, "What of our fleet?" The wounded were
treated not only with skill and kindness, but even luxury.
The object of this raid was to feel the nature and strength of the
opposing force, and, if possible, to capture points on the railway as
well as to threaten the capital in order to strike terror--a phrase so
often on the lips of their War Lord--into the heart of the people.
A more detailed version of the Haelen-Diest fight on the road to
Louvain says that the encounter lasted all day. The Germans were
supported by a battery of artillery. The Belgian field forces fought
desperately, and Lieutenant Van Doren even enlisted the Diest fire
brigade against the enemy, whose loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners
was comparatively heavy.
Many of the prisoners were fainting, and the horses were dying from
hunger. The German attacking party had probably been detached from the
Liège right wing for an audacious raid on Louvain and Brussels.
Further details about the Haelen-Diest combat showed that the German
losses must have approached 3,000.
The action, when the German mitrailleuses (machine-guns) were captured,
took place north of Eghezée, on the road from Liège to Namur. Of
course, the main German forces continued to be arrested before Liège,
but they sent forth detachments in every direction to make believe that
they had carried everything before them in their rear and to create
popular panics. Each of these detachments was gradually beaten in its
turn, and this slowly weakened the large forces intended for the great
general battle, and estimated at about seven army corps, or about
250,000 men.
The following official statement was issued at Brussels on Thursday,
August 13th:
The victory gained by the Belgian troops yesterday is now officially
confirmed. The Belgian troops engaged were only one cavalry division
and a brigade of all arms. The German losses were very heavy, and it
is believed that about three-fifths of the enemy engaged was put out
of action. The Belgian losses were relatively slight, only a few men
being killed.
The Belgian cavalry division this morning took up the offensive
against yesterday's defeated troops, in order, it is believed, to pick
up the dead and wounded and to collect the abandoned war material. No
German surprise is expected.
Another encounter took place this morning in the south with the German
troops reported yesterday to be marching towards Eghezée. These
were attacked by our troops and repulsed with very heavy losses. We
captured a number of machine guns mounted on motor-cars.
There is no reason to fear any German cavalry movement on Brussels
from the south, all roads to the capital being guarded by the army and
by the Garde Civique.
The military situation at the time was summed up as follows by Mr. E.
Ashmead-Bartlett, _The Daily Telegraph's_ military expert:
Every single account of conversations with wounded German soldiers
or prisoners serves to show that the rank and file of the German
army have not the smallest idea for what they are fighting, and that
all profess not to have the smallest desire to invade either France
or Belgium. In the war of 1870, the situations were reversed. Every
German knew that the future of his country as a world Power depended
on victory, and all marched to the front with a determination to
conquer or to die. The French, on the other hand, had no idea for what
they were fighting, and their purely professional army left for the
war amidst vague cries of "À Berlin!" buoyed up by no moral principle.
These factors must bear a very far-reaching effect on the eventual
outcome of the campaign.
In a recent journey through France, I noticed nothing so remarkable
as the intense seriousness of the people. Frenchmen will tell you
there has been nothing like it since the Revolutionary wars, prior
to the Napoleonic epoch, when the levée en masse crushed the invader
at Valmy and Jemappes. The French have entered into this struggle
through no love of fighting, but because they know their existence as
an independent nation is at stake. One other fact must also be noted
before the chances of the opposing armies are examined. In 1870 the
French regular army, which should have had a peace strength of 400,000
men, only numbered 270,000, whereas the Germans, at the very start of
the campaign, stood at a total war strength of over 1,200,000 men.
This inequality no longer exists. On paper Germany has a considerable
superiority of numbers, namely twenty-five army corps against
twenty-one, and her reserves are probably more numerous and better
organised than those of the French. On the other hand, she is,
according to the most reliable information, keeping four corps on the
Russian frontier, and, therefore, the numbers available against France
should certainly not show any superiority, and will probably show
an inferiority when the Belgian and British armies are united along
the line of the Meuse. For years German strategists have reckoned on
having to fight both France and Russia at the same time, and they have
professed themselves as being confident of undertaking such a gigantic
task. Four corps especially trained under Von der Goltz to fight in
more open formations were to hold the Russians, whilst the remaining
twenty-one were to be flung with such rapidity against France as to
obtain a decisive success before Russian intervention could make
itself seriously felt.
It is one thing to have twenty-one army corps ready to invade France,
and quite another to find a suitable front on which to deploy them for
such an invasion. All the time-honoured old routes for the invasion
of France are practically closed to modern armies by the chain of
fortresses which the French have constructed, and, vice versa, the old
roads to Germany are closed to a French invasion. Therefore, French,
German, and Belgian strategists have long recognised that the only
route by which a modern German army could invade France and march on
Paris would be via Belgium, and that declarations of neutrality would
count but little in the strategic scale. It was to resist such a
menace that the Belgians constructed two fortified camps at Liège and
Namur. The old routes of 1870 present too many formidable obstacles to
be overcome. A direct advance into France from Alsace would have found
itself faced by the fortified front Belfort-Epinal-Toul, and Verdun,
four formidable fortified camps, supported by forts on the heights
overlooking the Moselle and Meuse.
There are only two routes by which this line can be passed. That by
way of Charmes, between Epinal and Toul, protected by the fort of
Manonvillers, which would enable the Germans to enter Haut Marne and
to gain the valley of the Seine, and the road to Paris via Bar-le-Duc,
St. Dizier, and Troyes. This is the theatre of war of 1814, and also
the road used by the Crown Prince after Froeschwiller, in 1870. But an
invading army would have to take or mask all these entrenched camps,
which would take a very long time, or else have his communications
continually threatened.
The other road is that by Dun-Stenay, north of Verdun, passing through
the defiles of Côtes-de-Meuse and the forest of Argonne to the open
country round Valmy. But this country is extremely difficult for
military operations on a large scale. It was used by the Duke of
Brunswick in 1792.
The Germans confidently expected to overrun the whole of Belgium and
to gain the French frontier before a single French corps could be
concentrated to offer any serious resistance. They reckoned on two
factors which have turned out the reverse of what they hoped. They
relied on a partial break-down in the French mobilisation, especially
on the railway lines. In this supposition they have been completely
mistaken. Nothing so far has been so remarkable as the smooth working
of the railway service, and, consequently, the rapid concentration of
the French armies. The second factor on which the Germans relied was
the readiness of the Belgians to see their country overrun by a swarm
of invaders or else their inability to resist such an invasion. The
quickest route into Belgium is to cross the Meuse at Liège, and from
there to march south by the left bank along the Mons-Charleroi road,
and to gain the French frontier between Maubeuge and Valenciennes. Of
recent years the Germans have made every preparation for such a move.
They have organised depôts for troops and collected large masses of
stores, and have quadrupled lines at Aix-la-Chapelle, Malmedy, St.
Vith, Bitburg, and Trèves. They can thus rapidly concentrate immense
numbers of troops from Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Coblenz in front of
Liège.
But the stubborn and unexpected defence of Liège has thrown all
their plans for a direct advance into Belgium via the Liège-Namur
line out of gear, and, to judge from the meagre reports which are
coming through slowly, they have entrenched that line strongly, and
are holding it on the left bank of the Meuse with the two corps
which were so roughly handled while the bulk of their forces are
preparing to cross the Belgian frontier further north on the line
Maestricht-Roermonde, and to march on Brussels through the Duchy of
Limburg. We read of constant cavalry engagements in this district and
of partial defeats of the German troops, but these stories must not
be taken too seriously, as the German cavalry is merely being used as
a screen to cover the concentration of immense masses of infantry who
will soon be making their presence felt.
CHAPTER IV
Life at Brussels--French Advance--Capital removed to Antwerp
A striking description of life in and around Brussels at this time is
given by Dr. Dillon:
Brussels is herself again. The delirious excitement which during the
first days of mobilisation displayed itself in acts of frenzy has
subsided. The inhabitants have adjusted themselves to the wearisome
suspense and unpleasant surprises of a state of war. Shops that were
shuttered a few days ago are open and doing a brisk business once
more. The cafés are thronged inside and out. The boulevards are bright
with streams of many-coloured humanity. The newspapers which dish up
the same stories day after day are grabbed at by citizens eager to
obtain the first news of the military movements.
The only striking differences one discerns between this and normal
times affect the lives of the well-to-do classes. All the theatres,
cinematographs, and other places of amusement are closed. Some of
the principal hotels are turned into temporary hospitals. Public
conveyances, whether cabs or taxis, can hardly be said to exist.
Certain sorts of food which were formerly exported, such as peaches,
grapes, and chickens, have hardly any market and are being sold at
half prices. Flowers are withering on their stalks for lack of buyers.
Artisans, such as electricians and plumbers, have vanished.
Notwithstanding these changes, added Dr. Dillon, the links with the
cheerful life of a month ago had not yet been severed. The people of
Brussels were still blithesome and self-confident, buoyed up by the
sense of security imparted by the heroic conduct of their defenders and
the consciousness of a right cause. As yet the unquiet temper of war
had nowhere manifested itself, yet maimed warriors, homeless families,
destitute women, orphaned children, claimed and received attention, and
reminded the observer all too suggestively of the harvest of misery yet
to be garnered in.
A couple of hours' drive out of the town took one to a world of grim
realities and sinister contrasts. Over the country between Tirlemont
and Saint Trond, but yesterday full of tame beauty, rich in cornfields
and carefully tended gardens, the withering breath of the ruthless
Moloch had already fitfully passed. As the traveller moved along the
dusty road, catching a glimpse of an occasional farmhouse quivering in
the distance through the heat of the August day, he might well feel
beset by the vague dangers that might at any moment have started into
concrete shape and ended his hopes and cares for all time.
As one approached the village of Orsmael at this time unmistakable
tokens of desolation thrust themselves on the view. At first shattered
panes of glass, then domestic utensils flung among the cabbages of the
gardens or before the wrenched doors, greybeards with shrivelled faces
moaning under the trees, women trembling and wailing plaintively, and
still beholding as a mirage the scenes of horror which upset their
mental balance. Here a couple of children prattling in subdued tones,
there a mother leading three orphaned little girls from the still
smoking ruins of their house into the wide world, and everywhere the
loathsome soilure and squalor of war.
Inhuman hate appeared to possess those Prussian invaders, whom terror
drove and terror alone could curb. Belgians who dealt with them at
close quarters, as at Dormael, declared that these Uhlans fought with
the bitterness of personal fury, and, not content with killing those
who manfully resisted them in fight, assassinated numbers who had laid
down their weapons and held their hands up. Many of the corpses have
their hands raised and their elbows on a level with the shoulders. The
wounds of these brave defenders are horrible, having been inflicted
with weapons fired at a distance of a couple of inches from the mouth
or breast.
Some Uhlans met a Belgian chemist who was riding a bicycle near
Jodoigne. Arresting him they inquired their way to the town hall,
placing the muzzles of revolvers to his head while they listened. He
gave them the required information and was allowed to pass on, but
before he had gone ten yards they sent three bullets into his back.
On Friday afternoon, August 14th, the Press Bureau issued the following
statement, summing up the position in Northern Belgium:
(1) After a successful resistance of five days at the passes of Sainte
Marie aux Mines and Le Bonhomme, the French troops have occupied the
region of the Saale Pass, which commands the valley of the Burche, an
affluent of the Rhine.
(2) At Saale numerous desertions from the German troops are notified.
The French have taken many prisoners, and have captured some
machine-guns.
(3) It is now confirmed that in Belgium the Belgians were successful
in an engagement which took place on August 12th between their troops
and six regiments of German cavalry, supported by 2,500 infantry,
machine-guns and artillery. The enemy was completely disorganised; the
six cavalry regiments suffered great losses, and the Belgians pursued
the infantry which gave way.
(4) This (Friday) morning, towards Eghezée, sixteen kilomètres to
the north of Namur, a mixed detachment from the garrison surprised
some German cavalry regiments in camp, threw them into confusion and
forced them back towards the east, after taking numerous prisoners
and capturing cannon and machine-guns. To the south of the Meuse the
German cavalry avoids contact with the French.
(5) The news of fighting about Haelen yesterday is confirmed. The
Germans were driven back eastwards, and there is now no German cavalry
between Hasselt and Ramillies.
(6) Liège forts are reported to be still holding out, and to have
plenty of supplies.
(7) German cavalry patrols are now reported north of Montmedy.
(8) General Joffre, by virtue of the powers conferred on him by the
Ministry of War (decision of August 8th, 1914), has made Lieutenant
Bruyant, of the Dragoons, a Knight of the Legion of Honour. "This
officer," it is stated in the text of his appointment, "accompanied by
seven horsemen, did not hesitate to charge a platoon of some thirty
Uhlans: he killed the officer in charge of them with his own hand, and
routed the German platoon, inflicting severe losses upon it."
(9) The Commander-in-Chief has conferred the first war medal of the
campaign on Escoffier, Corporal of Dragoons, for having charged with
the greatest courage and received several wounds.
(10) Belgian cyclists and cavalry from Namur surprised yesterday a
force of German cavalry, accompanied by artillery and machine-guns,
and compelled them to retire. The Germans lost a field gun and several
machine-guns.
The French army was meanwhile making good progress, and on the night of
the 14th it was officially announced by the War Ministry in Paris that
the French were entering Belgium through Charleroi and were proceeding
in the direction of Gembloux, some thirty miles to the north-east.
Reports were current on Friday evening that the German attack had been
renewed, but these were afterwards seen to be baseless. The German
forces around Liège were content to remain on the defensive for a
time; and even towards the south, in the Vosges, the French troops
were slowly driving the invaders before them. At Liège itself several
bodies of the enemy had taken up their position in the town, but the
forts were still intact. An observer of the scene at this juncture
commented on the changed physiognomy of that once gay capital of the
Walloon country. Some 30,000 of the inhabitants had fled from the place
in terror when the enemy's guns began to shower shells upon the forts
from Fléron. The remainder buried themselves in cellars and underground
passages, scores huddling together without food, drink, or other of
life's necessaries. The city bore marks of havoc everywhere. Gaping
bridges, half-demolished houses, many without doors, which had been
taken off their hinges and cast into the courtyard or the roadside,
fallen roofs, smouldering ruins, told their dismal tale.
There was not a street in which shells had not fallen. The very
asphalt was ploughed up in places like a cornfield at sowing time.
Hurriedly-made graves with their soft mounds protruded in unexpected
places. During the day the Germans were everywhere in evidence: they
patrolled the principal thoroughfares, stood at the barricades which
they had raised at all the approaches to the town, or crept up towards
the forts with remarkable recklessness. Nine of them on bicycles rode
to within 300 mètres of the forts one morning; eight returned unharmed,
only one paying for the pleasant sense of daring adventure with his
life. The inhabitants were cowed by recent deterrent examples and by
the terrors hanging over them.
At nightfall the city assumed the aspect of a churchyard. The silence
was soul-curdling, yet the hearts of the inhabitants beat quicker and
louder when that silence was broken by the heavy tread of the Prussian
patrols or the rending thunder of heavy guns. All the doors still
extant had to be kept wide open. Early in the morning when the bakers
removed their bread from the ovens, German guards, posted wherever
victuals are to be had, were in the habit of pouncing down on the
entire output of the bakeries, for which they sometimes paid; but the
ill-starred inhabitants had no share. The soldiers made their own
coffee and soup in great motor cauldrons, from which it was poured into
metal porringers that they carry with them. They now wore reformed
field uniforms, rendering them hardly distinguishable from a distance,
just as their airships were so re-painted as to resemble the grey of
cloudland.
At Haelen and Diest, the scene of Wednesday's engagement, one drew
nearer to the ghastly realities of war. The struggle waxed desperate,
man meeting man, striking, thrusting, and wrestling in the final fight
for life or death. Here the once peaceful country-side was utterly
transformed. In the background heaps of ruins that so lately were
farmhouses still emitted pungent smoke. Between the leafy trees one saw
the charred rents in the dwellings still erect, animals erring hither
and thither, barricades hastily erected of dead horses, their horrible
wounds gaping and spreading the mephitic reek of death, and along the
carriage-road on either side freshly-made ridges which hid the German
dead.
The serious attention of the civilised world was at this juncture
once again directed to the inhuman methods of warfare practised by
the German soldiery in Belgium, else, it was declared, the campaign
would assume a character of fiendish savagery unmatched in the annals
of war. "Unless some real respect be shown to the usages received
by civilised nations," said one observer, "both sides will end by
making no prisoners. If even a tithe of the narratives now passing
from mouth to mouth about the atrocities committed by the invaders be
well founded--and they are vouched for by credible and level-headed
clergymen, mayors, and foreigners who feel no personal animus against
the Germans--the soldiery of the Fatherland have outrun the Hercules
pillars of inhumanity."
Another report stated that the Germans in Liège were trying to
fraternise with the Belgians, and that German military bands played
daily in the two Belgian cafés.
About the middle of August a Belgian who had a relative at Port Talbot,
Cardiff, wrote:
Every day brings to light new acts of heroism displayed by the plucky
little Belgians, whilst several more no doubt have been accomplished,
of which we shall never hear. Their heroes are either too silent or
for ever silent. Lupin, a boy of eighteen, a corporal in the regiment
of Major Jeanne, who himself was nearly killed during the battle of
Liège, has died, a great hero in the eyes of his whole regiment.
One of his comrades who has known Lupin for years tells this pathetic
story, which Major Jeanne has himself brought to light. "We were
on the right bank of the river Meuse at Bellaire, which is not far
above Jupille, and we were in close touch with a German battery.
The musketry on both sides was terrible. I was stretched out flat,
continuously loading and shooting, and could feel my gun getting hot.
Bullets were flattening their noses in front of me, raising clouds of
sand and dust. My mouth, eyes, and ears were full of powder. Corpses
were heaped round me, their faces black with powder, and stamped
with the horrible grimace of death; their hands, with swollen veins,
gripping their deadly Mausers. Yes, war is magnificently terrible.
"All at once the Germans adopted new tactics, and I must give them
credit for being a cute lot. They seemed to withdraw from their
position, and we could distinctly notice their ranks splitting as if
in great confusion, but it was only to bring to the front some more
artillery which had been rushing from behind. The move was smartly
executed, the ranks closed again, and for a time they seemed as if
they were going to have the advantage over us.
"But now young Lupin had seen his chance looming, and what he did
altogether changed the face of things. 'Leave them to me now,' was
what someone heard him say, and like a flash the boy dashed off under
cover of a ditch on the left. Only a few of us had seen it, but
Major Jeanne knew his corporal of eighteen, and knew he was up to
something grand. Watching him, he shouted, 'Go for them! Get at those
square-heads with your bullets. Fire!'
"In the meantime Lupin had managed to get to the left of the German
battery, and at 300 mètres distance he sheltered behind a wall.
He took aim at the battery in enfilade, and under the fire of his
Mauser brought down in quick succession the chief officer, the
under-officers, and the artillerymen. This time real confusion took
place at the German battery, which was nearly silenced, the Germans,
thinking that a whole platoon was now attacking them from behind the
wall, directed their last piece of artillery on the wall, and with a
terrific crash the wall came down, burying the brave Corporal Lupin.
The boy's bravery had weakened the German position, and it did not
take us long to scatter them, and put another victory on our list."
On Saturday and Sunday, August 15th and 16th, there was little definite
news from any part of the theatre of war. There was some fighting in
the south undoubtedly, and a French force defeated a strong body of
Bavarians, capturing 500 prisoners. At Dinant, in Belgium, there was
another stiff engagement, but no details of it came to hand for a
few days. An authoritative report was given out at Brussels to the
effect that the Germans had lost more than 25,000 killed, wounded,
and prisoners at Liège--more than half an army corps. These losses,
of course, would have been reckoned as trivial if the Germans had
succeeded in their original design of executing a "military promenade"
through Belgian territory. Apart from the scarcity of food, already
referred to, the besieging forces at Liège suffered from lack of
horses, and cavalry reconnaissances were gradually becoming impossible.
On Monday, August 17th, it was officially announced that the British
Expeditionary Force had been safely landed on French soil; and it was
at the same time stated that the French army had scored some successes
in Upper Alsace. The movement of this wing of General Joffre's army
appeared to extend from the Swiss frontier at Altkirch, near Mülhausen,
as far away as Château Salins, a distance of eighty miles. Its object,
which was afterwards frustrated by a strong German advance, was to
isolate and "contain" the great fortresses of Metz and Strassburg. The
two official notices issued by the War Ministry in Paris describe these
operations:
Sunday Midnight [_i.e._, August 16th].
The forward movement has been developed along the whole front from
Réchicourt to Sainte Marie-aux-Mines. In the Vosges we have carried
Sainte Marie-aux-Mines and made progress towards Sainte Blaise.
The French troops which occupied the Donon yesterday have advanced. In
the valley of Schirmeck especially their progress has been extremely
rapid. We have taken 1,000 prisoners, in addition to the 500 captured
yesterday. Large quantities of equipment have been abandoned by the
enemy.
In this district, as at Sainte Marie, we have captured guns of large
calibre, field-guns, and ammunition.
In the region Blamont--Cirey we have gained the heights of Lorquin,
and in doing so have taken the convoy of a division of German cavalry,
consisting of nineteen motor wagons.
In the attack on Dinant the enemy's forces consisted of the Cavalry
Division of the Guard and the First Division of Cavalry, supported
by infantry from several battalions and some companies with maxims.
When these forces appeared on the left bank the French troops attacked
them. This attack, delivered with magnificent dash, soon drove the
enemy back, and they recrossed the Meuse in great disorder. Many were
unable to regain the bridge, and fell into the river, which at this
point has steep banks and flows swiftly. Numbers of the enemy were
drowned.
Taking advantage of this disorder, one of our Chasseur cavalry
regiments crossed the river after the Germans and pursued them for
several kilomètres. Several hundred horses belonging to the Uhlans
were captured and subsequently passed to the rear for remount
purposes. In this pursuit the French regiment put to flight forces of
the enemy considerably superior to itself in numbers.
Monday (11 a.m.) [_i.e._, August 17th].
Our advance continues to develop. Our troops have carried the heights
to the north of the frontier, and their lines pass Breschwiller,
Lorquin, Azaudange, Marsal.
In the Donon region we occupy Schirmeck, 7-1/2 miles beyond Saales.
The number of field-guns taken by us at this point is not four, as
was stated yesterday, but twelve, as well as twelve limbers and eight
maxims. Our cavalry has pushed forward as far as Lutzelhausen and
Muhlbach.
Further to the south we have occupied Ville, to the east of the Pass
of Urbans, on the road to Schlestadt. Thann, Cernay, and Dannemarie
are occupied.
At Blamont, a village from which the Germans have just been driven
by our troops, they had, without reason or provocation, put to death
three persons, of whom one was a young girl and another an old man of
eighty-six, whose name was M. Barthélemy, and who was an ex-Mayor of
the village.
On Monday, August 17th, the Queen of the Belgians and the Ministers for
War, Finance, and Foreign Affairs retired from Brussels to Antwerp with
the Ministers of France and Russia, who left French interests in the
hands of the Spanish Legation.
It was officially stated that this was according to long pre-arranged
and Constitutional arrangements, and not because the military situation
was disquieting. The families of the withdrawing Ministers remained in
Brussels, which was protected by over 20,000 Civic Guards, entrenched
behind barbed-wire fences, making the capital quite safe against
surprise attack.
This move was really made because the Germans had managed to bring
up heavy siege guns; and, although the forts were still holding out,
arrangements were gradually being made to "contain" them and to advance
on the capital with the main army. The Belgian Government afterwards
decided not to attempt to defend Brussels, and the barricades which had
been erected were dismantled and the barbed-wire fences taken down.
CHAPTER V
Preparations at Namur--Scenes at Liège--Germans Pressing
Forward--Occupation of Brussels
In the meantime the second stronghold of the Belgian army, Namur, was
prepared for the onslaught of the enemy. On August 13th Mr. Granville
Fortescue, who had arrived there, noted that the city exhibited all
the grim circumstances of a siege except the actual falling of shells
within its boundaries. When he arrived at the station he followed the
crowd, which was herded into a corner until each passenger had been
examined. One could not move without a "laissez-passer." Soldiers
patrolled the streets, and every few hundred yards pedestrians were
halted and made to show their papers. Barricades commanded all the main
avenues into the city. They had been made by dragging enormous goods
vans across the street and turning the van into a sort of blockhouse.
The sides were pierced for rifle fire, and sand bags were piled
breast-high inside.
[Illustration]
Defences of sand bags and earth were built at either side of the van.
* * * * *
Suddenly the whirl of an aeroplane sounds overhead. Then we hear a
scattered volley. The aeroplane is German, and the garrison are trying
to pot it, despite the fact that it must be 2,000 feet up. They are
striking in appearance, these German aeroplanes. Once seen it is easy
afterwards to distinguish them. Seen from directly below, it is best
described as scarab shaped--what I should imagine a giant scarab would
look like on the wing. The whole machine is white, except for a panel
of sky blue painted across the centre of each wing. The engine of the
German machine makes a louder noise than either the French or Belgian.
The aeroplane we were watching circled above the forts and remained in
this vicinity about half an hour. Then it turned about and disappeared
to the east.
* * * * *
The Kaiser, with three of his sons, left Berlin on August 17th for
Mayence, about 100 miles to the north of Strassburg; but he did not
venture upon Belgian soil.
* * * * *
An English officer who returned to England from Brussels at this time
had had the most interesting experience, and, it should be added,
privilege, of chatting with one of the heroic defenders of Liège, a
Belgian officer. To a representative of _The Daily Telegraph_ he said:
I never had any doubt that the Belgians were plucky fellows. The
defence of Liège shows them in heroic light.
One of them, in the course of a casual conversation, which would not
have given you any idea that he, or any of his colleagues, had taken
part in anything extraordinary, said: "Some of us late arrivals only
managed to get to our posts when the German attack began. It was
night-time. We replied sharply with our guns. Until the dawn came we
had no very distinct idea of what our practice was. Then we noticed
heaps of slain Germans in a semi-circle at the foot of our fort. The
German guns must have been much less successful, because they rarely
hit us that night. They did better at daybreak. We did better still.
"As line after line of the German infantry advanced, we simply mowed
them down. It was terribly easy, monsieur, and I turned to a brother
officer of mine more than once and said, 'Voilà! They are coming on
again, in a dense, close formation! They must be mad!' They made no
attempt at deploying, but came on, line after line, almost shoulder
to shoulder, until, as we shot them down, the fallen were heaped one
on top of the other, in an awful barricade of dead and wounded men
that threatened to mask our guns and cause us trouble. I thought of
Napoleon's saying--if he said it, monsieur; and I doubt it, for he
had no care of human life!--'C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la
guerre!' No, it was slaughter--just slaughter!
"So high became the barricade of the dead and wounded that we did
not know whether to fire through it or to go out and clear openings
with our hands. We would have liked to extricate some of the wounded
from the dead, but we dared not. A stiff wind carried away the smoke
of the guns quickly, and we could see some of the wounded men trying
to release themselves from their terrible position. I will confess I
crossed myself, and could have wished that the smoke had remained!
"But, would you believe it, this veritable wall of dead and dying
actually enabled these wonderful Germans to creep closer, and actually
charge up the glacis? Of course, they got no farther than half way,
for our maxims and rifles swept them back. Of course, we had our own
losses, but they were slight compared with the carnage inflicted upon
our enemies."
The English officer added:
"There is, as you know, quite a large colony of English people in
Brussels, and also in Bruges. They have their English club and tennis
courts. Many of these Britishers have their own houses, and live in
Belgium for three or six months every year. When the war broke out
all but those owning, or renting, property were advised to leave the
country, which they did. Many English householders in Belgium also
closed their residences and left for England.
"The Belgians were at first extremely dubious of our intention to send
troops to Belgium to support them, and night after night, at a certain
well-known seaside resort, they crowded about the British Consulate
for news. When it was definitely known that the British Expeditionary
Force had started Belgian men and women asked for the Union Jack to
be brought out by the Consul, and when this was done they filed past,
kissing it. I saw this with my own eyes."
On the 18th it became evident that the German forces had gathered
on the line Maastricht-Liège and were about to make an attempt to
penetrate the allied armies facing them. There was no serious fighting
on this date, but German cavalry were seen in the direction of Antwerp.
The long-expected battle appeared to have begun on the 19th
(Wednesday), and Tirlemont, a town some twenty-three miles from
Brussels, on the railway to Liège, was said to be its centre. Refugees
hurried into Brussels from Aerschot and Diest, and hundreds of
civilians from Tirlemont also made for the capital.
Saarburg was occupied by the French on the same day.
* * * * *
The great German advance on Belgium was begun on Friday, August
21st, in a line extending from Dinant, a town to the south of
Namur, as far as a point opposite Antwerp. About noon Brussels was
reached and occupied. The following account of the position of the
Belgian Government was issued officially just before the capital was
transferred to Antwerp:
At the present moment the general situation in the Belgian theatre of
war may be described as follows: After having lost a great deal of
time, a large number of men, and a great quantity of material, the
Prussian army has managed to gain ground on both banks of the Meuse up
to a line where it is in contact with the allied armies. The German
troops on the north side of the Meuse belong to various corps, whose
operations have been principally directed against Liège, and who in
the course of time have become available in other directions. There
is also a strong force of cavalry, by means of which the Germans have
been able to make a great show by extending to the north and south.
In the south they came into collision with our troops and the French
troops, and were repulsed. In the north, on the other hand, they found
an open road, and small portions of them managed to make dashes far
afield. In a word, the Germans have taken the measure of our position,
but that they should have lost a fortnight in attaining this result is
all to the honour of our arms. That may have incalculable consequences
for the issues of the operations. The normal development of the
latter, according to the plan concerted between the allies, may lead
to the carrying out of "manoeuvres," that is to say, to changes of
position in order to effect a change in the general situation.
We are on the outside wing, where these manoeuvres are nearly always
necessitated, either for the direct or indirect protection of the
flank. Our army, therefore, must necessarily modify its original
positions, and thus carry out completely the first task devolving
upon it, which consists in gaining time. There is, consequently, no
ground for anxiety if the army makes a movement in such and such a
direction, and armchair strategists need not occupy themselves with
the arrangements made, but should realise that our army now belongs to
a co-ordinated whole, and remember that the strategic conditions have
entirely changed since close contact has been established with our
allies on our right.
The object of the operations as at present going on is not to cover
such and such a district or such and such a town, which has now become
a matter of only secondary importance. The pursuit of the aim assigned
to the Belgian troops in the general plan of campaign preponderates
over everything. This object cannot be revealed, and the most
well-informed persons are unable to discover it in view of the veil of
obscurity which is rightly being spread over all the news allowed to
come through regarding the operations.
Fighting is going on along the whole front from Bale to Diest. The
closer the contact comes between the two armies and the closer
one gets to a decisive action, the more one must expect to see an
advantage gained at one point while ground is lost at another. That
is only to be expected in the case of battles taking place over such
immense fronts as those occupied by the great armies of modern times.
To sum up, one may say that what is going on at our gates is not the
only thing to be thought of. A strategic movement conceived with a
well-defined object is not necessarily a retreat. The fighting which
has taken place at the front during the last few days has resulted in
making the enemy more circumspect and in delaying his forward march
to the great advantage of the whole scheme of operations. There is
no reason at the present time for letting oneself be hung up, thus
playing into the hands of the Germans. That is the motive of the
movements now being carried out. We are not beaten, far from it, but
are making arrangements for beating the enemy in the best possible
conditions. The public should, in this matter, place all trust in the
commander of the army, and should remain calm and confident.
The outcome of the struggle does not appear doubtful. Meanwhile the
newspapers should abstain from mentioning movements of troops, as
secrecy is essential for the success of the operations.
The exodus from Brussels was vividly described in a telegram from Mr.
A.J. Rorke, the correspondent of the Central News Agency. He wired,
under date of August 20th:
I left Brussels at three o'clock this morning, with the Germans at its
very gates.
All through the evening, following the evacuation of Tirlemont,
Louvain, and neighbouring villages, there had been coming into the
city from all the roads leading into it one unending procession of
old men, women, children, and wounded soldiers retreating before the
advance of the Uhlan vanguard.
They came into the centre of the city, clamouring at the Gare du Nord
for tickets to the coast, but the trains were all reserved for the
hosts of wounded brought in by motor-ambulances and carts from the
firing-line.
Most of the men had been wounded in the head and face, disproving the
repeated stories that the Germans were bad marksmen and aimed low.
As a matter of fact, practically all the men wounded in yesterday's
battle were hit high, proving that the Germans, infantrymen and
cavalrymen, are firing from the hip.
Later came the news that there would probably be no more trains out
of Brussels, so the more timid of the population began to prepare
hurriedly for departure.
A dramatic moment in the history of Europe occurred when the Civic
Guard, unwillingly, and only on instructions from the Executive
Government at Antwerp, abandoned their defensive on the outskirts of
the city, and in the forest around the town, and marched into Brussels.
They were ordered to Ghent, and singing, with unbroken spirit, the
"Marseillaise," the strains of which rose over the murmurs of a
panic-stricken population, they entered the railroad station.
And so Brussels, undefended, evacuated by its troops unwillingly,
though their going really showed a finer spirit of patriotism than
death on a battlefield, awaited the arrival of the "modern Huns."
Just before I left early this morning a rumour, which at that hour I
was unable to confirm, spread through the city that the French had
arrived, and that the Turcos were actually in action with the Germans
on the Louvain road.
These facts must stand out in the battle of yesterday.
One long line of burning villages marked the German advance, and three
regiments of Belgian troops are no more. They are, I hear, the First
Regiment of Guides and the Third and Ninth Regiments of the Line.
A weeping woman whom I took into my automobile drew from her breast,
on the road to Ghent, a blue cap with a yellow facing, upon which was
the figure "3."
"Voilà une casquette d'un de nos braves petits soldats," she said to
me, "mais il n'y a plus du Troisième."
As Mr. William Maxwell pointed out, the real capital of Belgium, in the
military sense, had always been Antwerp, not Brussels; and Napoleon
himself gave one of his generals to understand, in explicit terms,
that there could be no glory in entering the undefended capital of an
enemy's country. "Most of the country the Germans have overrun up to
the present," said Mr. Maxwell, "has not been seriously contested,
for it does not enter into the Allies' plan of action." Antwerp, as
an important Belgian official explained, was provisioned for an
indefinite period; it could be supplied with stores of every kind from
the sea; and it was calculated that the forts would be able to hold out
for at least a year. In these circumstances the Belgian army entrenched
there would always be a menace to the right wing of the Germans, who
would be obliged to detach a large part of their forces to prevent an
attack from that direction.
Great indignation was aroused all over Europe when it became known that
the Germans had imposed a war levy on Brussels of no less a sum than
£8,000,000, the alternative being the sacking of the city, with all its
priceless art treasures. A levy of £2,000,000 had already been imposed
on the province of Liège.
The Germans made their official entry into Brussels at two o'clock in
the afternoon of Friday, August 21st. To the eternal credit of the
people it must be said that they betrayed not the slightest sign of
panic, but faced their painful uncertainty with dignity and courage.
The Civil Guard, of whom 20,000 were in Brussels, were uniformed men,
and may be compared to our old volunteers. They had made preparations
to resist the capture of the city, and had covered the approaches with
trenches and barbed wire entanglements. But Brussels is not a fortified
place, and armed opposition would have involved severe penalties. The
Guard, therefore, withdrew from the capital soon after midnight. They
retired with the honours of war, singing songs of victory.
For some days the citizens had recognised the possibility of having the
Germans for their uninvited guests, and when Louvain was abandoned they
accepted the inevitable. The spirit they manifested was reflected in a
dignified and courageous proclamation by their burgomeister.
At six o'clock in the morning the enemy's cavalry appeared at
Tervueren, a distant suburb of the capital. From that hour every door
was closed, and every window was darkened with shutter or blind. From
the outskirts people began to flock into the heart of the city, yet
there was no panic-fear. At nine o'clock the capital was surrounded,
but no entry was made until after two o'clock. The occupation proceeded
with method. Railway stations and telegraph and telephone offices were
taken over, and sentries were posted on all the main roads. The city,
which was crowded twelve hours before, looked like a deserted place.
Pushing on from Brussels the same evening, the Germans took possession
of the undefended cities of Ghent and Bruges, and advance brigades of
cavalry made their appearance at Ostend, which was occupied shortly
afterwards. This advance--of no military importance, and savouring
of what is colloquially known as window-dressing--was more than
compensated for by a series of French successes in Alsace-Lorraine.
General Joffre's forces drove the Germans out of several of the smaller
towns, captured many hundreds of prisoners, and took ninety-one guns
from the enemy.
Coincidentally with the arrival of the Germans in Brussels, it was
announced that this country would lend our Belgian allies the sum of
£10,000,000 in recognition of their splendid services at the beginning
of the war.
The first complete account of the fighting at Dinant a few days
previously was given in a special message from Mr. Granville Fortescue.
Writing from Dinant on August 15th, Mr. Fortescue said:
A considerable force of German light infantry, supported by mountain
batteries, to-day made a determined attack on this town. The fight
lasted from daylight till dark. Although the Germans had some success
in the morning, the arrival of French reinforcements compelled them to
evacuate the excellent positions they had taken.
The first shell just missed the clock above the railroad station,
which marked ten minutes past six, and fell through the roof. It did
little damage beyond shattering numerous windows. The railroad station
is directly opposite my hotel. The second shell tore through the
chimney of the hotel. The kitchen was filled with bits of bricks and
mortar. The breakfast coffee was spoiled.
Captain X., who was here on a special mission, made his escape in a
motor, accompanied by a squad of khaki-clad couriers on motor-cycles.
The guests of the hotel scuttled to the cellars.
It was nearly seven o'clock before the infantry began firing in
earnest. The only French troops in the town were some of a regiment of
the line. The French had no artillery when the action opened.
The position was in a certain state of defence, which might have been
improved. However, the streets were barricaded and a field of wire
entanglements stretched across the bridge, which was also commanded by
a mitrailleuse.
Dinant lies in a well, one might say, on both banks of the Meuse. High
limestone cliffs tower above the town. On the east bank these are
steep, and are crowned by an ancient fort known as the citadel. The
fort dominates the whole adjacent country. On the west bank of the
Meuse the town scrambles up a hillside, covered with trees.
When the engagement opened I joined Commandant A. and Lieutenant B.,
who were in charge of the detachment defending the bridge.
At this time the Germans were making a strong effort to capture the
citadel. It was held by a small French force, perhaps one company.
The cliffs resounded with the rifle and gun fire. The din and the
falling shells drove the population en masse to the "caves."
Members of the Volunteer Hospital Corps, however, hurried along on
their bicycles searching the streets for wounded.
The German mountain batteries fired with accuracy, although the small
projectiles had little effect. I picked up the fuse of one shell, a
Dapp, cut at 4,000 mètres.
About ten o'clock the Germans held the crest of the cliffs across the
river, and soon took the citadel. They sent down a veritable hail of
lead on the defenders. Behind the cover of the bridge abutments the
French reply gallantly. Thus the fight goes on for an hour. One hears
nothing save the irregular explosions of rifles, the machine-like
sputterings of the mitrailleuse, punctuated by the shock of shell
fire. It rains, but this in no way halts the firing. About thirty
wounded are brought in when the French troops change position to
the high ground back of the town. A sudden increase in the volume of
sound tells me that the wished-for reinforcements have arrived. Soon
a half-company of a regiment crowd into the hotel, expecting to find
there a good field of fire. They bring with them a dozen frightened
women who have been hiding in the station.
About noon the firing slackens, and the rain ceases. A few limping
figures in blue coats and red trousers stagger into the hotel. A
doctor stationed here gives them first-aid attention. While the lull
continues a woman crosses to the pillar-box and drops in a postcard.
About one I return to my post of observation. The German flag has
been hoisted over the citadel. This is a signal for renewed firing.
The sight of the hated flag seems to rouse the French troops to fury.
About 2 p.m. I hear for the first time the welcome sound of French
field artillery. One of the first shots cuts the German flag across.
Two French batteries have arrived, and they hail projectiles into the
citadel with extraordinary accuracy. Another line regiment arrives
to reinforce the troops here, and under a smothering fire I see the
heads of the Germans that dotted the ramparts of the fort begin to
disappear. At this time I also hear heavy firing in the south-east.
About ten minutes before six I cannot distinguish a German on the
ramparts. The only firing is some scattered shooting from the French
side. A cheer greets the coming of another new regiment, and soon the
French troops are back in the positions they held in the morning.
But the road back of the bridge is dotted with the dead. They lie in
all sorts of contorted positions. Their blue coats are splashed with
red, their red trousers are stained a deeper crimson.
And the cheers of the troops who have just arrived die down as they
pass this grim testimony of what war means.
As it was the intention of the French to hold the Dinant bridge at
all hazards, their strongest force was placed behind the abutment
wings of this bridge. These are limestone block walls, about three
feet high, and offer good cover. But this cover would have been
vastly improved if the walls had been capped with sandbags. There was
plenty of time to have so improved this defence. Again, the field of
fire before this position was poor. But the gravest mistake was the
neglect to construct protected approaches to the advanced position.
Reinforcements had to be rushed across an open field of fire, where
they suffered unnecessary casualties. And when the French line of
defence had to be changed, and the troops withdrawn to a higher
position behind the town, they suffered heavily because they must
pass along a road swept by the German fire. All of which should have
been provided against. This is not written in a spirit of criticism,
but simply to call attention to certain mistakes that will, in the
future, surely be corrected.
The French are under a severe handicap in the matter of uniform. It is
over a dozen years since the Boer War, and certainly they should have
discarded the blue coat and red trousers for a more neutral colour.
They have covered the red crown of their caps with blue. This is to
prevent their being discovered by aeroplane scouts. But the flamboyant
uniform of the line regiments makes a fair mark, as far as the modern
rifle is effective. In groups they are all the gunner asks for a
target.
On the other hand, the Germans have adopted a grey-green colour that
is almost invisible. Yesterday, with a first-class glass, I had
difficulty in locating individuals.
What I have written applies with more force to the Belgian troops.
These soldiers are as conspicuous as claret stains on a new tablecloth.
On my way here I passed some four or five regiments of infantry.
Though the men are young, they are going into this war with a
seriousness unusual in the French. Of course, the Gallic temperament
is not changed. They still show their "esprit" and their gaiety is
not altogether extinguished. Perhaps the solemnity I have alluded to
is more noticed among the officers than the men. They are as grave as
schoolmasters. All of which is a good sign.
I have been particularly struck by the professional atmosphere of the
artillery officers. It needs but a glance of the eye to be sure that
this arm will perform splendid service under their direction.
The Germans had so many men massed in the occupied portions of Belgium
by this time that temporary checks did not stem what one correspondent
aptly described as a tidal wave of troops sweeping irresistibly through
the valley of the Meuse. Japan, who had sent Germany an ultimatum
with regard to Kiao-Chau, declared war on receiving no reply by the
stipulated time; but, it is unnecessary to add, this fact had no
influence on the operations of the German troops in Belgium. Telegrams
sent off on Sunday stated that a big battle was developing in the
neighbourhood of Charleroi--Mons, and that the Germans in order to
ensure the uninterrupted and safe passage of their army, had occupied
all the villages between Louvain and Alost. The Liège forts, it was
officially announced, were still holding out, but the Germans had
"contained" them by a large force of soldiers. Attention was rather
concentrated on the forts at Namur, to subdue which the Germans had
advanced their heavy siege guns. It was said on Monday, August 24th,
that "Namur had fallen," but no confirmation of this statement could be
obtained, and it was generally taken as meaning that the invaders had
managed to enter the town, but that the forts were still holding out.
An official message from Brussels on the following Wednesday evening
said that Namur had not yet fallen.
In the meantime refugees were hurrying from Ostend, to which city
both Belgian and German wounded were being brought. The cross-Channel
steamers were crowded, and Belgian refugees who had come away from
Brussels and Tirlemont made their appearance in London.
CHAPTER VI
British Troops in Action--Their "Customary Coolness"--Zeppelin at
Antwerp--German Atrocities--Lord Kitchener's Speech
The British Expeditionary Force was engaged in the battle at Mons, and
it was subsequently stated that the soldiers had been fighting for
thirty-six hours on end. A short statement by the Press Bureau was
more usefully expanded into the following account, which was issued by
the French Embassy and summed up the situation as it existed on Monday
night, August 24th:
On the west of the Meuse the English army, which was on our left, has
been attacked by the Germans. Its behaviour under fire was admirable,
and it resisted the enemy with its customary coolness.
The French army which operated in this region attacked. Our army
corps, with the African troops in the first line, carried forward by
their over-eagerness, were received with a very murderous fire. They
did not fall back, but later by a counter-attack by the Prussian Guard
they were compelled to retire. They did so only after having inflicted
enormous loss on the enemy. The flower of the Prussian Guard suffered
very severely.
On the east of the Meuse our troops advanced across very difficult
ground. They met with a vigorous attack as they left the woods, and
were compelled to retire after fierce fighting on the south of the
Semoy.
At the order of General Joffre, our troops and the English troops
have taken up their position on the covering line, which they would
not have quitted had not the splendid courage of the Belgian army
permitted us to enter Belgium. The covering line is intact. Our
cavalry has not suffered. Our artillery has proved its superiority.
Our officers and our soldiers are in splendid physical and moral
condition.
As a result of the orders given, the struggle will change its
aspect for several days. The French army will for a time remain
on the defensive. When the proper moment comes, as chosen by the
Commander-in-Chief, it will resume a vigorous offensive.
Our losses are severe. It will be premature to estimate them or to
estimate those of the German army, which, however, has suffered
so severely as to be compelled to halt in its counter-attack and
establish itself in new positions.
The communiqué then proceeds to deal with the situation in regard to
Lorraine. It says:
Yesterday we four times counter-attacked from the positions we occupy
on the north of Nancy, and we inflicted very severe losses on the
Germans.
Generally speaking, we retain full liberty to use our railway system,
and every sea is open for our re-provisioning. Our operations
have permitted Russia to enter into action and to reach the heart
of Eastern Prussia. It is, of course, regrettable that, owing to
difficulties in execution which could not have been foreseen, our plan
of attack has not achieved its object. Had it done so it would have
shortened the war, but in any case our defence remains intact in face
of an already weakened enemy.
All Frenchmen will deplore the momentary abandonment of the portions
of annexed territory which we had already occupied. On the other
hand, certain portions of the national territory must, unfortunately,
suffer from the events of which they will be the theatre. The trial is
inevitable, but will be temporary.
Thus, some detachments of German cavalry, belonging to an independent
division operating on the extreme right, have penetrated into the
Roubaix--Tourcoing district, which is defended only by Territorial
forces. The courage of our brave people will support this trial with
unshaken faith in our final success, which is beyond doubt.
In telling the country the whole truth, the Government and the
military authorities afford it the strongest possible proof of their
absolute confidence in a victory, which depends only on our tenacity
and perseverance.
A thrilling description of the behaviour of the British troops at Mons
was given by Mr. A.J. Rorke, the correspondent of the Central News
Agency, who wired from Paris on Monday night:
Graphic stories of how the British troops at Mons fought during the
two days in which they bore the brunt of the main German advance
reached Paris in the early hours of this morning, when officers
arriving from the front reported at the War Office, and, in subsequent
conversation with their closest personal friends, told of the
wonderful coolness and daring of our men. The shooting of our infantry
on the firing fine, they said, was wonderful. Every time a German's
head showed above the trenches and every time the German infantry
attempted to rush a position there came a withering rifle fire from
the khaki-clad forms lying in extending formation along a big battle
front.
The firing was not the usual firing of nervous men, shooting without
aiming and sometimes without rhyme or reason, as is so often the case
in warfare. It was rather the calm, calculated riflemanship of the men
one sees on the Stickledown range firing with all the artificial aids
permitted to the match rifle expert whose one concern is prize money.
When quick action was necessary the firing and the action of the men
was only that of prize riflemen firing at a disappearing target. There
was no excitement, no nervousness; just cool, methodical efficiency.
If the British lost heavily heaven only knows what the Germans must
have lost, because, as one of their wounded officers (whom the British
took prisoner) remarked, "We had never expected anything like it; it
was staggering."
The British troops went to their positions silently but happily. There
was no singing, because that was forbidden, but as the khaki-clad
columns deployed and began to crawl to the trenches there were various
sallies of humour in the different dialects of English, Irish, and
Scottish counties. The Yorkshireman, for instance, would draw a
comparison between the men they were going to fight and certain dogs
that won't fight which the Yorkshire collier has not time to waste
upon at the pit-head; the Cockney soldier was there with his sallies
about "Uncle Bill," and every Irishman who went into the firing line
wished he had the money to buy a little Irish horse, so that he could
have a slap at the Uhlans.
And the cavalry! Officers coming from the front declare that our
cavalrymen charged the much-vaunted German horsemen as Berserks might
have done. When they got into action with tunics open, and sometimes
without tunics at all, they flung themselves at the German horsemen in
a manner which surprised even their own officers, who had themselves
expected great things of them. The Uhlans, whose name and fearful fame
had spread terror among the Belgian peasants and the frontier villages
of France, were just the sort of men the British troopers were waiting
for. The Britishers, mostly Londoners, who, as Wellington said, make
the best cavalry soldiers in the world, were dying to have a cut at
them; and when they got into clinches the Uhlans had the surprise of
their lives.
From the scene of battle, the point of interest in the European war
drama, as far as England is concerned, shifted in the small hours of
this morning to the railway station at X, where officers and men of
the Army Service Corps awaited the arrival of the wounded--the British
wounded from the firing line. Everything was perfectly organised;
there was no theatrical display; the officers and men of the British
army waited silently and calmly for the toll of war, which they had
been advised was on its way.
The station at the time was crowded with Americans coming to England
from Paris after their release from Switzerland, and cheer after
cheer, in which the French in the station joined, echoed under the
arched roof. Britishers who were there felt very proud of their Empire
and their soldiers at that moment. The men who were waiting for the
wounded had not been in the first line of battle it was true--that was
not their job--but their work was probably the greatest of all. It was
for them to watch and wait, while every fibre of their inmost being
thrilled to the note of war; and yet to restrain their desires while
they practised that which the Iron Duke called the wonderful "two
o'clock in the morning" courage. So they waited in a draughty station
for their comrades, thrown back temporarily from the scene of action,
to fit them to return, if possible, immediately.
While the crowd waited for the wounded, train after train rolled
slowly through carrying more of "our boys" to the active front. They
were sleeping in horse trucks alongside their equine friends; they
were sleeping in cattle wagons; yet they stood up when the cheering
reached their ears, looking fresh, fit, clean, and healthily British
from their service caps to their puttee straps. All young, all
full-blooded, all British; happy and eager to get at grips in what
is to them a holy war. And then, at the end, as the boat-train was
creeping out in the early morning, the wounded arrived.
It was my privilege to witness, on the road between Boulogne and
Paris last Saturday, a scene as picturesque and deeply inspiring as a
page from Froissart. The two English Cardinals, Cardinal-Archbishop
Bourne and the Cardinal Abbot Gasquet, famed as an historian, had
left London to journey to the Conclave at Rome. On the line the train
in which they travelled was stopped, and by a curious chance a train
in which a regiment including in its ranks a large number of Irish
Catholics--these men, like the Plantagenets of old, wearing a sprig of
green in their head-dress--was drawn up for a moment alongside.
The Cardinals, who, under their cassocks, wore the red of their
rank, stepped into the corridor, and, leaning out of a window, said
together, "May God bless you, my children."
In an instant every Catholic soldier in the open trucks of the troop
train dropped to his knees to receive the Cardinals' blessing. It
appears, maybe, a simple affair, but in its spontaneity and sincerity,
its mingling of the spiritual with the grimly material, it was
eloquent and moving beyond the comprehension of those who only read
what others saw.
On August 25th the Germans made a raid by Zeppelin airship on Antwerp
and dropped several bombs on the palace, the St. Elizabeth Hospital,
and other public buildings. Twelve persons were blown to pieces in
different parts of the city, and shots aimed at the airship proved
ineffectual. The same evening the Belgian Government gave out the
following official statement regarding the shocking atrocities
committed by the invading forces in various parts of the occupied
territory:
In spite of solemn assurances of goodwill and long-standing treaty
obligations, Germany has made a sudden savage and utterly unwarranted
attack on Belgium.
However sorely pressed she may be, Belgium will never fight unfairly
and never stoop to infringe the laws and customs of legitimate
warfare. She is putting up a brave fight against overwhelming odds,
she may be beaten, she may be crushed, but, to quote our noble King's
words, "she will never be enslaved."
When German troops invaded our country, the Belgian Government issued
public statements which were placarded in every town, village, and
hamlet, warning all civilians to abstain scrupulously from hostile
acts against the enemy's troops. The Belgian Press daily published
similar notices broadcast through the land. Nevertheless, the German
authorities have issued lately statements containing grave imputations
against the attitude of the Belgian civilian population, threatening
us at the same time with dire reprisals. These imputations are
contrary to the real facts of the case, and as to threats of further
vengeance, no menace of odious reprisals on the part of the German
troops will deter the Belgian Government from protesting before the
civilised world against the fearful and atrocious crimes committed
wilfully and deliberately by the invading hosts against helpless
non-combatants, old men, women, and children.
Long is the list of outrages committed by the German troops, and
appalling the details of atrocities, as vouched for by the Committee
of Inquiry recently formed by the Belgian Minister of Justice and
presided over by him. This committee comprises the highest judicial and
university authorities of Belgium, such as Chief Justice Van Iseghem,
Judge Nys, Professors Cottier, Wodon, etc.
The following instances and particulars have been established by
careful investigations based in each case on the evidence of reliable
eye-witnesses:
German cavalry occupying the village of Linsmeau were attacked by
some Belgian infantry and two gendarmes. A German officer was killed
by our troops during the fight and subsequently buried at the request
of the Belgian officer in command. No one of the civilian population
took part in the fighting at Linsmeau. Nevertheless, the village was
invaded at dusk on August 10th by a strong force of German cavalry,
artillery, and machine guns. In spite of the formal assurances given
by the Burgomaster of Linsmeau that none of the peasants had taken
part in the previous fight, two farms and six outlying houses were
destroyed by gun-fire and burnt. All the male inhabitants were then
compelled to come forward and hand over whatever arms they possessed.
No recently discharged firearms were found. Nevertheless, the invaders
divided these peasants into three groups, those in one group were bound
and eleven of them placed in a ditch, where they were afterwards found
dead, their skulls fractured by the butts of German rifles.
During the night of August 10th, German cavalry entered Velm in great
numbers. The inhabitants were asleep. The Germans, without provocation,
fired on M. Deglimme-Gevers' house, broke into it, destroyed furniture,
looted money, burnt barns, hay and corn stacks, farm implements,
six oxen, and the contents of the farmyard. They carried off Madame
Deglimme, half-naked, to a place two miles away. She was then let go,
and was fired upon as she fled, without being hit. Her husband was
carried away in another direction, and fired upon. He is dying. The
same troops sacked and burned the house of a railway watchman.
Farmer Jef Dierick, of Neerhespen, bears witness to the following acts
of cruelty committed by German cavalry at Orsmael and Neerhespen on
August 10th, 11th, and 12th:
An old man of the latter village had his arm sliced in three
longitudinal cuts; he was then hanged head downwards and burned alive.
Young girls have been maltreated, and little children outraged at
Orsmael, where several inhabitants suffered mutilations too horrible
to describe. A Belgian soldier belonging to a battalion of cyclist
carabineers, who had been wounded and made prisoner, was hanged, whilst
another, who was tending his comrade, was bound to a telegraph pole on
the St. Trond road and shot.
On Wednesday, August 12th, after an engagement at Haelen, Commandant
Van Damme, so severely wounded that he was lying prone on his back, was
finally murdered by German infantrymen firing their revolvers into his
mouth.
On August 9th, at Orsmael, the Germans picked up Commandant Knapen,
very seriously wounded, propped him up against a tree, and shot him.
Finally they hacked his corpse with swords.
In different places, notably at Hollogne sur Geer, Barchon, Pontisse,
Haelen, and Zelck, German troops have fired on doctors, ambulance
bearers, ambulances, and ambulance wagons carrying a Red Cross.
At Boncelles a body of German troops marched into battle carrying a
Belgian flag.
On Thursday, August 6th, before a fort at Liège, German soldiers
continued to fire on a party of Belgian soldiers (who were unarmed, and
had been surrounded while digging a trench) after these had hoisted the
white flag.
On the same day, at Vottem, near the fort of Loncin, a group of German
infantry hoisted the white flag. When Belgian soldiers approached to
take them prisoners the Germans suddenly opened fire on them at close
range.
Harrowing reports of German savagery at Aerschot have reached the
Belgian Government at Antwerp from official local sources. Thus on
Tuesday, August 18th, the Belgian troops occupying a position in front
of Aerschot received orders to retire without engaging the enemy. A
small force was left behind to cover the retreat. This force resisted
valiantly against overwhelming German forces, and inflicted serious
losses on them. Meanwhile practically the whole civilian population of
Aerschot, terrorised by the atrocities committed by the Germans in the
neighbouring villages, had fled from the town.
Next day, Wednesday, August 19th, German troops entered Aerschot
without a shot having been fired from the town and without any
resistance whatever having been made. The few inhabitants that remained
had closed their doors and windows in compliance with the general
orders issued by the Belgian Government. Nevertheless the Germans
broke into the houses and told the inhabitants to quit.
In one single street the first six male inhabitants who crossed their
thresholds were seized and shot at once under the very eyes of their
wives and children. The German troops then retired for the day, only to
return in greater numbers on the next day, Thursday, August 20th.
They then compelled the inhabitants to leave their houses and marched
them to a place 200 yards from the town. There, without more ado, they
shot M. Thielmans, the Burgomaster, his fifteen-year-old son, the clerk
of the Local Judicial Board, and ten prominent citizens. They then set
fire to the town and destroyed it.
The following statement was made by Commandant Georges Gilson, of the
9th Infantry of the Line, now lying in hospital at Antwerp:
I was told to cover the retreat of our troops in front of Aerschot.
During the action fought there on Wednesday, August 19th, between six
and eight o'clock in the morning, suddenly I saw on the high road,
between the German and Belgian forces, which were fighting at close
range, a group of four women, with babies in their arms, and two
little girls clinging to their skirts. Our men stopped firing till
the women got through our lines, but the German machine guns went
on firing all the time, and one of the women was wounded in the arm.
These women could not have got through the neighbouring German lines
and been on the high road unless with the consent of the enemy.
All the evidence and circumstances seem to point to the fact that
those women had been deliberately pushed forward by the Germans to act
as a shield for their advance guard, and in the hope that the Belgians
would cease firing for fear of killing the women and children.
This statement was made and duly certified in the Antwerp Hospital on
August 22nd by Commandant Gilson, in the presence of the Chevalier
Ernst N. Bunswyck, Chief Secretary to the Belgian Minister of Justice,
and M. de Cartier de Marchienne, Belgian Minister to China.
Further German atrocities are continuously being brought to notice
and made the subject of official and expert inquiry by the proper
authorities.
* * * * *
In issuing the above statements to the English Press, the only comment
the Press Bureau could offer was that these atrocities appeared to
be committed in villages and throughout the country side with the
deliberate intention of terrorising the people, and so making it
unnecessary to leave troops in occupation of small places or to protect
lines of communication. In large places like Brussels, where the
diplomatic representatives of neutral Powers are eye-witnesses, there
appeared to have been no excesses.
When Parliament met on August 25th, after a short adjournment, Lord
Kitchener, Minister for War, gave the following account of the
situation in the House of Lords:
As this is the first time that I have had the honour of addressing
your lordships, I must ask for the indulgence of the House. In the
first place I desire to make a personal statement. Noble lords on both
sides of the House doubtless know that, while associating myself in
the fullest degree for the prosecution of the war with my colleagues
in His Majesty's Government, my position on this Bench does not in any
way imply that I belong to any political party, for as a soldier I
have no politics.
Another point is that my occupation of the post of Secretary of State
for War is a temporary one. The terms of my service are the same as
those under which some of the finest portions of our manhood, now so
willingly stepping forward to join the colours, are engaging. That is
to say for the war; or if it lasts longer, then for three years.
It has been asked why the latter limit has been fixed. It is because
should this disastrous war be prolonged--and no one can foretell with
any certainty its duration--then, after three years' war, there will
be others, fresh and fully prepared, to take our places and see this
matter through.
The very serious conflict in which we are now engaged on the Continent
has been none of our seeking. It will undoubtedly strain the resources
of our Empire and entail considerable sacrifices on our people. These
will be willingly borne for our honour and the preservation of our
position in the world, and will be shared by our dominions beyond the
seas, now sending contingents and assistance of every kind to help the
Mother Country in this struggle.
If I am unable, owing to military consideration for the best interests
of the allied armies in the field, to speak with much detail on
the present situation of our army on the Continent, I am sure your
lordships will pardon me for the necessary restraint which is imposed
upon me.
The Expeditionary Force has taken the field on the French north-west
frontier, and has advanced to the neighbourhood of Mons, in Belgium.
Our troops have already been for thirty-six hours in contact with
a superior force of German invaders. During that time they have
maintained the traditions of British soldiers, and have behaved with
the utmost gallantry. The movements which they have been called upon
to execute have been those which demand the greatest steadiness in the
soldiers, and skill in their commanders. Sir John French telegraphed
to me at midnight, as follows:
"In spite of hard marching and fighting, the British force is in the
best of spirits."
I replied:
"Congratulate troops on their splendid work. We are all proud of them."
As your lordships are aware, European fighting causes greater
casualties than the campaigns in which we are generally engaged in
other parts of the world. The nation will, I am sure, be fully prepared
to meet whatever losses and sacrifices we may have to make in this
war. Sir John French, without having been able to verify the numbers,
estimates the loss since the commencement of active operations at
rather more than 2,000 men _hors-de-combat_.
As to the work of the last few weeks, I have to remark that when war
was declared, mobilisation took place without any hitch whatever, and
our Expeditionary Force proved itself wholly efficient, well equipped,
and immediately ready to take the field.
The Press and the public have, in their respective spheres, lent
invaluable aid to the Government in preserving a discreet silence,
which the exigencies of the situation obviously demanded, and I
gladly take this opportunity of bearing testimony to the value of
their co-operation. The hands of the military authorities were also
strengthened by the readiness with which the civilian community faced
and accepted the novel situation created by the issue of requisitions
for horses, transport, supplies and billets.
The railway companies, in the all-important matter of the transport
facilities, have more than justified the complete confidence reposed in
them by the War Office, all grades of railway services having laboured
with untiring energy and patience. And it is well to repeat that the
conveyance of our troops across the Channel was accomplished, thanks to
the cordial co-operation of the Admiralty, with perfect smoothness and
without any untoward incident whatever.
We know how deeply the French people appreciate the value of the prompt
assistance we have been able to afford them at the very outset of the
war, and it is obvious that not only the moral but the material support
our troops are now rendering must prove to be a factor of high military
significance in restricting the sphere and determining the duration of
hostilities.
Had the conditions of strategy permitted, everyone in this country
would have rejoiced to see us ranged alongside the gallant Belgian
army in that superb struggle against desperate odds which has just
been witnessed. But, although this privilege was perforce denied to
us, Belgium knows of our sympathy with her in her sufferings, of our
indignation at the blows which have been inflicted on her, and also of
our resolution to make sure that in the end her sacrifices will not
have been unavailing.
While other countries engaged in this war have under a system of
compulsory service brought their full resources of men into the field,
we, under our national system, have not done so, and can, therefore,
still point to a vast reserve drawn from the resources both of the
Mother Country and of the British Dominions across the Seas.
The response which has already been made by the great Dominions,
abundantly proves that we did not look in vain to these sources
of military strength, and while India, Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand are all sending us powerful contingents, in this country the
Territorials are replying with loyalty to the stern call of duty which
has come to them with such exceptional force.
Over seventy battalions have, with fine patriotism, already
volunteered for service abroad, and when trained and organised in the
larger formations, will be able to take their places in the line.
The 100,000 recruits for which, in the first place, it has been thought
necessary to call, have been already practically secured. This force
will be trained and organised in divisions similar to those which are
now serving on the Continent.
Behind these we have our Reserves. The Special Reserve and the National
Reserve have each their own part to play in the organisation of our
national defence.
The Empires with whom we are at war have called to the colours
almost their entire male population. The principle we, on our part,
shall observe, is this, that while their maximum force undergoes a
constant diminution, the reinforcements we prepare shall steadily and
increasingly flow out, until we have an army in the field which in
numbers, not less than in quality, will not be unworthy of the power
and responsibilities of the British Empire.
I cannot, at this stage, say what will be the limits of the forces
required, or what measures may eventually become necessary to supply
and maintain them. The scale of the Field Army which we are now calling
into being is large and may rise in the course of the next six or
seven months to a total of thirty divisions continually maintained in
the field. But if the war should be protracted, and if its fortunes
should be varied or adverse, exertions and sacrifices beyond any which
have been demanded will be required from the whole nation and Empire,
and where they are required we are sure they will not be denied to the
extreme needs of the State by Parliament or the people.
THE CASE FOR BELGIUM
It has been sought in the preceding chapters to give as detailed a
description as the information at our disposal will allow of the
fighting in the North--_i.e._ the struggle for Liège and Namur, and
the subsequent series of closely-contested battles from Tirlemont to
Mons. The case for the Belgian people, and an account of the sufferings
which had to be endured by a peaceful, non-combatant population, will
be found mentioned also in the course of the narrative. The diplomatic
case for Belgium has already been given to the public in another volume
of this series ("How the War Began"); but the details of this case, and
the reasons why this country is taking part in the war, have been so
well summed up by Mr. Asquith that a few extracts from his speech are
necessary to make this volume complete.
The first of a series of meetings to bring home to the people of
England the vital importance of the questions at issue was held in the
Guildhall on Friday, September 4th; and the speakers included the
Prime Minister, Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. Churchill, and Mr. Balfour. In the
course of his remarks Mr. Asquith referred to the Arbitration Treaty
between Great Britain and the United States, which he mentioned at a
previous Guildhall meeting some three and a-half years previously. "We
were very confident three years ago in the rightness of our position,"
he said. "We are equally confident to-day, when reluctantly and against
our will, but with a clear judgment and with a clean conscience we find
ourselves involved with the whole strength of this Empire in a bloody
arbitrament between Might and Right."
Mr. Asquith continued:
The issue has passed out of the domain of argument into another field,
but let me ask you, and through you the world outside, what would have
been our condition as a nation to-day, if we had been base enough,
through timidity, or through a perverted calculation of self-interest,
or through a paralysis of the sense of honour and duty, if we had been
base enough to be false to our word and faithless to our friends?
Our eyes would have been turned at this moment, with those of the
whole civilised world, to Belgium, a small State, which has lived for
more than seventy years under the several and collective guarantee
to which we, in common with Prussia and Austria, were parties; and
we should have seen, at the instance and by the action of two of
these guaranteeing Powers, her neutrality violated, her independence
strangled, her territory made use of as affording the easiest and most
convenient road to a war of unprovoked aggression against France.
We, the British people, would at this moment have been standing by
with folded arms, and with such countenance as we could command, while
this small and unprotected State, in defence of her vital liberties,
made an heroic stand against overweening and overwhelming force. We
should have been admiring, as detached spectators, the siege of Liège,
the steady and manful resistance of their small army; the occupation
of their capital, with its splendid traditions and memories; the
gradual forcing back of their patriotic defenders of their native
land to the ramparts of Antwerp; countless outrages suffered through
buccaneering levies exacted from the unoffending civil population,
and finally, the greatest crime committed against civilisation
and culture since the Thirty Years' War--the sack of Louvain and
its buildings, its pictures, its unique library, its unrivalled
associations--shameless holocaust of irreplaceable treasures, lit up
by blind barbarian vengeance.
What account should we, the Government and the people of this
country, have been able to render to the tribunal of our national
conscience and sense of honour if, in defiance of our plighted and
solemn obligations, we had endured, if we had not done our best to
prevent--yes, and to avenge--these intolerable outrages?
For my part I say that sooner than be a silent witness, which means
in effect a willing accomplice, of this tragic triumph of force over
law, and of brutality over freedom, I would see this country of ours
blotted out of the page of history.
Several German newspapers, distorting the facts of the case with
remarkable disingenuousness, had roundly asserted that England had
chosen to take part in the war for purely materialistic reasons, and
that this country was not so anxious to vindicate the principle of
Belgian neutrality as to secure the oversea trade of the German Empire.
Even if Mr. Asquith had not spoken on the subject at all, it would have
been realised sooner or later that there was no foundation for this
assertion; for it was hardly likely, if we had had only this object in
view, that a community of practical business men would have tolerated
the enormous sacrifice of life and money involved in attempting by war
to displace German exports to European and non-European countries.
As this argument was advanced with such persistence in the German
Press, it may be worth while dwelling on it for a moment. The total
value of the German export trade for 1913 was just over £495,000,000,
and of our own export trade £635,000,000. With many German products,
such as dyes, and certain chemical and electrical goods, this country
has never been able to compete. At the beginning of the war, for
example, when the German coast had been blockaded by our Fleet, we
should have been compelled to spend millions of pounds in order to
experiment with, and later on to manufacture, aniline dyes analogous to
those produced in Germany. The same remark applies to many classes of
electrical goods. Millions would have had to be spent on experiments
before we began to manufacture the products, assuming--in many cases
a large assumption--the success of the experiments. This, too, at a
time when money was notoriously scarce, when accommodation could not
be obtained from the banks, and when the Government had just announced
that it wanted a hundred millions sterling as a first instalment of war
expenses.
Apart from this, even if we had thought of capturing Germany's export
trade, or a large part of it, it was clear that other nations had
conceived the same notion and were getting ready to act upon it.
Japanese merchants, for instance, had their eyes fixed on the markets
of China, and manufacturers in the United States had been showing,
even before the war, a deep interest in South America. Is it likely,
in these circumstances, that a nation such as this would have seen
at least half a million men withdrawn from productive work, and the
expenditure of millions of money, purely for the sake of competing
with the United States and Japan in foreign markets?--always realising
that the war must end some time, that Germany must once more begin to
manufacture, and that competition would be as severe as ever in less
than a decade? No; if we can capture some of Germany's export trade,
that will be a mere incidental in the struggle for national existence,
and the profits represented thereby will but ill balance the lives and
money which will have to be sacrificed in the meantime.
Fortunately, Mr. Asquith took the opportunity, when speaking at
the Guildhall, to make it clear that Great Britain and the British
Dominions were not actuated by materialistic aims in entering upon the
greatest campaign in history. There was something to be considered
besides profits. Having referred to the sacking of Louvain, Mr. Asquith
went on to say:
That is only a phase--a lurid and illuminating phase--in the contest
in which we have been called, by the mandate of duty and of honour,
to bear our part. The cynical violation of the neutrality of Belgium
was, after all, but a step--a first step--in a deliberate policy of
which, if not the immediate, the ultimate and the not far-distant aim
was to crush the independence and the autonomy of the Free States of
Europe. First Belgium, then Holland and Switzerland--countries, like
our own, imbued and sustained with the spirit of liberty--were one
after another to be bent to the yoke; and these ambitions were fed and
fostered by a body of new doctrines, a new philosophy, preached by
professors and learned men.
Free and full self-development, which to these small States, to
ourselves, to our great and growing Dominions over the seas, to our
kinsmen across the Atlantic, is the well-spring and life-breath of
national existence--that free self-development is the one capital
offence in the code of those who have made force their supreme
divinity, and upon its altars are prepared to sacrifice both the
gathered fruits and the potential germs of the unfettered human
spirit. I use this language advisedly.
This is not merely a material; it is also a spiritual conflict. Upon
its issue everything that contains promise and hope, that leads to
emancipation, and a fuller liberty for the millions who make up the
mass of mankind, will be found sooner or later to depend.
The Prime Minister proceeded to combat the absurd suggestions that the
Anglo-French Agreement of 1904, and the Anglo-Russian Agreement of
1907, were likely to prove a menace to the German Empire:
Let me now just for a moment turn to the actual situation in Europe.
How do we stand? For the last ten years, by what I believe to be happy
and well-considered diplomatic arrangements, we have established
friendly and increasingly intimate relations with the two Powers,
France and Russia, with whom in days gone by we have had, in various
parts of the world, occasions for constant friction, and now and again
for possible conflict. Those new and better relations, based in the
first instance upon business principles of give-and-take, have matured
into a settled temper of confidence and goodwill. They were never in
any sense or at any time, as I have frequently said in this hall,
directed against other Powers.
No man in the history of the world has ever laboured more strenuously
or more successfully than my right honourable friend, Sir Edward Grey,
for that which is the supreme interest of the modern world--a general
and abiding peace. It is, I venture to think, a very superficial
criticism which suggests that, under his guidance, the policy of this
country has ignored, still less that it has counteracted and hampered,
the Concert of Europe. It is little more than a year ago that under
his presidency, in the stress and strain of the Balkan crisis, the
Ambassadors of all the Great Powers met here day after day, curtailing
the area of possible differences, reconciling warring ambitions and
aims, and preserving, against almost incalculable odds, the general
harmony.
And it was in the same spirit, and with the same purpose, when a
few weeks ago Austria delivered her ultimatum to Servia, that the
Foreign Secretary--for it was he--put forward the proposal for a
mediating Conference between the four Powers who were not directly
concerned--Germany, France, Italy, and ourselves. If that proposal had
been accepted actual controversy would have been settled with honour
to everybody, and the whole of this terrible welter would have been
avoided.
With whom does the responsibility rest for its refusal and for all
the illimitable suffering which now confronts the world? One Power,
and one Power only, and that Power is Germany. That is the fount and
origin of this world-wide catastrophe.
We are persevering to the end. No one who has not been confronted, as
we were, with the responsibility of determining the issues of peace
and war can realise the strength and energy and persistency with
which we laboured for peace. We persevered by every expedient that
diplomacy could suggest, straining almost to the breaking point our
most cherished friendships and obligations, even to the last making
effort upon effort, and hoping against hope. Then, and only then,
when we were at last compelled to realise that the choice lay between
honour and dishonour, between treachery and good faith--when we at
last reached the dividing line which makes or mars a nation worthy of
the name, it was then, and then only, that we declared for war.
Is there anyone in this hall, or in this United Kingdom, or in the
vast Empire of which we here stand in the capital and centre, who
blames or repents our decision? (Cries of "No!") For these reasons,
as I believe, we must steel ourselves to the task, and in the
spirit which animated our forefathers in their struggle against the
domination of Napoleon, we must, and we shall, persevere to the end.
At the Guildhall, as in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister
referred to the noble example shown by the Belgian people in summoning
all their available forces to repel the aggression of a Power which had
been presumed to be friendly. He said:
It would be a criminal mistake to under-estimate either the magnitude,
the fighting quality, or the staying power of the forces which are
arrayed against us. But it would be equally foolish and equally
indefensible to belittle our own resources whether for resistance
or attack. (Cheers.) Belgium has shown us by a memorable and a
glorious example what can be done by a relatively small State when
its citizens are animated and fired by the spirit of patriotism. In
France and Russia we have as allies two of the greatest Powers of the
world engaged with us in a common cause, who do not mean to separate
themselves from us any more than we mean to separate ourselves from
them, (Cheers.)
Having paid this tribute--how well deserved it was, and to what a
remarkable extent the German check at Liège influenced the subsequent
developments of the campaign, the world is now beginning to
realize--Mr. Asquith paid an equally warranted tribute to our own Fleet:
We have upon the seas the strongest and most magnificent Fleet which
has ever been seen. The Expeditionary Force which left our shores
less than a month ago has never been surpassed, as its glorious
achievements in the field have already made clear, not only in
material and equipment, but in the physical and the moral quality of
its constituents.
As regards the Navy, I am sure my right honourable friend (Mr.
Winston Churchill) will tell you there is happily little more to be
done. I do not flatter it when I say that its superiority is equally
marked in every department and sphere of its activity. We rely on
it with the most absolute confidence, not only to guard our shores
against the possibility of invasion, not only to seal up the gigantic
battleships of the enemy in the inglorious seclusion of their own
ports, whence from time to time he furtively steals forth to sow the
seeds of murderous snares which are more full of menace to neutral
ships than to the British Fleet--our Navy does all this, and while it
is thirsting, I do not doubt, for that trial of strength in a fair and
open fight which is so far prudently denied it, it does a great deal
more.
It has hunted the German mercantile marine from the high seas. It has
kept open our own sources of food supply and largely curtailed those
of the enemy, and when the few German cruisers which still infest
the more distant ocean routes have been disposed of, as they will be
very soon, it will achieve for British and neutral commerce passing
backwards and forwards from and to every part of our Empire a security
as complete as it has ever enjoyed in the days of unbroken peace. Let
us honour the memory of the gallant seamen who in the pursuit of one
or another of these varied and responsible duties have already laid
down their lives for their country.
As not the least important object of the Guildhall meeting was to
stimulate recruiting, Mr. Asquith naturally referred to the army and
its work. At a very early stage in the war both Germany and France
had called up practically their last available man. Indeed, so hard
pressed did the German Empire find itself after five weeks' fighting
that arrangements, it was officially announced, were made for giving
instruction in rifle shooting to boys aged from sixteen to nineteen.
It was not, of course, intended that these lads should at once take
an active part in the fighting: but it was assumed that by the time
they reached their military age they would be familiar with the use of
weapons and more or less adequately drilled. Retired officers who were
too old to take part in the campaign were ordered to take the boys in
hand.
To remedy the inevitable wastage in the French Army, as well as in
our own Expeditionary Force--which, a few days before Mr. Asquith's
speech, had already fought gallantly and lost some 14,000 men at
Mons and Charleroi--it was desired that armies should be raised in
England, trained, and sent out to the fighting line as required. For
this purpose Lord Kitchener had intimated that at least 500,000 men
would be required, and calls were made for 100,000 men at a time. The
oversea Dominions, and, above all, India--where the German Government
had vainly tried to bring about a disloyal outbreak--hastened to come
forward with offers of men; but all this did not relieve the home
country of its responsibility. Speaking on this subject, Mr. Asquith
said:
In regard to the Army, there is call for a new, a continuous, a
determined, and a united effort. For, as the war goes on, we shall
have not merely to replace the wastage caused by casualties, not
merely to maintain our military power at its original level, but we
must, if we are to play a worthy part, enlarge its scale, increase
its numbers, and multiply many times its effectiveness as a fighting
instrument. The object of the appeal which I have made to you, my Lord
Mayor, and to the other Chief Magistrates of our capital cities, is to
impress upon the people of the United Kingdom the imperious urgency of
this supreme duty.
Our self-governing Dominions throughout the Empire, without any
solicitation on our part, demonstrated, with a spontaneousness and
a unanimity unparalled in history, their determination to affirm
their brotherhood with us, and to make our cause their own. From
Canada, from Australia, from New Zealand, from South Africa, and from
Newfoundland the children of the Empire assert, not as an obligation
but as a privilege, their right and their willingness to contribute
money, material, and, what is better than all, the strength and
sinews, the fortunes, and the lives of their best manhood.
India, too, with no less alacrity has claimed her share in the common
task. Every class and creed, British and natives, Princes and people,
Hindus and Mahommedans, vie with one another in noble and emulous
rivalry. Two divisions of our magnificent Indian Army are already on
their way. We welcome with appreciation and affection their proffered
aid. In an Empire which knows no distinction of race or cause we all
alike, as subjects of the King-Emperor, are joint and equal custodians
of our common interests and fortunes. We are here to hail with
profound and heartfelt gratitude their association, side by side and
shoulder to shoulder, with our home and Dominion troops, under the
flag which is the symbol to all of a unity that a world in arms cannot
dissever or dissolve.
With these inspiring appeals and examples from our fellow-subjects all
over the world what are we doing, and what ought we to do here at home?
Mobilisation was ordered on August 4th. Immediately afterwards Lord
Kitchener issued his call for 100,000 recruits for the Regular Army,
which has been followed by a second call for another 100,000. The
response up to to-day gives us between 250,000 to 300,000. I am glad
to say that London has done its share. The total number of Londoners
accepted is not less than 42,000.
I need hardly say that that appeal involves no disparagement or
discouragement of the Territorial Force. The number of units in that
force who have volunteered for foreign service is most satisfactory
and grows every day. We look to them with confidence to increase their
numbers, to perfect their organisation and training, and to play
efficiently the part which has always been assigned to them, both
offensive and defensive, in the military system of the Empire.
But to go back to the expansion to the Regular Army. We want more
men--men of the best fighting quality--and if for a moment the number
who offer themselves and are accepted should prove to be in excess of
those who can at once be adequately trained and equipped, do not let
them doubt that prompt provision will be made for the incorporation
of all willing and able men in the fighting forces of the kingdom. We
want first of all men, and we shall endeavour to secure them, and men
desiring to serve together shall, wherever possible, be allotted to
the same regiment or corps. The raising of battalions by counties or
municipalities with this object will be in every way encouraged.
But we want not less urgently a larger supply of ex-non-commissioned
officers, and the pick of the men with whom in past days they served,
men, therefore, whom in most cases we shall be asking to give up
regular employment and to return to the work of the State, which they
alone are competent to do. The appeal we make is addressed quite as
much to their employers as to the men themselves. The men ought to be
absolutely assured of reinstatement in their business at the end of
the war. Finally, there are numbers of commissioned officers now in
retirement, who are much experienced in the handling of troops and
have served their country in the past. Let them come forward, too, and
show their willingness, if need be, to train bodies of men for whom
at the moment no cadre or unit can be found.
Mr. Asquith concluded one of the most eloquent speeches he had ever
delivered with a warning to the optimists who had predicted a too easy
task for the allied forces, and recommended those present--and, through
them, the British Empire generally--to cultivate the virtue of patience:
I have little more to say. Of the actual progress of the war I will
not say anything, except that, in my judgment, in whatever direction
we look there is abundant ground for pride and for confidence. I say
nothing more, because I think we should all bear in mind that we are
at present watching the fluctuations of fortune only in the early
stages of what is going to be a protracted struggle. We must learn to
take long views, and to cultivate, above all other faculties, those of
patience, endurance, and steadfastness.
Meanwhile, let us go, each of us, to his or her appropriate place
in the great common task. Never had a people more or richer sources
of encouragement and inspiration. Let us realise first of all
that we are fighting as a united Empire in a cause worthy of the
highest traditions of our race; let us keep in mind the patient and
indomitable seamen, who never relax for a moment, night or day, their
stern vigil of the lonely sea; let us keep in mind our gallant
troops, who to-day, after a fortnight's continuous fighting, under
conditions which would try the mettle of the best army that ever took
the field, maintain not only an undefeated, but an unbroken front.
Finally, let us recall the memories of the great men and the great
deeds of the past, commemorated, some of them, in the monuments which
we see around us on these walls; nor forgetting the dying message of
the younger Pitt, his last public utterance, made at the table of one
of your predecessors, my Lord Mayor, in this very hall: England has
saved herself by her exertions, and will, as I trust, save Europe by
her example.
The England of those days gave a noble answer to his appeal, and did
not sheath the sword until after nearly twenty years of fighting the
freedom of Europe was secured. Let us go and do likewise.
As the published documents now at our disposal sufficiently show, the
German Government matured its preparations for the greatest war in
history in what they believed to be the certain hope that Great Britain
would not intervene. It was fully believed at Berlin that our domestic
differences would prevent any designs at helping Belgium which the
Government here might wish to carry out. The sudden change in national
feeling, which reconciled political opponents like Sir Edward Carson
and Mr. John Redmond, or Mr. Asquith and Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. Winston
Churchill and Lord Charles Beresford, could not be comprehended on
the other side of the North Sea, and completely upset the plans of
the German Government. This loyalty to the nation, taking the place
of loyalty to party at a time of national emergency, was demonstrated
in the House of Commons as soon as the crisis became acute. At the
Guildhall, too, Mr. Bonar Law once more proved how ready the Opposition
were to sink their differences with the Government, and to support
the Liberal Ministry in its endeavours to bring the campaign to an
honourable conclusion.
When Mr. Asquith, after an enthusiastic burst of applause, had sat
down, Mr. Bonar Law rose, amid an equally enthusiastic demonstration of
welcome, and said:
It would, indeed, be impossible for me to add anything to the force
of the appeal which has just been addressed by the Prime Minister
to our people. But I am glad to be here as representing one of our
great political parties in order to show clearly that in this supreme
struggle, and in everything connected with it until it is brought to
a triumphant close, the head of our Government must speak not as the
leader of a party but as the mouthpiece of a nation.
We are a peace-loving people, but never, I believe, in our history has
the whole nation been so convinced as it is to-day that the cause for
which we are fighting is righteous and just. We strove for peace by
all means up to the last moment, but when, in spite of our efforts,
war came, we could not stand aside. The honour and the interests of
Great Britain-and believe me, they go together--alike forbade it. It
was inevitable that we must be drawn into this world struggle, and the
only question was whether we should enter it honourably or be dragged
into it with dishonour.
This war is a great crime--one of the greatest in history. But it is
a crime in which as a nation we have no share. Now, as always, for
nearly a generation, the key of peace or war was in Berlin. The head
of the German Government had but to whisper the word "Peace," and
there would have been no war. He did not speak that word. He drew the
sword, and may the accursed system for which he stands perish by the
sword!
War has come, and we are fighting for our life as truly as Belgium or
France, where the tide of battle, with all its horrors, is rolling on.
As Cromwell said of his Ironsides we can say with equal truth to-day:
"We know what we are fighting for, and we love what we know."
We are fighting for our national existence, for everything which
nations have always held most dear. But we are fighting for something
more--we are fighting for the moral forces of humanity. We are
fighting for respect for public law, and for the right of public
justice, which are the foundation of civilisation. We are fighting, as
the Prime Minister has said, for Right against Might. I do not attempt
what Burke has declared to be impossible--to draw up an indictment
against a whole people--but this I do say, that the German nation has
allowed itself to be organised as a military machine which recognises
no law except the law of force, which knows no right except the right
of the strongest. It is against that we are fighting to-day.
The spirit in which this war was entered into was shown clearly in the
words addressed to our Ambassador at Berlin by the German Chancellor.
"You are going to war," he said, "for a scrap of paper." (Cries of
"Shame!")
Yes, but a "scrap of paper" with which was bound up the solemn
obligation, and with that obligation the honour, of a great nation--a
"scrap of paper" in which was involved also the right to independence,
to liberty, the right even of existence, of all the small nations of
the world. It is for that "scrap of paper" that the Belgian soldiers
have fought and died, that the Belgian people, by what they have done,
and by what they have endured, have won for themselves immortal fame.
It is for that "scrap of paper," and all that it means, that we, too,
have already watered with the blood of our sons the fair fields of
France, and for which we shall conquer or perish.
Like Mr. Asquith, Mr. Bonar Law emphasised the fact that the war was a
spiritual and not a materialistic conflict; and he denounced in no less
vigorous terms the atrocities which had been perpetrated by the German
Army on its way through a friendly country. After his reference to the
"scrap of paper," he went on to say:
The words which I have quoted show not merely the spirit in which the
war was entered into, but the spirit in which it is being conducted
to-day. When reports first reached us of German atrocities in Belgium
I hoped for the sake of our common humanity that they were untrue,
or at least exaggerated. We can entertain that hope no longer. The
destruction of Louvain has proclaimed to the world in trumpet tones
what German methods are. It has fixed upon German honour an indelible
stain, and the explanations which it has been attempted to give of it
have only made that stain the deeper.
War at the best is terrible. It is not from the ordinary soldier,
it is not from below, that restraint can be expected. It must come,
if it come at all, from above. But here the outrages have come not
from below but from above. They are not the result of accident, but
of design. They are part of a principle--the principle by any means,
at any expense of the lives of defenceless men or helpless women and
children, to spread terror in the country and to facilitate the German
arms. This is a moral and a spiritual conflict. Believe me, in the
long run, the moral and the spiritual are stronger than the material
forces.
The object of this meeting, and of the speech to which we have just
listened, is to appeal to the manhood of our country to rally once
again round the old flag. That appeal will not be made, is not being
made, in vain. Our people had only to realise, as at first they did
not quite realise, what were the issues at stake to come forward with
all the spirit of their fathers. That lesson is being driven home now
by influences stronger far than any speeches. It is being taught by
the heroic steadfastness of the Belgian people. It is being taught now
by the knowledge that but for the close shield of the Navy--the shield
which if we fail to conquer cannot save us--our fate to-day would be
the fate of Belgium. It is being taught, above all by the accounts,
meagre though they are, of what has been done by our soldiers on the
field of battle. With that mistaken estimate of themselves and of
others, which is one of the explanations of this war, the Germans,
before and after the outbreak, have spoken of us as a decadent nation.
Do they say that to-day?
Let the long-drawn-out fight that began at Mons give the answer. There
our troops, pitted against the choicest bodies of the German army,
outnumbered by nearly three to one as I believe, were undefeated and
unbroken. When the story of that fight comes to be written, it is my
belief that it will form as glorious a page as is to be found in the
whole annals of our history. The men will come.
There is no doubt of that. Everywhere I find the same spirit. Everyone
is asking, "What can I do to help my country?" The men will come.
There is one thing more only which I should like to say. Many of those
whom I am addressing are, like the Prime Minister and myself, unable
to take our place in the fighting line. It is not right, it is not
fair, that we should make an appeal for sacrifices to the patriotism
of those only who are able and willing to fight our battles. An equal
sacrifice is demanded of those who remain behind. Let us not as a
Government merely, but as a nation, realise our obligation and make
a vow and keep it, that no dependent of any man who is fighting our
battles shall go hungry while we have bread to eat. And let us realise
also, as we have not always realised in the past, that our soldiers
are the children of the State, and that they have the first claim upon
the resources of our nation.
When Mr. Balfour had supported the leader of the Unionist party there
were loud calls for Mr. Churchill, who made a very brief but pointed
speech on the Navy and its work:
My Lord Mayor and Citizens of London,--You may rely with good
confidence upon the strength and efficiency of our naval defence.
That defence will enable you to live and to work and draw the means
of life and power from the utmost ends of the earth. It will give you
the time, it will give you the means to create the powerful military
force which this country must wield before this trouble is brought to
its conclusion.
Certain I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer.
You have only to persevere to save yourselves and to save all those
who rely upon us. You have only to go right on, and at the end of the
road, be it short or be it long, victory and honour will be found.
_Apropos_ of the German atrocities at Liège, the brutal character of
the German troops, and Mr. Bonar Law's reference to the fact that the
outrages were instigated from above and were not to be blamed wholly
on the soldiers themselves, a word may be added regarding one or two
philosophical misconceptions which have arisen as to the origin of
this modern trait in the character of the German people. It is often
asserted that the philosophy of Nietzsche has been responsible for not
merely encouraging but developing the German belief in physical power
and brute force; and amid the host of "professors," on whom blame is
cast for urging on the Teuton to develop his country at the expense of
his neighbours, Nietzsche has frequently been singled out for special
mention as a man in whose works the Kaiser has always taken an especial
interest.
This belief is quite erroneous. Nietzsche, who poked bitter fun at the
clumsiness and stupidity of his countrymen, who cracked jokes over the
musicians and philosophers most dear to the German heart, and who,
before all else, repudiated Prussianism lock, stock, and barrel, was
certainly not a writer likely to appeal to the Kaiser or to any of the
makers of modern Germany. The reader cannot fail to be impressed by
the striking fact that the "professors" who have written in support
of German development have one and all disclaimed any connection with
Nietzsche or his teachings. The thinker who is really responsible, even
more so than Treitschke, for Germany's attempt to burst her confines
and to increase her possessions, is a man of a very different order.
A year or two ago there appeared the English translation of a book
by Houston Stewart Chamberlain, "The Foundations of the Nineteenth
Century." This was a book dealing generally, in so far as a connected
thread ran through it, with racial problems, and the author's
admiration for the Teutonic race was expressed without limits.
Chamberlain came of English stock, but he developed German sympathies,
lived in Germany, and wrote in German. For the Aryans, gradually
turned into the Teutons and modern Germans, Chamberlain claimed all
the virtues of mankind; and his net was spread wide. The Founder of
the Christian Church was of Teutonic stock, according to the teachings
of the Chamberlain school; and so was Dante. The Latin races, on the
contrary, were held to be decadent--it was only a matter of time before
they would have to disappear and make way for the strong, virile race
from the North.
This book created a profound impression at the time of its publication
in Germany--and in German, although the author had been an Englishman.
It was read widely in Court circles, by the "professors," and by
military men. It was brought to the notice of the Kaiser, who ordered
several hundred copies to be sent to him. These--the number was said to
be as many as eight or nine hundred--were distributed, by the Imperial
command, to heads of schools, burgomasters, and the like, throughout
the length and breadth of the German Empire. To the views of the
Chamberlain school Nietzsche was unalterably opposed; and his choicest
fulminations were directed against the group of thinkers who wrote with
unstinted admiration of the Teutonic race. To use his own expression,
the victories of 1870-1871 had given the Germans an inflated conception
of their own importance in the world, and the material wealth that
accrued to them during the next two decades ruined completely the old
German philosophy and culture which had been the pride and hope of such
men as Goethe, Schiller, Beethoven, and Schopenhauer.
Next to Chamberlain, the greatest influence in the modern development
of Germany was the famous historian, Heinrich von Treitschke. Like
Chamberlain, Treitschke distorted some facts to suit his purpose, and
neglected others which would have spoilt his theories; but there is
no doubt about the vigour of his thought and the lucid style in which
he wrote. He lived from 1834 to 1896, and specialised on historical
subjects from his 'teens. His view was that the Germans were the
greatest people on earth, that it was their duty to the world to
subjugate other peoples and races, and that nothing should prevent the
fulfilment of this task. These opinions, enunciated at first in a
series of brilliant historical essays, found their most dramatic, one
might almost say their most sensational, expression in Treitschke's
"History of Germany in the Nineteenth Century," a work which has for
many years been regarded in Germany as scarcely less important than the
Bible itself. It was Treitschke who first poured contempt on the French
as a race of "decadents," and who prophesied that the most difficult
reckoning would be with England.
These two men had, and still have, innumerable followers; nor
should we overlook Bismarck's speeches. But there was a third and
independent influence who must not be overlooked, either. This is
General von Bernhardi, whose book "Germany and the Next War" has now
become notorious, as much in the original as in the English and other
translations. With a curious smattering of philosophy and religion,
General von Bernhardi advocated the opinion that war was not merely
difficult to avoid, but that it was desirable and necessary for
maintaining the virility and strength of a nation. For this reason he
did not profess to shrink from a European campaign, no matter how dire
the effects of it might be; and his book contains a full _exposé_ of
what the German plans should be, on land and sea, on the outbreak of
war. He has full confidence in the German army, and no less confidence
in the German navy; and he is determined that the power of Prussia and
the Prussian system shall be used to secure for his country the place
in the sun to which he thinks she is entitled. He ridicules Peace
Conferences, Geneva Conventions, and the like--for war is war, and not,
as the German Ambassador in Washington has just told us, an afternoon
tea-party--and war is to be waged ruthlessly against France and this
country. "France," writes General von Bernhardi, "must be crushed so
that she can never again cross our path."
It is obvious to any reader who compares the thoughts and sentiments
in all these works with the Kaiser's speeches that his Majesty is a
careful student of them. To him both Heine and Nietzsche, who preferred
the old to the new Germany, are enemies of his Empire; but men like
Bernhardi, Treitschke, Chamberlain, Bismarck, and Frederick the Great
are safe guides. The Kaiser has, throughout his speeches, made many
references to Frederick the Great, whose literary works deserve
more study than is usually accorded them in England. They contain
the views of a man who, bullied in childhood by a coarse father,
had to fend for himself and to make his own discoveries in war and
social administration. His experiences are summed up, now and then,
in a series of snappy epigrams which are even more to the point than
Bismarck's. Within his limits, the Emperor William II. is at least
original, and it would hardly be fair to accuse him of plagiarism; but
he has, at least, had recourse to his great ancestor for inspiration.
A survey of the influences at work in modern Germany, then, must
include the writings of the men just referred to, and often of their
followers as well. When these writings are considered we shall be able
to realise why Mr. Bonar Law had to refer so pointedly to the Belgian
atrocities and their instigation "from above." The Kaiser himself
has declared more than once that war must be waged ruthlessly; and
Treitschke, Bernhardi, Frederick the Great, Bismarck, and Chamberlain
unite in holding weakness up to ridicule and in emphasising the
necessity for brutality, in the face of these teachings, which have
influenced the ruling caste in the German Empire for more than a
generation, we need not wonder if the invaders of Belgium and France
have been urged on by their officers to excesses which have called
forth the censure of the civilised world. When the Emperor himself
advises his soldiers to "leave a name like Attila," we may be sure that
his officers will not be behindhand in enforcing the instruction.
_Wyman & Sons, Ltd., Printers, London and Reading._
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