Battles of World War I
The Battle of Liège
In August 4 1914, a telegram was sent from the Belgian frontier post at Gemmenich (6 km from Aix-La-Chapelle) to the command at Liege, announcing that German troops had crossed into Belgium. This news was followed by reports from 2nd Lancers that, at 0800, 2 divisions of Von Marwitz's cavalry had violated the frontier north of Liege, heading in the direction of the Meuse River.
This is a story about forts, but it is also about men. A group of brave men from the tiny country of Belgium that stood up to one of the world's superpowers, one with a seemingly invincible army. The German government had asked Belgium to kindly step aside so its 2 million man army could pass through on its way to destroying France, thus making Belgium a state within the German Reich. But first her King, Albert, said no. Then the people said no; then her tiny army, facing a tidal wave of men that was crashing down on the city of Liege, said no, and for 13 days, put up a fight that had basicaly the whole world watching. It was not the forts that held up the Germans - it was the men who commanded them and the brigades that held the ground between them. This is their story.
The German High Command planned to encircle Liege from the North, East, and South, and to penetrate the city rapdily between the intervals of the forts during the night of 4 to 5 August. Von Der Marwitz's cavalry would complete the investment by circling to the west of Liege to cut supply lines from Namur and Brussels. The Germans had four routes across Belgium to which he should choose from:
1- Across Luxembourg, south of the Ardennes to the Meuse valley. This was unfavorable to rapid advance because of the heavy woods and steep roads in this area.
2- From the Camp of Elsenborn by Malmedy and Stavelot, across the Ourthe valley in the direction of Huy, Namur, and Dinant. By attacking in this direction, German forces could gain the railways into France.
3- From Aix-La-Chapelle via Verviers and the valley of the Vesdre.
4- From Aix-La-Chapelle directly to Vise.
On August 9th, 1914, frustrated by five days of usless solders assaults on the fort of Liège, Belgium, the German High Command ordered two giant siege guns from Essen, Germany was to be loaded on trains and sent as fast as they could to the enter the fortress in the city. On August 12th, the guns arrived and were set up on its outskirts. At 6:30 p.m. aproximatly, one of the bigest guns, it was a huge 420mm siege howitzer, they nicknamed it "Big Bertha" by its manufacturer, Krupp, fired a huge shell from Big Bertha weighing 1,800 pounds towards Fort Pontisse, one of 12 forts built by Henri Brialmont around the city of Liège. The sound of the shell had exploding near the fort, it could be heard for miles around. A big clowd of smoke rose 1,000 feet into the air. Each successive shot crept closer to the fort then as the rangefinders zeroed in on the target. The last shot detonated on the concrete and steel superstructure of the fort, blasting it and the subterranean floor and it’s chambers to bits. With this, once the wall of a frontal protection was distroyed, the assault to the forts were now taking place their savage destruction began and surly enough fort Liège was gone.
A School Link Article. Courtesy of Marco Cacciatore, LCCHS, March 10, 1999 .
