chapter xii
on the battle-fields
as often as i went on tour to collect news on the scene of war, i got dozens of messages and letters, which alarmed people sent to the editor of de tijd, with the request that they should be handed to me for further transmission to relatives. i took hundreds of them to and from louvain.
on monday, september 14th, i took with me a larger number than ever to louvain.
i observed then already that much poverty prevailed, for in many places i noticed people whose appearance did not suggest that they were accustomed to that sort of work, creeping quietly in and out of hedges, carrying bags in which they put the potatoes picked up in the fields. naturally they started and looked alarmed, when, suddenly, i passed on my bicycle.
round about louvain everything was prepared for defensive purposes, artillery being hidden under straw-roofs, only a few yards away from the farm-houses, and the sentries were very alert. i never saw them before i was quite near; then they jumped suddenly from behind a tree, summoning me to stop by lowering their rifle. in the meadows were a good many newly cut trenches.
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some soldiers were rather friendly when i revealed myself as a netherland reporter; they informed me with serious faces that in germany two million volunteers were drilling; that in each garrison-town the majority of the men were left behind as reserves; that by and by they were going to level antwerp to the ground, if these belgians would not keep quiet; that after all belgium proved a bigger job than they had bargained for; that amsterdam and rotterdam had been shelled and flushing taken by the british; that germany had now sent a great number of troops into the netherlands to protect her against britain, because the netherlands herself had no army at all; and so on and so on.
one of the soldiers took me to the spot where two days before the belgians had blown up the railway which had just now been repaired by the german engineers. according to his story eighty troopers had succeeded in surprising a guard of twelve and in pushing on to the railway.
near corbeek-loo a strong belgian force had been able even to reach the main road to louvain, and there also destroyed the railway, after which they retreated before the advancing germans.
these minor actions formed part of the sortie by the belgians from antwerp. one division marched towards louvain and occupied aerschot on thursday evening, september 10th. on friday they advanced farther in the direction of wijgmaal-rotselair-corbeek-loo, with continuous hard fighting. on saturday the fights were fiercest round about these places, and ended in the evening in a retreat171 of the belgians, who made the enemy pay as heavily as possible for their victory, although they themselves had to leave behind a good many victims.
considerations of space forbid me to relate many of the heroic deeds performed on this occasion, but an exception may be made of the following:—
when i arrived in louvain i heard of a young fleming who was then being nursed in a hospital established by the norbertine fathers, and had been serving at two pieces of ordnance near corbeek-loo. as the army was forced to retreat in the evening his comrades were compelled to abandon the two guns, but he had to stay, being wounded in the leg by a grape shot. the germans made him prisoner, and tied him to a tree. by an immense effort he succeeded in tearing himself loose, and dragged himself towards a farm-house. at a short distance from this goal he was stopped, however, by a german soldier. the fleming, putting forth all his remaining strength, gave the other such a tremendous blow in the face with his rifle-butt that he fell down dead. subsequently this boy reached the farm-house, where he was charitably received. later on he was fetched away by the sisters from boven-loo, and finally from that institution by the norbertine fathers.
the belgians left also a considerable number of dead and wounded at wijgmaal and rotselair. on tuesday, september 15th, i visited the battle-fields in that neighbourhood with father coppens, a netherland norbertine, born at lieshout. the wounds of the soldiers lying there were in a most terrible condition, because the germans forbade172 the removal of the belgian wounded before all the german dead had been buried. in my opinion not only a proof of barbarity, but also an admission that the germans themselves must have suffered great losses.
the wijgmaal battle-field was after all the least horrible. about ten houses seemed to have been set on fire on purpose; the rest had suffered badly from the bombardment. all the inhabitants had fled as soon as the fighting began. the wounded belgians had been placed in the large dancing-room of a café, where father coppens brought them a large hamper full of eatables and drinkables, and whence also he had them transported to louvain. the food was gratefully accepted, but they were still more eager to get hold of the mugs, as they were very thirsty in consequence of the high temperature caused by the inflamed wounds; often we had to prevent them forcibly from drinking too much.
we passed a dead field-officer who still laid hold of a piece of a flag. when i read that sort of thing in a book, i thought: "how pretty and romantic," but never believed that this would actually happen in war-time. i saw the reality now, and, deeply touched, bared my head, saluting that dead hero. from papers we found on him we saw that his name was van gesthel; like most belgians, he had been killed by shell.
i went on with father coppens and found about one hundred wounded, of whom only a few had been taken to the houses. most of them crept away frightened, but when we told them that we were netherlanders from louvain, who came to bring173 them food and drink, and to take them away to be nursed, they got hold of our coats and refused to let us go.
they drank deep, in long draughts, with trembling lips, and beseeched us not to leave them again: "oh, gentlemen, then we shall die!" we swore that we should come back, and that later on carriages would arrive from louvain to take them to some convent or hospital; and, trusting us, they resigned themselves in the end.
goats, pigs, cows, and other cattle roamed freely through the village-street, looking for food and licking the faces of the dead.
we entered a stable whence we thought that a sound came. we saw, however, nothing but a heap of straw, and a pig which ran up against us near the door. father coppens chased it away with a:
"get you gone, you brute!"
and all at once the straw began to move, a head popped out, and a weak voice exclaimed:
"ah well, be you a fleming?"
the poor fellow had hidden himself, being afraid that we were germans; but when he heard the "get you gone, you brute!" he ventured to show himself.
"certainly, my lad," said father coppens—"certainly we are flemings. what is the matter with you?"
we removed the rest of the straw, undressed him partially, and on both his legs the most hideous wounds became visible. septic process had worsened his condition to such an extent, that the unfortunate boy had only a short time to live. i174 moved away ... he confessed to father coppens, who gave him the viaticum, which he carried with him.
later on people from louvain came with carts, which we had ordered before leaving. thirteen of these carried the wounded away, whilst a german patrol went all over the village, setting everything on fire.
father coppens and i beseeched the german commanding officer to spare the houses of some people, large families, who came for shelter to the father's convent. and at length, after long supplications, we secured exemption for a few houses, inhabited by people who could not have done anything in a village which had been completely evacuated by the population, at the beginning of the fight.
in the hospital leo xiii, that eager netherlander, professor noyons, did all he could to save as many as could be saved of the wretched belgian wounded; but as rain and cold had done so much harm to the wounds, amputation of the injured limbs was as a rule the only remedy left.
never thinking of rest he went on day and night, taking away the poor fellows' arms and legs, and all this by the miserable light of some candles. gas and electricity were not to be had, the works being idle after the destruction of the town....
