loncin fort
from accounts by the army doctors: maloens, of the 3rd battery of heavy howitzers; courtin, of the 1st chasseurs; roskam, of the 14th line regiment; defalle, director of the calais municipal crèche ambulance; and quartermaster krantz, of the gendarmerie
on the morning of august 6, 1914, lieutenant-general leman suddenly arrived at the loncin fort.
"an attempt has just been made to assassinate me," he said to captain naessens, commander of the fort, "i have come to take refuge behind your cannons."
the captain immediately asked him for orders.
"i have no orders to give you here," replied the general. "you give your own orders in the fort. my business is to attend to the defence of the fortified position."
the commander of the fort immediately called his men together and addressed them in french and in flemish:
"general leman has done us the great honour of taking refuge with us, my boys," he said. "shall we give up the general?"
[pg 52]
there were cries of "no! no!" on all sides.
"well, then, if we have decided not to give up the general, we shall perish here. for, either the fort will be blown up and i shall be blown up with you, or the germans will come up here to attack us and, when they have passed the accessory defences, walking over the dead bodies of their own men, we shall form a last square. i shall keep seven bullets in my browning, six for my enemies and the last for myself and we will all go together to paradise."
commander naessens, a short, thick-set man, with a very determined face, and steel-blue, piercing eyes, was adored by his men, and this speech was greeted with indescribable enthusiasm.
"you must all swear that you will never yield," he cried, in the midst of the tumult. thereupon, one by one, the soldiers filed up to their commander and took this solemn oath.
from that moment, naessens had his men thoroughly in hand. they would stand by him to the very death and his greatest pride was to be able to reply to the general's question: "are you sure of your men?" with the words: "as sure as i am of myself, general!"
it was quite true, too. they were absolutely ready for anything. if volunteers were wanted for a dangerous expedition, double the number needed volunteered to go and they all beseeched the commander to let them be the ones chosen. those who were not accepted went away greatly disappointed.
three or four of those brave fellows had formed themselves into a band which was known as "the[pg 53] bonnot band." armed with guns or carbines, these explorers set off, each day, in a motor-car and acted either as a liaison between loncin and the forts which were still holding out, or as a patrol for getting information for the commander, with reference to the presence of the enemy. their daring was amazing. on one occasion the commander's horse, whilst grazing in a neighbouring enclosure, had been killed. this "band" promised to provide him with another mount. a few hours later, they returned with the horses of two german officers, laden with helmets and lances.
after the combats round liége, soldiers of the 1st and 4th unmounted chasseurs and of the 9th and 14th line regiments, men who had lost their units, came to take refuge in the loncin fort, but, the following day, the commander sent an officer with them to waremme, only keeping for himself his own garrison of about five hundred men. this number was really sufficient and, during the terrible days from august 6th to 15th, the calmness and indifference to danger of these men were admirable.
during a violent bombardment, general leman, on coming into the central building with commander naessens, saw a little scene which moved him to tears. the men, scattered about in little groups, were playing cards or talking together quite tranquilly, whilst, in one corner, indifferent to the noise, a soldier was playing some liége cramignons on a flute, and his comrades, standing round him, were singing the refrains in chorus.
[pg 54]
the following notes are taken from the diary of quartermaster krantz of the gendarmerie, who had been appointed bodyguard to general leman. after the explosion of the loncin fort, krantz, with eight serious wounds, was taken to the st. servais college of liége.
august 7th. the fortress infantry, sent out to reconnoitre, called our attention to a patrol of uhlans on their way from ans to loncin. it was at once dispersed by one of our sub-officers, at the head of his section. we learnt from some courageous men that the german field artillery had taken position near the ans aviation base.
august 8th. during the morning, german patrols, which had reached awans, were driven back by our shrapnels and our infantry. at three o'clock, the fort opened fire with its twelve-centimetre guns over the ans aviation base, where our reconnaissances had signalled enemy batteries and a movement of troops.
august 9th. i have been to liége, where i heard that the germans were bringing heavy artillery in order to attack the forts. i told the general, and he ordered me to watch the movements and the passage of this artillery. he also gave me the mission of examining whether the nasproué tunnel near dolhain were practicable. i discovered that the line, which we had destroyed, had been repaired by the germans, as they had no other way for their "420" cannons. during the afternoon, the fort fired on various enemy batteries. we observed that a taube had come down on the ans aviation base and we fired on it violently with shrapnels. we also took a patrol of uhlans prisoners on the tongres road.
[pg 55]
in the night, we bombarded a mass of troops quartered in the direction of awans.
august 10th. the enemy bombarded with about thirty shells of light calibre, which caused no further damage than to chip one of our chimneys. the fort replied on the enemy's batteries near ans. i was sent to discover the movements of the troops and returned with important information. among other things i had been informed of the installation of a post of observation by the germans, in the steeple of the church on the ans plateau. we fired on this steeple and brought down the tower, thus rendering it impossible for observation purposes.
august 11th. calm. reconnaissances in all directions by motor-car.
august 12th. morning, terrific and rapid bombarding by the germans. we replied each time with great energy and with very exact aim. unfortunately, the cupola of one of our twelve-centimetres was soon injured, but, during a lull, we managed to repair it.
the entrance to the fort was also hit. we captured four more uhlans. during the night, reciprocal bombarding.
august 13th. we noted that the heavy german artillery had commenced action. a violent firing from guns of 150 millimetres injured two of our cupolas.
august 14th. at three in the morning, we were bombarded by howitzers of 280 and 305mm. the fort shook to its foundations, an iron whirlwind broke loose in perfect avalanches over the exterior surface, and the gusts continued, every other two minutes, for some hours. after each shock, fragments of cracked and powdered cement fell on our heads.[pg 56] a grey dust, mingled with thousands of glass splinters from the window-panes, crackled under our feet, parching and irritating our throats and nostrils. the fort was gradually crumbling. a 305 shell entered the infirmary, killing and wounding several soldiers. at eleven o'clock, the clothing stores met with the same fate and, one after another, various buildings were destroyed, also the electric material, the ventilators, and the draw-bridge at the entrance of the fort.
at about three or four in the afternoon, a truce-bearer asked to be allowed to speak to the commander and demanded the surrender of the fort.
"we prefer dying to surrendering," answered captain naessens. it was a proud answer and it expressed the general feeling. towards evening, the firing slackened and everyone could rest. during the night, a staff officer slipped out, taking away with him the various valuable papers belonging to the position.
august 15th. what a terrible day! from five in the morning, the bombarding has been continual, coming in gusts. four crashes, one after another, and then a whizzing, a fall, and explosions in the cement. the shells penetrated to a depth of half a yard, digging out holes of four yards square. towards eight o'clock the soldiers' rooms were wrecked, their beds overturned, and windows, fastened with iron bars eighteen centimetres thick, were broken; the infirmary, the operating room, the kitchen, refectory, and the general's room were swept away. everything was destroyed, not a single place remained which could serve as a shelter. the fort is now in ruins from top to bottom, and we are in[pg 57] complete darkness and scarcely able to breathe, on account of the poisonous and noxious gases, as not a single ventilator works. only two cupolas remain with which we can reply to the enemy's terrible avalanche. we are not continuing, though, as we do not know where the enemy's batteries are and they are certainly beyond our reach. during a lull, this morning, another truce-bearer paid us a visit. he was not escorted and carried a white flag. the sentinel ordered him to halt and to return, so that he should not be able to communicate any information with regard to the result of the adverse firing. on the boche's refusal to obey, the sentinel ordered him a second time to halt and, as the second time he refused to obey, he was shot down. he had time to signal with his white flag before falling to the ground dead. we believe, and it is also the opinion of our officers, that this supposed truce-bearer came treacherously to take his bearings for the firing of the four hundred and twenty guns, and that he sacrificed his life for the sake of giving the exact spot to the artillery. immediately after his death, we had to endure a very exact and continued bombardment. it was on this day, august 15th, that the germans employed their famous "420" howitzers.
from time to time, we saw the general and the officers walking about in the open on the fortification glacis, observing the enemy, with the most admirable sang-froid and an utter disregard for danger. the most miraculous and incomprehensible thing was that not one of them was injured by the explosions on every side of them.
at 5.20 in the afternoon, general leman, captain naessens, lieutenant modard, their two sub-lieu[pg 58]tenants, several other sub-officers and i were in the shooting gallery, and, although the fort was practically destroyed, our brave, valorous chiefs continued giving orders. the others were sitting down in the central passage awaiting events. suddenly we heard the protracted whizzing sound of a big projectile. "here's another!" said one of the men in the passage. a huge burst of flame and then a formidable shock which flung us all against the wall and then—nothing but silence!
quartermaster krantz's diary stopped here. he had fainted and did not come to himself until he was in the hospital.
dr. courtin, who had the good luck to come out of the explosion uninjured, soon regained his presence of mind.
"i found myself lying on the ground," he said, "after a faint. it was very difficult to breathe, but fortunately a little air from a broken window reached me. i managed to get up and found that dr. maloens was lying at my side. his face was bleeding and i gave him a few drops of brandy. nearly all the men had instinctively protected their eyes. all of them remembered their oath and refused to surrender. a remarkable example of heroism was given us by a young soldier who was at the end of a passage. he was black with powder, his clothes were in rags and he had two holes covered with blood in place of pupils to his eyes. he continued shooting, nevertheless, until he had used his last cartridge. on approaching him, we discovered that one of his feet was wedged between two blocks of stone and it had to be amputated so that he could be released.
[pg 59]
"in the meantime, a few men who had escaped injuries managed to get out through the window, by taking down the bars. as i knew the passage, i moved slowly forwards in the darkness and found all the windows blocked. suddenly, i saw a ray of light filtering through some pieces of cement which had fallen. by widening the aperture, i managed to get out. all round the fort, our poor men were hurrying along in flames, half wild with pain. others, on their knees, were reciting prayers. it was a frightful sight!"
in the evening, a german colonel went to the liége military hospital to say that a terrible explosion had destroyed the loncin fort. two or three doctors, one of whom was dr. defalle, started immediately to this fort. "we met some of the wounded," he told me, "coming along the thier d'ans road and, as we went along, we kept meeting motor-cars and pedestrians. in the villages, nearly all the inhabitants were at their doors, anxiously looking out. at ans plateau, where the church steeple had been razed to the ground, we met a cart in which general leman was lying. the cart was drawn by two horses and the general was accompanied by staff deputy commander collart and by a german officer. the general, who had just been taken from the ruins through a hole in the escarpment, was still half suffocated, and his face was blue. he had no wound visible though, and he was perfectly conscious.[4] on reaching the fort, i found it was surrounded by numerous enemy troops of different arms and parti[pg 60]cularly by the engineers. some of the soldiers were waving a large red cross flag, in order to stop the firing from the hollogne fort. the explosion had chiefly affected the south-east part and the moats there were filled with the débris. the central masonry was destroyed and encumbered with blocks of cement. the cupola was knocked down. there was very little smoke, but, from time to time, detonations, caused by the cartridge stores exploding from the heat.
"from these ruins, could be heard the most unearthly groans and cries. the poor, suffering men, who were burning there, were begging us to help them. blocks of stone or cement had to be raised and sometimes we were obliged to saw off a limb, in order to release these brave men. they were partly carbonised, quite black, and almost naked, when we succeeded in transporting them to a meadow near. from there they were taken to the town. in the counterscarp, separated by the moat, were some flanking coffers. the occupants of these had not been able to get back to the central construction, as the subterranean passage was obstructed. after some hours of labour, we were able to push in the ventilation gratings and to get the half suffocated men out.
"the loncin inhabitants, overwhelmed with anguish, watched our terrible work. the recruiting had been local and they all dreaded lest they should recognise a member of their own family in these poor tumefied, charred bodies, with burnt hair, which were dragged from under the débris. they helped the doctors in bandaging and in administering the morphia for attenuating the traumatic shock. they gave the[pg 61] patients soothing drinks and installed them in their houses. nearly every house had its wounded men, who were sent as soon as possible to liége, either to the military hospital, the ambulances of the daughters of the cross and of the jesuits, or to the one in the rue des rivageois.
"the germans seemed surprised at the immensity of the catastrophe. their officers, particularly those belonging to the engineers, endeavoured to ease the suffering of the victims. when a few shots were fired, though, from the waroux wood, they changed their attitude, blamed the belgians, and talked of reprisals. we doctors reminded them that our lives were as much in danger as theirs, and that that fact did not prevent us from doing our duty. the boches were somewhat confused and were quiet after this. towards ten o'clock at night all the wounded were removed."
"i was at the st. laurent hospital," said dr. roskam, "when the wounded were brought in, towards nine in the evening. the sight of these poor men, with frizzled hair, black hands and faces, and scorched clothes, was frightful. the germans took them for senegalese. in the operating-room, scenes took place which filled us with horror. on taking off their clothes, shreds of flesh were torn off, legs and arms separated from the body, and horrible wounds and burns of all sorts appeared. there was a frightful odour of carbonised flesh. what made this scene more poignant still, was the courage, the stoicism of all these men who did not complain.
"they had scarcely come to themselves again after their dizziness, from which they were roused by the[pg 62] suffering caused by the washing of their wounds with green soap, when they asked after their commander and their lieutenant. many of them had tears in their eyes when they heard that their chiefs were saved and they asked to be carried into the ward where naessens and modard were lying, seriously wounded. the two officers could scarcely recognise their men, thanks to powder, bandages, scars, and swollen features. they encouraged and congratulated them nevertheless, and in all justice. the whole of the time these men were in hospital, they were admirable. horribly burnt, some of them blind, some with the sight of one eye gone, in many cases the drum of the ear perforated and the patient suffering from otitis, they endured everything with resignation, never complaining, grumbling, or protesting in any way. they were veritable heroes. when the first to recover started for germany, naessens and modard, who had never intended to leave their soldiers and who were obliged to stay longer in liége, in order to finish their cure, were carried to the courtyard by the men-nurses, in order to say a last farewell to the brave men who adored them!"
footnotes:
[4] this was confirmed by a letter from captain commander hauteclerc to mlle. leman, the general's daughter.
