Battle of Mechelen begins
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Western Front
- Date:
- 25 August 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Battle:
- Battle of Mechelen
On 25 August 1914 the Belgian army came out of the fortress of Antwerp and attacked the German positions south of the town of Mechelen, known in French as Malines. It was the first of the sorties with which the Belgians tried to draw German forces away from the front in France.
The King’s decision
After the retreat from the Gete the Belgian army took refuge in Antwerp. The main German forces marched on south-west, towards France. Two reserve corps were left to watch the fortress: the III Reserve Corps of General Hans von Beseler and the IX Reserve Corps, which were only just taking up their positions.
On 24 August the Belgian command learned that heavy fighting was under way between the French and British and the Germans on the Sambre and at Mons. King Albert I judged this a good moment for a sortie. The blow was meant to tie the Germans down in Belgium, threaten their communications through Brabant and relieve the Allies fighting in the south.
The attack
The Belgians attacked on a front about 20 kilometres wide, between the Willebroek canal in the west and the river Dyle in the east. The 6th Division struck in the centre towards Hofstade and Elewijt. To its right the 1st and 5th Divisions advanced, to its left the 2nd Division. The 3rd Division and the Cavalry Division stayed in reserve.
At first the attack went well. The 6th Division took Hofstade and the woods near Schiplaken, and the 1st and 5th Divisions captured Zemst, Weerde and Eppegem. The fighting was hard. A brigade made up of carabiniers and grenadiers lost nearly 800 men at Hofstade and Schiplaken. In the villages they took, the Belgians came upon traces of atrocities: burned houses and the bodies of murdered civilians.
Air raid and panic in Leuven
In the same days the Germans bombed Antwerp from the air for the first time. A German airship dropped bombs on the city centre. According to eyewitness accounts about ten civilians were killed, and the raid took place on the night of 24–25 August. Some studies, however, give the night of 25–26 August. One of the bombs fell close to the palace where the royal family was staying. The raid caused outrage but did not break the defenders’ spirit.
The Belgian sortie caused confusion behind the German lines. On the evening of 25 August units falling back in disorder from Mechelen began to stream into Leuven. Shots rang out in the town, and German soldiers, convinced that the inhabitants were attacking them, began a massacre and set buildings on fire. Belgian troops never reached Leuven, and the shots were most probably fired by German soldiers themselves, who in their panic fired on one another. Thus began the destruction of Leuven, one of the gravest war crimes in Belgium.
What came next
The Belgians did not succeed everywhere, however. On the left wing the 2nd Division failed to get across the Leuven–Mechelen canal, and in the centre Elewijt could not be taken. On 26 August the Germans, strengthened by reinforcements, put up ever stiffer resistance. When news came of the Allied defeat on the Sambre and at Mons, further attack lost its point. The Belgians returned to the fortress by 27 August.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 25 August 1914 · Eastern FrontEnd of the Battle of KraśnikOn 25 August 1914 the Austro-Hungarian First Army took Kraśnik and the Russian Fourth Army fell back towards Lublin. It was Austria-Hungary's first victory.
- 25 August 1914 · Balkan FrontEnd of the first invasion of SerbiaAt the end of August 1914 the Serbs recaptured Šabac and the last Austro-Hungarian units withdrew across the Drina and Sava. The first invasion ended in defeat.
- 25 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificJapan breaks off diplomatic relations with Austria-HungaryOn 25 August 1914 Japan broke off diplomatic relations with Austria-Hungary. The ambassador, Baron Ladislaus Müller von Szentgyörgy, left Tokyo.
- 25 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificJapan declares a state of war with Austria-HungaryOn 25 August 1914 Japan and Austria-Hungary found themselves at war. The reason was the Austro-Hungarian cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth, stationed at Tsingtao.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 27 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of Mechelen endsOn 27 August 1914 the Belgian army's first sortie from Antwerp ended. After three days of fighting near Mechelen the Belgians returned behind the line of forts.
- 27 September 1914 · Western FrontSiege of Antwerp beginsOn 27 September 1914 the Germans began the siege of Antwerp, Belgium's last fortress. The next day heavy mortars began to smash the outer forts.
- 10 October 1914 · Western FrontCapitulation of AntwerpOn 10 October 1914 Antwerp formally capitulated. Governor Deguise surrendered at Fort Sainte-Marie, and thousands of soldiers were interned in the Netherlands.
- 19 August 1914 · Western FrontBelgian army withdraws from the Gete to AntwerpOn 19 August 1914 the Belgian army withdrew from the Gete to the fortress of Antwerp. In the towns it left, German troops committed crimes against civilians.