German cavalry in Ypres

The British chronology of the war records under the date of 3 October 1914 the capture of Ypres (in Flemish, Ieper) by German cavalry. The old Flemish cloth town, lying in western Belgium near the French border, then found itself in the path of the German cavalry corps that were trying to turn the Allies from the north and reach the coast.

Patrols and the main body

Accounts from Ypres itself do not confirm that the town was occupied as early as 3 October. In the first days of the month German patrols appeared in the area, including uhlans of the Bavarian Cavalry Division, and the inhabitants lived in growing anxiety. Refugees from the interior of the country and wounded Belgian soldiers from Antwerp poured into Ypres. The burgomaster, René Colaert, banned the use of bicycles and cars and ordered lights to be put out in the evenings.

The main German force entered the town only on 7 October. It was the 3rd Cavalry Division of General von Hollen’s IV Cavalry Corps, which was to turn the Allied left flank. The British official history gives the date as 7 October in one place and 8 October in another, but local sources agree in describing the Germans’ entry on the afternoon of 7 October.

One day in Ypres

At about 1 p.m. a few horsemen rode into the market square, accompanied by the burgomaster. He had gone out to meet the Germans in order to hand over the town without a fight and to give assurances that no one would shoot. Soon about two hundred cavalrymen arrived. German officers occupied the town hall and took the municipal treasury, which, according to various sources, held 62,000 or 65,000 francs. In the afternoon regiments of hussars and dragoons, Jäger, artillery and supply trains marched through the town, about 8,000 soldiers in all. The divisional commander installed himself in a house opposite the Cloth Hall, and the soldiers were quartered in public buildings and with the inhabitants.

The Germans behaved relatively calmly. They paid for purchases in the shops, although there were also requisitions and thefts. On the morning of 8 October they left the town, heading west towards Hazebrouck. As a guarantee of a safe departure they took three hostages with them: the burgomaster, the dean and the police commissioner. They were released at the edge of the town, at Vlamertinge.

What came next

IV Cavalry Corps did not reach the sea. At Hazebrouck it ran into French cavalry and territorial units and fell back to the area of Bailleul. The people of Ypres breathed a sigh of relief, believing that the worst was behind them. In mid-October British troops entered the town, and a few days later the first great battle began at Ypres, which reduced the medieval town to ruins.