Germans occupy Menin

Under the date 9 October 1914, with the reservation that the date is approximate, the British chronology of the war records the German occupation of Menin (Menen in Flemish). This small town in West Flanders lies on the river Leie (French: Lys), which forms the border with France at this point. One of the main roads to Ypres, some 20 kilometres to the north-west, ran through Menin.

Cavalry on the Leie

At the beginning of October 1914 West Flanders was not yet a battlefield, but German cavalry patrols were appearing there more and more often. The cavalry corps that were seeking the open Allied flank during the Race to the Sea ventured far north of the front. On 7 October one of the German cavalry divisions briefly entered Ypres. At the beginning of the month uhlans also reached the bridge over the Leie at nearby Wervik, and a day later they crossed the river and occupied the little town. As early as 5 October the Flemish writer Stijn Streuvels, who lived near Kortrijk, recorded in his diary a rumour of “masses of German troops” in Menin.

When the Germans took the town

The exact day on which Menin was occupied is hard to establish. German units were passing through the area in the first half of October, but Belgian local sources, including the Flemish heritage register and municipal studies, state that the occupation of the town began on 14 October 1914. The date in the British chronology may therefore refer to the first patrols rather than to the permanent occupation of the town.

Whatever the exact date, by mid-October Menin was in German hands. A few days later, when British troops reached Ypres, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal John French, ordered the 7th Division to attack Menin on the morning of 18 October and seize the crossing over the Leie. General Henry Rawlinson, commander of IV Corps, postponed the attack, and when his troops moved forward on 19 October he called it off because airmen had spotted large German forces approaching. Soon afterwards the First Battle of Ypres began.

Behind the front

Throughout the war Menin remained on the German side, about ten kilometres behind the front line. It became an important supply point for the armies fighting at Ypres. It housed billets, field hospitals and depots; units bound for the front assembled there and those returning from the trenches rested there. The inhabitants had to quarter soldiers, and many men were forced to work behind the front or in Germany. The town was liberated only in October 1918. During the war about half of its houses were destroyed or badly damaged.

The town’s name passed into history thanks to the road that linked it with Ypres. For four years some of the heaviest fighting on the Western Front was fought along the “Menin Road”, and where it leaves Ypres there stands today the Menin Gate, a memorial to the British and Imperial soldiers who fell in the fighting for the town and have no known grave.