? Meet ?Belgium-Halen commemorations August 12th 1914-2014

Commemoration medal :
Town of Halen-Province of Limburg-Belgium

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Francis
 
Would have loved being there....also missed a flight in a bi-plane above Flanders fields, but had a stunning holliday in the south of France insted...!
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I wish I could've been there also. As the Centennial continues to move I have had some humorous push back from English language folks. There really is an English bias that basically starts World War I on 22 August when the BEF fired their first rounds.
 
halenoneyear by Joe Robinson, on Flickr

On 12 August 1915 the Germans had a significant memorial for the one-year anniversary of the Battle of Halen. This cavalry action brought forth a ceremony that was held in Halen Belgium and attended by 40 relatives from Germany. The Generalgouverneur of Belgium, Generaloberst Freiherr von Bissing and the Militärgouverneur of the Province of Limburg, Generalmajor Keim were present. The Groβherzog of Mecklenburg sent a delegate to honour his fallen Mecklenburg men. Every grave was decorated with an iron cross-with the name of the fallen-and with flowers. After the ceremony, Exzellenz von Bissing-in person- paid his condolences to the relatives and the cemeteries were visited. A special train brought the participants of the ceremony from Halen to Hasselt and then back to Germany.

During the ceremony General Keim gave a speech. The content of the speech and other details can be found in a 17-page booklet (Das Gefecht bei Haelen) that was prepared for the event and contained a number of pictures. This was in the middle of the war. The impact of this battle was so significant on the operational outcome of the Schlieffen Plan, that they actually stopped what they were doing a year later to conduct the memorial. This not only affected the operation but also the flower of German chivalry.

Yet this battle was not well known in the English language until Fonthill Media published the first English-language work earlier this year. Happening 11 days prior to the Battle of Mons, the results of this battle seriously affected the reconnaissance that followed on looking for the BEF. Not that far from Mons and with a battlefield heavily preserved, a visit to the museum and the battlefield would be richly rewarded especially when paired with the maps and story inside “The Last Great Cavalry Charge”. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cavalry-Charge--Battle-Silver-Helmets-Halen-12/dp/1781551839/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1438962135&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Last+Great+Cavalry+Charge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Thank you Ed!
One Esk of Leibhusaren operated dismounted with the Jaeger. No mouted attack. But: great pic.
This is the IJzerwinning Farm. The key position in the Belgian line of defense.
In the late afternoon the farm was shelled by Belgian Artillery. After the fight the remains of a Belgian Lt Doctor were found in the cellar. Only identified by his instruments he was using for treating Belgian and German wounded.
Francis
 
Khukri said:
Thank you Ed!
One Esk of Leibhusaren operated dismounted with the Jaeger. No mouted attack. But: great pic.
This is the IJzerwinning Farm. The key position in the Belgian line of defense.
In the late afternoon the farm was shelled by Belgian Artillery. After the fight the remains of a Belgian Lt Doctor were found in the cellar. Only identified by his instruments he was using for treating Belgian and German wounded.
Francis
Click to expand...

:???: What a sad story of collateral damage…
 
Not only to the civilians just mentioning the name Ulan or Totenkopf Husar caused panic. An eyewitnessreport of the fight: "...the point of the Totenkopfhusar's lance missed my head by an inch...". Adding a bit more to the "report"...The same for the newspaper reports in the early days.
 
We did not know that an electronic book was even in the works. But we stumbled upon this and it is incredibly cheaper. I am sure that retailers would prefer you to buy a hard copy however this is a very good option Especially for Australia and New Zealand where it has not been marketed. I think many Australians could take umbrage with the title! - Think great not last. I do not know if it is available in electronic form anywhere else All I have seen is Amazon and Amazon.com UK..

http://www.amazon.com/Cavalry-Charge-Battle-Silver-Helmets-Halen-12-ebook/dp/B018PFIVWK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1449140797&sr=1-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
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