On October 9, 1914 Antwerp was bombed by a Zeppelin. German forces occupied the city the next day. Postcard with an inset portrait of Count von Zeppelin.
Image text: Antwerpen unter Feuer eines Zeppelin.Antwerp under fire of a Zeppelin.Reverse:No. 1958 Charles Lehmann, Kunstanstalt, Berlin N.O. 43
An Austro-Hungarian soldier posing for the camera, leaning on his rifle, bayonet at his waist. He is from the k.u.k (kaiserlich und königlich/imperial and royal) Landsturm Battalion No. 83, a reserve militia of men 34 to 55, some of whom saw active duty.
Image text: Reverse:k.u.k (kaiserlich und königlich/imperial and royal) Landsturm Bataillon No. 83k.u.k (kaiserlich und königlich/imperial and royal) Landsturm Battalion No. 83Emil Lorenz, Photograph. Böhm Leipa Herrengasse 243
Battle on the Somme, by Oskar Martin Amorbach, showing the blue Hessen (Infantry Regiment Lieb, 'Grand Duchess') in combat against British troops.
Image text: Signed: Oskar Martin AmorbachMünchenReverse:Regiments-Gedenktag des ehem. Infanterie Liebregiments, 'Großherzogin' (3. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 117 1697–1922Die blauen Hessen im Kampfe mit Engländern im Sommegebiet September 1916Kunstdruck Gerling & Erbes, Darmstadt. Nr. 27008Regimental memorial of the former. Infantry Regiment Lieb, 'Grand Duchess' (3 Großherzoglich Hessian) No. 117 1697-1922The blue Hessen at war with British in Somme area September 1916Art Print Gerling & heritage, Darmstadt. No. 27008
The Royal Artillery Memorial, London, England and 'Trenches: St. Eloi' by T. E. Hulme who was killed September 28, 1917 while serving with the Royal Marine Artillery. © 2013 by John M. Shea
Image text: Trenches: St EloiOver the flat slope of St EloiA wide wall of sand bags.Night,In the silence desultory menPottering over small fires, cleaning their mess-tins:To and fro, from the lines,Men walk about as on Piccadilly,Making paths in the dark,Through scattered dead horses,Over a dead Belgian's belly.The Germans have rockets. The English have no rockets.Behind the line, hidden, lying back miles.Before the line, chaos:My mind is a corridor. The minds about me are corridors.Nothing suggests itself. There is nothing to do but keep on.
Detail showing the northern, Belgian sector of the Western Front from a map of the Allied offensives of 1918, from July 18 and the Second Battle of the Marne to the Armistice on November 11. From The Memoirs of Marshall Foch by Marshall Foch.
Image text: The Memoirs of Marshall Foch by Marshall Foch
". . . on the 28th [September, 1914] the Germans suddenly opened fire upon the forts of the Antwerp exterior lines with 17-inch howitzers hurling projectiles of over a ton. . . .The Belgian Field Army was about 80,000 strong, in addition to which there were some 70,000 fortress troops. Four divisions of the Belgian Army were defending the southern portion of the outer perimeter of the Antwerp defences, with the 5th Division in reserve, and one weak division was at Termonde. A cavalry division of about 3,600 sabres was south-west of Termonde guarding communications between Antwerp and the coast. Ghent was held by some volunteers." ((1), more)
"Austro-Hungarian losses were astonishingly high; between 1st and 25th September their force in the East fell from 500,000 to 200,000, and the proportions of loss were also remarkable—in IV Army, 30,000 'missing', 10,000 wounded, 7,000 sick, 2,000 killed. It was already notable that, in the Austro-Hungarian army, twice as many officers reported sick as were wounded. In the German army, this proportion was reversed. It was good evidence of the different quality of the allied armies." ((2), more)
"Prince Rupprecht's Statement of September 28thThis Somme offensive brings an attack of unusual violence every six days on average. I know this country well from the fighting of 1914. At that time we had moving warfare, while we are now in a position of siege.In his attacks, beginning in July, the enemy has gained some ground, but a decision of the situation is not to be thought of. One cannot prophesy how things will go here, but one thing is certain: Everything has now been so well provided for by us that one can quietly await coming events, be they what they may.The offensive will certainly not be at an end very soon. . . . I am of the opinion that the enemy is seeking a decision here and this years, and in this he has failed." ((3), more)
"Trenches: St EloiOver the flat slope of St EloiA wide wall of sand bags.Night,In the silence desultory menPottering over small fires, cleaning their mess-tins:To and fro, from the lines,Men walk about as on Piccadilly,Making paths in the dark,Through scattered dead horses,Over a dead Belgian's belly.The Germans have rockets. The English have no rockets.Behind the line, cannon, hidden, lying back miles.Before the line, chaos:My mind is a corridor. The minds about me are corridors.Nothing suggests itself. There is nothing to do but keep on." ((4), more)
"SOLDIERS!You are about to deliver a powerful attack on the enemy positions. At the side of your British and French comrades, it is your task to fling back the invader who has oppressed your brothers for more than four years. This hour is decisive. . . .Forward for Right, for Liberty, for glorious and immortal Belgium!Albert" ((5), more)
(1) After the falls of the forts of the Meuse River — Liège, Namur, and Dinant — the Belgian Army had fallen back first to Louvain, then to Antwerp. During the Battle of the Marne, they had sortied several times, and had pinned down German troops. British First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill wanted to save the port of Antwerp. French Commander Joffre had little faith any fortress would long endure a German siege, but wanted to preserve a Belgian fighting force. Belgian Commander King Albert wanted to preserve his Belgian Army.
The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Winston Churchill, page 189, copyright © by Charles Scribner's Sons 1931, renewed by Winston S. Churchill 1959, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 1931, 2007
(2) The great German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive had achieved the aims of German Commander-in-Chief Erich von Falkenhayn, leaving Russia in no position to launch an offensive for the foreseeable future. Falkenhayn had called a halt in early August. Claiming to misunderstand Falkenhayn, German commanders Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff pushed on at the northern end of the front. To the south, Austro-Hungarian Commander-in-Chief Conrad von Hötzendorf, chaffing under German command, but helpless without German aid, carried on his own Hapsburg offensive, his own until he had to turn, once again, to Germany for aid.
The Eastern Front, 1914-1917 by Norman Stone, pp. 190, 191, copyright © 1975 Norman Stone, publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons, publication date: 1975
(3) Beginning and end of a statement by Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, September 28, 1916 writing of the British offensive on the Somme. He notes that the attacks will be very violent with a 'colossal expenditure of ammuntion', but that the Germans are well-prepared, their artillery strengthened, and their flyers 'getting the upper hand.' At the beginning of the war Rupprecht commanded the German Sixth Army. In August, 1916 he took command of Army Group Rupprecht of Bavaria, combining the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th German Armies.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. IV, 1916, pp. 252–353, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(4) Trenches: St Eloi by T. E. Hulme, killed September 28, 1917 by a German shell. Hulme served with the Royal Marine Artillery at Oost-Duinkerke behind Nieuport on the Belgian channel coast.
The Lost Voices of World War I, An International Anthology of Writers, Poets and Playwrights by Tim Cross, page 51, copyright © 1989 by The University of Iowa, publisher: University of Iowa Press, publication date: 1989
(5) Proclamation by Albert, King of the Belgians, the night of September 27–28, 1918, immediately before the third of four offensives on the Western Front launched on consecutive days. Albert and Allied Commander-in Chief Ferdinand Foch had agreed to the creation of the Flanders Army Group under the King of the Belgians on September 9. It included the Belgian Army, the British Second Army, and the French 7th Army Corps and 2nd Cavalry Corps. Responding to the British offensive against Cambrai launched the previous day, German commander Erich Ludendorff had redeployed troops from Flanders further south. The Allies advanced seven kilometers on the 28th and 14 by September 30. The advance was halted on October 3.
The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, page 222, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber
