Halen 13 – German Jaeger’s Attack 5
As Van Overstraeten stated in 1964, Capt.-Commandant Tasnier had confirmed to him “two squadrons of Guides occupied Velpen and that the Lancers’ right flank was therefore covered.” A bit further in his notes he wrote, “The 4th Mixed Brigade came through Velpen, a hamlet that had not been held by the Guides, despite the issued orders.”
The 2nd Guides Regt positioned itself north of the Rothem Mill, behind a row of trees 400 meters south of the Velpen-Loksbergen Road. They kept their horses with them, as they had intended to charge the Germans eventually! They went toward Velp Creek in small groups. Near the mill, just behind the waterwheel, was a pond. There, under the trees, the horses drank. The 1st Guide Regt stood more to the west, at the seam of the Loksbergen Wood. The German 3rd Kav Brigade arrived at Landwijk Castle, where they could start to build a bridge to cross the Gete.
1015 Hours. Maj. Siron tried to pull back towards the railroad station, per the orders of 9 August. Initially, the machine guns were positioned on the railroad crossing. Slowly but surely, the entire Cyclists Battalion fled back towards the main positions of the cavalry. Van Overstraeten stated, “While a [Belgian] battery fires, the Cyclists move behind the railway hedge. Some small groups returned to Loksbergen. Others go to the Mettenberg [where Belgian artillery was also positioned]. Although there was no sign of the enemy . . . the first Cyclists I addressed confirmed that the whole of the battalion is retreating.” De Braeckeleer accounted:
But as the artillery starts shelling the village and a farm is on fire now, we have no other choice than to go back behind the railroad barriers. We swiftly remove a row of hedges of about 50 meters, place barbed wire at the railroad crossing, and start firing upon the “boches.” But, as we do not have enough men to form a proper firing line, our commanding officer is afraid that we will be overrun. That is why we retreat towards the IJzerwinning Farm, while shells and shrapnel fire is all over us.
The German bombardment had landed mainly in the area between the Velp and Gete Rivers. With the retreat of the dazed Belgian Cyclists, the German Jäger swarmed and entered the village. Crossing the Gete Bridge was not a big problem. The bridge was only slightly damaged: only half of the road paving had plunged into the water. The Gete was not deep at that place and the Jäger found their way between the debris.