Halen 23 – Third Charge – 3
1400 Hours. The leading elements of the Belgian 4th Mixed Bde arrived on the eastern edge of the Loksbergen Wood. The commander of the 1st Bn/4th Line Inf Regt received the order to reconquer Halen via Velpen. The actual arrival time is really quite controversial: there were accusations the brigade took too long. This (1400 hours) represented the earliest possible time.
1415 Hours. The 1st Batt/A Ch fired for a short while. The Germans promptly answered the fire.
1445 Hours. The dismounted cavalry and the artillery on the Mettenberg observed rifle fire coming from the direction of Liebroek; it increased in intensity. Robin ordered his men to remove the oilcloth covers from their tschapkas, as they reflected the sunlight. A machine gun from the Jäger Battalion started firing from Liebroek, sweeping the Mettenberg Hill. Robin then retreated his platoon behind the ridge.
1500 Hours. The order was given for the assault. The 1st and 4th Squadron pushed themselves through the entangled roads and entered the road that led toward Velpen. The 3rd Squadron was only barely able to free itself from the turmoil in Halen. They advanced over the railroad track at a trot. The first bullets came flying, but the regiment was masked from enemy observation by the row of poplar trees and the hedges. The 4th Squadron followed a small field track, after having crossed the railway track along the IJzerbeek Creek up to the small bridge. Regimental Commander Maj. Baron Digeon von Monteton was in front of this squadron on the Velpen road. He called 4th Squadron forward (third charge). They had barely emerged from the protecting hedges when devastating fire from Velpen knocked many Dragoner out of the saddle. (Throughout this account, the author of the regimental history identified fire coming from Velpen, but Velpen was not occupied. He may have used that descriptor for the position of the 5th Lancer Regt). Monteton now allowed the squadron to return toward the small bridge crossing the IJzerbeek Creek at the Halen-Mettenberg Road.
The Germans mistakenly described the track leading up to the small house at the IJzerbeek: “We followed the cart track alongside the Beckbach.” Renaming the IJzerbeek to Beckbach was a consequence of the Germans incorrectly interpreting—reading and understanding—the maps. The Dutch word beek translates to “creek” in English or “Bach” in German. Along the curling blue line that marked the waterway on the map was printed the word IJzer and a little further, the word Beek. The Germans thought that “Beek” was a proper noun, copied it wrongly, changed it to “Beck,” and added the German word “Bach.” Thus, this tiny line of water became a “double creek,” just as the Dragoner Regt Nr 18 had called the IJzerwinning the “houses of de Tuilerie and Briqueterie [brick works].” They referred to the small, clay pit behind the farm—still visible today. The names dated back to 1768, when Ferraris had mapped the Austrian Netherlands.
The Dragoner Regt Nr 18 changed the objective of their charge. The initial objective, the Mettenberg artillery positions, no longer seemed important once the infantry was positioned in front of the farm and further on between the farm buildings. The regimental history reported that elements of 4th Squadron managed to reach the Belgian Artillery. However, we cannot substantiate that—it sounds a bit exaggerated. The Belgian rendition described those elements as unmounted horses. The Dragoner, by then disorganized, had broken the line of the Cyclists only to run into fire from 1st Pl/1st Squadron/5 Lancers (Robin), reinforced by firepower from Cav Div machine guns. Only a few unmounted horses came up to the artillery battery, where they were captured.
