Nov 15: Light machine-guns desperately needed: the machine-gun crisis of 1915 and the lMG 08/15It was Robert Watson-Watt, Winston Churchill’s scientific advisor, who said: “Give me the third best technology.…
Halen 8 Duffer’s DriftThe Belgians had set the defense. Tactically, how close are they to established norms if there were established norms. One of the simple lessons taught in many…
Halen 7 Belgian Defense-2Defending a river line can be tricky because of the lines of visibility. It was de Witte's decision to make maximum use of visibility by setting up…
Halen 6 - Belgian defense-1The Belgian Cavalry Division was commanded by 57-year-old Lt. Gen de Witte. The fifth Lancer Regiment was pretty much brand-new and had been formed at the…
Halen 5- Estimate of the situation, How to approach this?Lt. Gen. von der Marwitz commander of HKK 2, had a very clear objective. Somehow, he needed to pry the left…
Halen 4- Belgian Forces The Belgian Cavalry Division consisted of two brigades, a separate battalion of Cyclists, and a horse artillery battalion of twelve guns divided into three batteries. The…
Halen 3-German forcesWhen discussing German cavalry units, there is a myriad of names. For instance, at the Battle of Halen were Husaren, Dragoner, Ulanen, and Kürassiere. The Germans operated so…
Nov 8: The standard machine-gun of the German army: MG 08 In 1906-07, the formation of a machine gun company with “old type” equipment (meaning the MG 01 with Type 06…
Halen 2 Today the battlefield is still pretty pristine. It is much today similar to how it was in 1914. There has not been a huge amount of urban encroachment,…
Halen 1 one. Why was Halen?On the far right wing of the Moltke's attack there were as a grand total of three cavalry divisions. One of those three was still…