Halen 20 – Second Charge -2
The 1st Comp/Cy Bn elements that formed the utmost left flank of the hastily assembled line of defense was established by both Van Overstraeten and Van Damme. Robin remembered this strange deployment as well: “At first I had forbidden my men to shoot, as they might have struck the Cyclists.” Once the cavalry troopers had charged through the Cyclists’ positions, heading toward the artillery positions, he permitted his men to fire. The scenes of this rolling tidal wave of horses enveloped by clouds of dust, and men with couched lances roaring “Hur-rah,” would have caused cold sweat for the Cyclists. Their nerves were already weakened by what they had experienced that morning. Rising dust and sand from the horses’ hooves must have appeared as a cloud from which saber and lance emerged.
Cyclist de Braeckeleer recorded:
We had barely taken positions as a parade of German cavalry passes our positions. We start firing wildly. The Belgian artillery guns about 700 meters behind us start firing over our heads. We keep firing when suddenly a squadron of Death Head Hussars [these were not Husaren but 1st Squadron/Dr Nr 17] appears in front of us. Capt.-Commandant Van Damme yells, “Fix bayonets.” It comes to a melee of men. At some places, it comes to close-quarter combat between Husaren and Cyclists. They thrust with their lances; I empty my rifle in the mass; reload, convinced that I hit my target. In the end, the squadron has to retreat—at the double. Suddenly our captain cries, “Down!” We go down on our bellies as a rain of machine-gun bullets rages over us. Some are hit and our brave captain catches a bullet in his breast—close to his heart—and goes down. Now shells and shrapnel crash close by. Our commanding officer [Maj. Siron??] orders us to go back in small groups. I’m in the last group, as it is our turn to follow the others. Shrapnel bursts above us. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my left thigh and fall to the ground. I can hear my comrades that are further. Then their voices fade away, until I hear nothing anymore; then, a howling, followed by the sound of galloping horses closing in. Then, a Death Head Hussar appears. His horse steps over me without hitting me. But the Hussar points his lance at me. The only thing I was able to think of is praying to God as I thought I was finished. Fortunately, the lance misses my head by a few centimeters. The lance slowly slides away and falls on me. The German must have left his lance, as his horse prances and runs further. A bit later, I’m noticed by a group of German Jäger. The first man passes me, but the second shows compassion and halts. He lifts my head up and says “Liegen bleiben” [“Stay down.”] He gives me a drink from his water bottle.
While I [Van Overstraeten] and Capt. Verhavert [1st Batt/A Ch] ask ourselves what causes the cloud of dust moving fast from Halen towards Zelk, I notice a kind of whirling tornado of dust, caused by gray troopers in full gallop. I shout, “This is the charge!” . . . Verhavert yells, “Guns on the hilltop!” . . . The gunners push the guns. . . . Shells fly a bit late, crashing behind the objective but into other hordes of horsemen just behind the first, exactly in the zone of the bursting shells.
The assault went through the Cyclists’ line and toward 1st Batt/A Ch; Robin’s platoon opened fire, along with the machine guns on their right. The assault at first slackened, then faded fast. “Men and horses fall. At about 200 meters in front of our position, only riderless horses continue their advance. We stop firing. A dozen horses that have passed us are now caught behind us.”
The charge on the Mettenberg artillery had collapsed as pitifully as the one that had tried to punch through toward the Bokkenberg via Zelk. Poseck wrote, “Only thirteen men returned—on foot—from Dragoner Regt Nr 17’s second attempt to storm the enemy’s positions.” Later, some additional survivors surfaced.