Halen 6 – Belgian defense-1
The 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 end of 1913. They had not yet received their colors or standard officially. De Witte presented the standard to Commander Lt. Colonel Xhardez just prior to the battle, and urged the troopers to perish rather than allow the standard to be captured. He then added, “We will probably be attacked today. But, when not the will of providence, I hope to be able to show to the enemy and to all of you how a Belgian general knows to die!” Many enlisted soldiers did not even understand this French speech; they were trying to calm their horses, having only recently been recalled.
Patrols had clashed the day before the battle. The first clash was at Halbeek Farm, where a German patrol from Kürassier Regiment Nr 2 surprised a Belgian patrol from 4th Regt Jagers te Paard. Two Belgians and one German died. Eight Belgians were taken prisoner and evacuated. Then, one German officer and ten troopers continued on their patrol into the village of Halen, where they ran into 3rd Company/Cyclist (Cy) Bn. The Germans were ambushed and turned around, leaving two dead and one wounded. The account identified the village, the Cavalry Division, and the bridge over the Gete River in Halen. While this seems to have been a small force of riders, the commander of 3rd Comp/Cy Bn cited forty horsemen in his report. The German account varied only a little:
“We noticed nothing suspicious in the hedges along the road leading toward Halen. The Belgian habit of seaming a field with wire forced us to stay on the road. There was no time to use our wire cutters for now. We reached the first Halen houses. We did not get caught, thanks to the nervousness of the Belgian riflemen that fired too soon. Our patrol halted. Suddenly, heavy rifle and machine gun fire. . . . The horses immediately, instinctively knew how to react. They turned around to gallop. . . . We lost one dead and one severely wounded who became a prisoner. These were the two Kürassiere who rode as the vanguard. At a farm just outside of Halen, our patrol reassembled again.”
Another observer, Kürassier Brühe, recalled:
“Two Kürassiere rode toward me, returning from patrol heading for the camp, covered in sweat. One of them, his right arm bandaged, told me, “Today was hot; we were thirteen as we rode off ten hours ago. Haelen [sic], we found occupied and we received fire. Two of us stayed—dead—before Haelen. I was hit in the arm, not badly though. The lieutenant then wrote this message that the two of us brought over here.”
The Belgian Cavalry Division analyzed the situation that they would have to face. One of the key elements became the number of machine guns. The Belgians were keenly aware that every German Jäger battalion had a machine-gun company with six guns—as many as the Belgian Cavalry Division had in total. With this firepower as a guide, the staff discussed whether they should fight mounted or dismounted. De Witte, a “knight of the old regime” as he called himself, was originally eager to fight mounted. The discussion between de Witte and his staff officers, Capt.-Commandant Louis Tasnier and Lt. Raoul Van Overstraeten, went deep into the night. De Witte finally concluded, “So be it. Despite the fact that this solution is against my principle I cherished during my career, I believe you are right. Tomorrow the division will fight dismounted.”
Well, sort of. The actual orders that were given had the 2nd Cavalry Brigade (Lancers) dismounted and stopping the enemy advance with fire. The 1st Guides Brigade was given the mission to act mounted, threatening the enemy flanks.