Around the crater

The belgian eternal flame most
accurately represents the horror of which
it wants you to remember.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I attended a commemoration of the destruction of Fort Loncin on August 15th.  This was not the first fort, nor the last fort to fall, but was the only fort that didn't surrender.  It didn't surrender because it was so completely destroyed.

At 5:20pm on August 15, 1914, a shell struck one of the ammunition magazines killing over 300 soldiers who were present.  Of those who were killed, 250 of their bodies were never recovered.  They are likely all buried under the fort, or even disintegrated entirely.

In the 19th century, it was determined that one of the ways to enforce Belgian neutrality was to establish defensive positions along the routes used by advancing armies for centuries.  The main cities chosen as these fortresses were Liege and Namur.  Originally the designs of the fortress were specified to withstand bombardment based on artillery from the 1880s.  Unfortunately, by 2015, the Germans had developed firepower that far exceeded the capabilities of the forts.  Where they were meant to last for months, while the Belgian army mobilized, they only lasted a week.  That critical week may yet have been enough to change the outcome of the war.

Shoes representing the never recovered soldiers.

I was quite keen to visit many of the forts, but really most of them are not accessible to the public.  Either they have been built around or are owned by organizations and used for other purposes (maybe James bond villain bases).  When learning about the possibility of visiting the forts, I discovered that there would be this commemoration event.  I contacted the email address listed on the forts web site to find out about it, and also to clear up some confusion I had about visiting the fort.  For example, for some reason, it seemed to me unlikely that an event that claimed the "Presence Royale" (!!!) would be open to the public.  I confirmed in fact that I could attend, and was determined to do so.

It was a gusty but warm afternoon, with occasional showers.  Before the event, visitors were allowed access to the fort and I toured the grounds a bit.  When you think about a fort you might think of a giant stone or concrete structure jutting from the earth with high impenetrable walls and bristling cannons.  These forts, however, are modern 19th century forts and seemed to have been designed quite differently.  It seems that overall they are flush with the earth, I think to avoid taking direct fire from enemy field cannons.  Instead of ascending in to the fort, one descends.  This seems like a foreshadowing of the earth entangled nature of the trench warfare to come.

Soon enough, I left the fort to attend the first part of the ceremony.  It began on the outside the fort at the monument for the fort.  There a few speeches all of which were in French, but I think I may have recorded, although probably at low quality.

The crater is very large.  There seemed a sense of
camaraderie with us all standing around to pay respect. 

Afterward, we all went to the interior of the fort and gathered around the enormous crater left behind by the explosion.

As mentioned, the invitation to the event specified "Presence Royale" which I hoped meant that King Philippe would be present.  However, it appears a representative of the king was sent in his place, although I have not been able to identify who it was.  It would have been nice to be in the presence of the royal as I had never seen a monarch before, and it would have been the great grandson of Albert I.  It's understandable as King Philippe had recently attended what seemed to be a very similar event at the fort just on August 3rd.

There were modern soldiers standing upon the fort itself, and re-enactors wearing uniforms similar to those worn by the Belgian army in 1914 at the start of the war along the path to where a massive, destroyed turret lies and where a bronze figure protrudes from the earth holding aloft a torch.

The remains of an enormous turret after 100 years.

There were more speeches in French, which I think I have even worse recordings of before the King's represent crossed the crater and lit the torch.

The soldiers stood at attention and the band played while the Presence Royale saluted the flame, honoring what is now considered a military cemetery.

At precisely 5:20, one of the defense turret cannons were fired.  This was quite a shock as anyone who has ever heard a cannon fired before can attest.  The noise is unlike how it is depicted in movies.  It's short like a firecracker, but extremely loud.  The recording I made itself sounds like what you might hear in a movie, as it's likely that's why film cannons sound the way they do.

After all was complete and the Presence Royale departed, we descended from the crumbling walls of the fort.  I saved someone from falling off, while another person in turn helped me down.  Then I returned to my flat in Liege.