Fort de Loncin
Encyclopedia
The Fort de Loncin is one of twelve forts built as part of the Fortifications of Liège in the late 19th century in Belgium
. It was constructed between 1881 and 1884 according to the plans of General Henri Alexis Brialmont
. Contrasting with the French forts built in the same era by Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières
, the fort was built exclusively of unreinforced concrete, a new material, rather than masonry. The experimental nature of the new material, and the design features of the fort, led to unintended consequences in combat action. Weak concrete made the fort vulnerable to enemy artillery, while poor living conditions reduced the fort's ability to operate under fire. The fort was destroyed during World War I
in the Battle of Liège
, when the fort's magazine was hit by a large-calibre German shell, killing most of the fort's occupants. The event marked the debut of the Big Bertha
howitzer in combat. Relatively few of the dead were recovered; the site is now a military cemetery. The fort was never re-used.
, in the direction of Brussels
and Tongeren. The garrison comprised about 500 men.
The fort forms an isosceles triangle whose base is 300 metres (984.3 ft) long and whose sides measure 235 metres (771 ft). A 6 metres (19.7 ft) deep by 8 metres (26.2 ft) ditch encircles the fort, which is semi-submerged in the landscape. The principal armament was concentrated in the central massif. The ditches were defended in enfilade by 57mm guns in casemates resembling counterscarp
batteries, firing at shot traps at the other end of the ditch. The casemate at the point of the triangle was disposed on two levels, allowing action in case the lower level became obstructed. The fort made provisions for infantry sorties onto the surrounding cleared area.
With the exception of the Fort de Loncin, the Belgian forts made little provision for the daily needs of their wartime garrisons, locating latrines, showers, kitchens and the morgue in the fort's counterscarp
, a location that would be untenable in combat. This would have profound effects on the forts' ability to endure a long assault. Even at Loncin, the service areas were placed directly opposite the barracks, which opened into the ditch in the rear of the fort (i.e., in the face towards Liège), with lesser protection than the two "salient" sides. The Brialmont forts placed a weaker side to the rear to allow for recapture by Belgian forces from the rear, and located the barracks and support facilities on this side, using the rear ditch for light and ventilation of living spaces. In combat heavy shellfire made the rear ditch untenable, and German forces were able to get between the forts and attack them from the rear. Loncin was the only Liège fort to be provided with mechanical ventilation, allowing gun and sewage gases to be evacuated, and improving its combat endurance until debris blocked the exhaust. Loncin also provided better sanitary arrangements than its neighbors.
The large weapons were all German products, made by Krupp
in Essen
, but the armor was by Cockerill
(Belgium), Ateliers de Creusot (France) or Grüson
(Germany). The fort was provided with signal lights to permit communication with the neighboring Fort de Lantin
and Fort de Hollogne
. The guns were fired using black powder rather than smokeless powder
, producing choking gas in the confined firing spaces that spread throughout the fort.
The commander of the Liège sector, General Gérard Leman
, had chosen the fort as his command post after Germans entered the center of Liège. Following the explosion he was rescued, unconscious or delirious, from the fort's ditch and made prisoner. The fort's commandant, Victor Naessens, wrote:
The 42cm Big Bertha
howitzer, the secret weapon of the German army in 1914, quickly became widely celebrated. The destruction of the Fort de Loncin was immediately used for propaganda
by the Germans, precipitating the surrender of the last two Liège forts, Fort de Flémalle
and Fort de Hollogne
. The propaganda did much to cement the reputation of the Big Bertha.
, and with the construction of four new forts facing the German frontier to the east of Liége. The largest of these was Fort Eben-Emael
, which would play a significant role at the beginning of the Second World War.
dedicated on 15 August 1923. The monument was sculpted by Liège sculptor Georges Petit, and comprises an 18 metres (59.1 ft) tower, with two 3 metres (9.8 ft) figures at the top representing Roman and Greek warriors rendering honor to the defenders of Loncin. Figures at the base include a woman with her arms spread over a dead soldier at her feet. A separate monument features a tablet with the French inscription Passant... va dire à la Belgique et à la France qu'ici 550 belges se sont sacrifiés pour la défense de la liberté et le salut du monde ("Passer by... go say to Belgium and France that here 550 Belgians sacrificed themselves for the defense of freedom and the salvation of the world"), attributed to the French general Malleterre. A number of other commemorative monuments were placed at the site, including the flamme du souvenir, a figure of a man thrusting a torch from under the earth.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. It was constructed between 1881 and 1884 according to the plans of General Henri Alexis Brialmont
Henri Alexis Brialmont
Henri Alexis Brialmont was a Dutch-born Belgian military engineer. He was one of the leading fortifications engineers in the 19th century....
. Contrasting with the French forts built in the same era by Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières
Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières
Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières was a French military engineer and general whose ideas revolutionized the design of fortifications in France. He gave his name to the Séré de Rivières system of fortifications constructed after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870...
, the fort was built exclusively of unreinforced concrete, a new material, rather than masonry. The experimental nature of the new material, and the design features of the fort, led to unintended consequences in combat action. Weak concrete made the fort vulnerable to enemy artillery, while poor living conditions reduced the fort's ability to operate under fire. The fort was destroyed during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in the Battle of Liège
Battle of Liège
The Battle of Liège was the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium, and the first battle of World War I. The attack on the city began on 5 August 1914 and lasted until the 16th when the last Belgian fort finally surrendered...
, when the fort's magazine was hit by a large-calibre German shell, killing most of the fort's occupants. The event marked the debut of the Big Bertha
Big Bertha (Howitzer)
Big Bertha Bertha") is the name of a type of super-heavy howitzer developed by the famous armaments manufacturer Krupp in Germany on the eve of World War I...
howitzer in combat. Relatively few of the dead were recovered; the site is now a military cemetery. The fort was never re-used.
Description
The Fort de Loncin is located about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the centre of LiègeLiège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, in the direction of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and Tongeren. The garrison comprised about 500 men.
The fort forms an isosceles triangle whose base is 300 metres (984.3 ft) long and whose sides measure 235 metres (771 ft). A 6 metres (19.7 ft) deep by 8 metres (26.2 ft) ditch encircles the fort, which is semi-submerged in the landscape. The principal armament was concentrated in the central massif. The ditches were defended in enfilade by 57mm guns in casemates resembling counterscarp
Counterscarp
A scarp and a counterscarp are the inner and outer sides of a ditch used in fortifications. In permanent fortifications the scarp and counterscarp may be encased in stone...
batteries, firing at shot traps at the other end of the ditch. The casemate at the point of the triangle was disposed on two levels, allowing action in case the lower level became obstructed. The fort made provisions for infantry sorties onto the surrounding cleared area.
With the exception of the Fort de Loncin, the Belgian forts made little provision for the daily needs of their wartime garrisons, locating latrines, showers, kitchens and the morgue in the fort's counterscarp
Counterscarp
A scarp and a counterscarp are the inner and outer sides of a ditch used in fortifications. In permanent fortifications the scarp and counterscarp may be encased in stone...
, a location that would be untenable in combat. This would have profound effects on the forts' ability to endure a long assault. Even at Loncin, the service areas were placed directly opposite the barracks, which opened into the ditch in the rear of the fort (i.e., in the face towards Liège), with lesser protection than the two "salient" sides. The Brialmont forts placed a weaker side to the rear to allow for recapture by Belgian forces from the rear, and located the barracks and support facilities on this side, using the rear ditch for light and ventilation of living spaces. In combat heavy shellfire made the rear ditch untenable, and German forces were able to get between the forts and attack them from the rear. Loncin was the only Liège fort to be provided with mechanical ventilation, allowing gun and sewage gases to be evacuated, and improving its combat endurance until debris blocked the exhaust. Loncin also provided better sanitary arrangements than its neighbors.
Armament
- Two single 21cm howitzer turrets, Grüsonwerke/Krupp
- One double 15cm gun turret, Creusot/Van de Kerkhove
- Two double 12cm gun turrets, Châtillon-Commentry/KruppKruppThe Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
- Four single 57mm gun turrets, Grusonwerke
- One observation turret with a searchlight
- Nine rapid-fire 57mm Nordenfeld guns in casemates for the defense of the ditches and the postern
The large weapons were all German products, made by Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, but the armor was by Cockerill
Cockerill-Sambre
Cockerill-Sambre was a group of Belgian steel manufacturers headquartered in Seraing , on the Meuse River, and in Charleroi, on the shore of the Sambre River....
(Belgium), Ateliers de Creusot (France) or Grüson
Gruson
-References:*...
(Germany). The fort was provided with signal lights to permit communication with the neighboring Fort de Lantin
Fort de Lantin
The Fort de Lantin is one of twelve forts built as part of the Fortifications of Liège in the late 19th century in Belgium. It was built between 1881 and 1884 according to the plans of General Henri Alexis Brialmont...
and Fort de Hollogne
Fort de Hollogne
The Fort de Hollogne is one of twelve forts built as part of the fortifications of Liège in the late 19th century in Belgium. It was built between 1881 and 1884 according to the plans of General Henri Alexis Brialmont...
. The guns were fired using black powder rather than smokeless powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
, producing choking gas in the confined firing spaces that spread throughout the fort.
First World War
In 1914 the Fort de Loncin was one of the last Liège forts to suffer German bombardment. Liège first came under attack on 6 August 1914. Loncin was massively bombarded for three days from 12 to 15 August, before one of its two magazines, with twelve tons of explosive, blew up. The explosion destroyed the heart of the fort, killing 350 of the 550-man garrison, their bodies remaining under the wreckage. Loncin was the only fort at Liège that did not surrender. Many of the dead remain in the fort and the site is considered a war grave as well as a museum.The commander of the Liège sector, General Gérard Leman
Gérard Leman
Gerard Mathieu Leman was a Belgian general. He was responsible for the military education of King Albert I of Belgium. During World War I he was the commander of the forts surrounding the Belgian city of Liège. The German Forces had to use heavy artillery to break through the defences and capture...
, had chosen the fort as his command post after Germans entered the center of Liège. Following the explosion he was rescued, unconscious or delirious, from the fort's ditch and made prisoner. The fort's commandant, Victor Naessens, wrote:
"Under the effect of this titanic volcano, what remained of the concrete massif was dislocated and the greater part of the garrison was crushed by blocks of concrete, burned alive or asphyxiated."
The 42cm Big Bertha
Big Bertha (Howitzer)
Big Bertha Bertha") is the name of a type of super-heavy howitzer developed by the famous armaments manufacturer Krupp in Germany on the eve of World War I...
howitzer, the secret weapon of the German army in 1914, quickly became widely celebrated. The destruction of the Fort de Loncin was immediately used for propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
by the Germans, precipitating the surrender of the last two Liège forts, Fort de Flémalle
Fort de Flémalle
The Fort de Flémalle is one of twelve forts built as part of the fortifications of Liège in the late 19th century in Belgium. It was built between 1881 and 1884 according to the plans of General Henri Alexis Brialmont...
and Fort de Hollogne
Fort de Hollogne
The Fort de Hollogne is one of twelve forts built as part of the fortifications of Liège in the late 19th century in Belgium. It was built between 1881 and 1884 according to the plans of General Henri Alexis Brialmont...
. The propaganda did much to cement the reputation of the Big Bertha.
Lessons of the destruction for the Belgians
The principal reason for the destruction of the Fort de Loncin was that the ammunition magazines had been placed too close to the surface, and had never been upgraded since their construction to deal with improved artillery. Problems with concrete construction also became apparent, as techniques for concrete mixing, placement and construction were still being learned. In particular, a lack of nighttime illumination required that construction be stopped at the end of each day, and a poor understanding of the bonding properties of concrete caused weak points between daily pours of concrete, causing layers of concrete to separate under stress of bombardment or explosion. These faults were cured with the reconstruction of other forts, the use of reinforced concreteReinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
, and with the construction of four new forts facing the German frontier to the east of Liége. The largest of these was Fort Eben-Emael
Fort Eben-Emael
Fort Eben-Emael is an inactive Belgian fortress located between Liège and Maastricht, on the Belgian-Dutch border, near the Albert Canal, and designed to defend Belgium from a German attack across the narrow belt of Dutch territory in the region. Constructed in 1931–1935, it was reputed to be...
, which would play a significant role at the beginning of the Second World War.
Commemorative monument
After the war Belgian sentiment of admiration for the fort's defenders resulted in a public subscription to erect a monument that King Albert I of BelgiumAlbert I of Belgium
Albert I reigned as King of the Belgians from 1909 until 1934.-Early life:Born Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad in Brussels, he was the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and his wife, Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen...
dedicated on 15 August 1923. The monument was sculpted by Liège sculptor Georges Petit, and comprises an 18 metres (59.1 ft) tower, with two 3 metres (9.8 ft) figures at the top representing Roman and Greek warriors rendering honor to the defenders of Loncin. Figures at the base include a woman with her arms spread over a dead soldier at her feet. A separate monument features a tablet with the French inscription Passant... va dire à la Belgique et à la France qu'ici 550 belges se sont sacrifiés pour la défense de la liberté et le salut du monde ("Passer by... go say to Belgium and France that here 550 Belgians sacrificed themselves for the defense of freedom and the salvation of the world"), attributed to the French general Malleterre. A number of other commemorative monuments were placed at the site, including the flamme du souvenir, a figure of a man thrusting a torch from under the earth.
Present day
Since 15 August 1914 the Fort de Loncin has been treated as a war grave and place of remembrance. Of the more than 300 dead, the majority remain buried in the wreckage. The remains that have been recovered from the fort have been re-interred in a crypt at the head of the fort. The continuing presence of unexploded munitions was judged by the Belgian army in 2003 to be a potential hazard. In October 2007, after a project of mine and explosives clearance, 2500 shells, representing 142 tons of munitions, were extracted. During this work 25 bodies were discovered, of which four were identified. All were re-interred on 15 August 2008.See also
- Fort d'EmbourgFort d'EmbourgThe Fort d'Embourg is one of twelve forts built as part of the fortifications of Liège in the late 19th century in Belgium. It was built between 1881 and 1884 according to the plans of General Henri Alexis Brialmont...
, a renovated fort of the same era - Fort de LantinFort de LantinThe Fort de Lantin is one of twelve forts built as part of the Fortifications of Liège in the late 19th century in Belgium. It was built between 1881 and 1884 according to the plans of General Henri Alexis Brialmont...
, an unrenovated fort - Fort de TancrémontFort de TancrémontThe Fort de Tancrémont is a Belgian fortification located about south of Pepinster. The fort was built in the 1930s as part of the fortified position of Liège, augmenting the twelve original forts built to defend Liège in the 1880s with four more forts closer to the Belgian frontier with Germany...
, one of the four new forts built in the 1930s
Sources
- This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding French Wikipedia article as of October 21, 2010.
- Donnell, Clayton. The Forts of the Meuse in World War I. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84603-114-4