Route of Commemoration No.8: Haelen-Bridge

At the end of the summer of 1944, in order to hamper the Allied troupes proceeding tot he North-East, the German army exploded the Haelen-Bridge over the lake of Robertville, on the side of Bruyères. The blasting of the dam failed luckily. The Haaelen-bridge has been partly repaired so that the military light utility vehicles could pass. The tanks on the other hand, had to pass the lake via the dam.
The Haelen-bridge was built in 1928-1929 after the dam construction and was named after the battle of Haelen, a small village near Diest and about 30km from the main Belgian line at Leuven. The Germans encountered here one of the few setbacks during their successful invasion of Belgium.
The name replaced the one of "Waterloo", Prussian name fort he first bridge over the river "Warche, built in 1861. At that time it was part of the route between St. Vith and Baraque Michel (Belgian-Prussian frontier).

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Hans Tasma