Information Board 14-18 Sambre Rouge 14-18 The Forgotten Battles of the Sambre

The Forgotten Battles of the Sambre

On 4 August 1914, the German staff launches more than 700.000 men on the assault of Belgium. The 2nd German Army, commended by General Karl von Bülow, reached Maubeuge passing through Belgium. The Aim was to invade France and to topple Paris. The 5th French army was commended by General Charles Lanrezac. The meeting of these two armies occurred from 21 tot 24 August at various locations on either side of the Sambre.

Ham-Sur-Heure-Nalinnes Area

Since no major route passed through the area, the villages were relatively spared during the battles of 22 and 23 August 1914. These occurred on the northern edge of Marbaix-la-Tour-Gozée, and on the southern edge of Nalinnes. As in many places, the majority of residents evacuated the villages, with the population making their way to Beaumont and France. The church of Nalinnes-Centre preserves traces of this conflict. It is said that at one point in the battle, the French troops noticed the presence of a German observer in the church’s clock tower, and artillery fire was requested. Fortunately, the shelling only reached a ridge of the tower, and the firing apparently did not proceed. You can still nowadays still see the traces of the repaired masonry.
In 1916, a cemetery was built at the exit of Nalinnes-Haies toward Marcinelle. It contains 113 graves of which 34 are French, 78 German and one is Belgian. Nothing currently remains of these cemetery. As with the cemetery in Gozée, in 1922 the bodies of the French soldiers were moved to Belle-Motte. The bodies of the German soldiers were transferred to Vladslo in 1956.

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Source

• Text: Luc Van Waeyenberge
• Photos: Luc Van Waeyenberge