History
Built in 1888 according to plans drawn up by General Brialmont, Fort Loncin is one of twelve forts designed to protect Liège from a possible German invasion. Built in unreinforced concrete, it can withstand shells up to 21 cm. However, much-needed modernisation fails to materialise, and in 1914 the fortress is no match for the latest German artillery.
Led by Commander Victor Naessens, 550 artillerists and infantrymen work hard to make the fort war-worthy, but their fate is effectively sealed. Between 4 and 15 August, patrols spy on the German positions. From nearby church towers, observers pass on coordinates to adjust the guns in the forts. The German army command assumes that Belgian resistance will be merely symbolic, but that turns out quite differently because even after the withdrawal of the Belgian 3rd Army Division the forts continue to block the way to the flat Belgian mainland.
On 13 August the infamous Big Berthas arrive in Liège. These German super-guns with a 42-cm calibre shoot shells of almost 1,000 kg. On 15 August 1914, when a number of forts have been reduced to rubble, the barrels turn towards Fort Loncin. The hour of reckoning has come.
At 5:20 p.m., the 25th shell bores into the concrete roof above the ammunition storage with deafening noise. The stored gunpowder detonates and the fortress is literally blown to smithereens. Concrete blocks fly all over and some of the fort’s crewmembers are buried under the debris. The fort is neutralized and occupied by the Germans. Survivors are taken to a PoW camp, the wounded are transferred to hospitals and the dead are buried near the fort. The balance: 107 servicemen die immediately upon impact and 11 victims pass away later in the hospitals.
After the war, the fort is set up as a place of remembrance, and more than a century later it still is a venue where the dead are honoured and the horror of war is illustrated.
Casualties
69 First World War (28 of them unidentified)
Description
In 1928 a crypt is created in the main rampart (which, in wartime, had to defend the fort’s moats with its guns). Twelve graves are built in each of the four former gun positions. In 2007, during clearing operations in the fort ruins, another 26 bodies are found and buried in the crypt. This brings the number of casualties buried here to 69.
The crypt is an exceptionally impressive remembrance site, which in itself justifies a visit to the fort.