If some of you are asking themself to understand what I am doing with these Order of Battle, here are the informations.
I am mounting the skeleton of the website pouring the military units as Categories and the cities where these units passed trough as Tags. You will then see ion some months that the whole site/blog will work like a Net on the Battle for Belgium and Germany (1944-1945) as I am planing to put online all the units that fighted from Belgium to Germany.
Sure it’s a terrifying work but the whole game is to link together every units on the combats fields and this will be done entirely automatically while putting stories online.

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Activated on April 15 1941 at Camp Beauregard the 3rd moved to Camp Polk Louisiana on June 11 1941 and was transferred to Camp Young California on July 26 1942 for the Desert Training Center II Armored Corps California Maneuvers. It moved then to Camp Pickett Virginia on November 2 1942 and arrived Indiantown Gap Mil Reservation Pennsylvania on January 21 1943.
The 3rd Armored Division staged at Camp Kilmer New Jersey on August 26 1943 until departed New York Port of Embacation on September 5 1943 and arrived England on September 18 1943. The division landed then in France on June 23 1944; crossed into Belgium on September 1944 and entered Germany on September 15 1944.
It returned to Belgium on December 20 1944 and re-entered Germany on February 7 1945. The 3rd Armored Division was inactivated on November 10 1945.

Commanders :
Maj Gen Alvin C. Gillem (April 1942 - January 1942)
Maj Gen Walton H. Walker (January 1942 - August 1942)
Maj Gen Leroy H. Watson (August 1942 - August 1944)
Maj Gen Maurice Rose (August 1944 - March 1945)
Brig Gen Doyle O. Hickey (March 1945 - June 1945)
Brig Gen Truman E. Boudinot (June 1945 - July 1945)
Brig Gen Frank A. Allen Jr (Jylu 1945 - July 1945)
Maj Gen Robert W. Grow) (July 1945 to inactivation)

Casualties :
Killed in Action : 1810 - Wounded in Action 6963 - Died of Wounds : 316

Order of Battle : 3rd Armored Division 1944
32nd Armored Regiment
33rd Armored Regiment
36th Armored Infantry Regiment
54th Armored Field Artillery Regiment
67th Armored Field Artillery Regiment
391st Field Armored Artillery Regiment
143rd Armored Signal Corps Company
23rd Armored Engineer Battalion
83rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
Service Company, 3rd Armored Division
Division Trains :
- Headquarters & Headquaters Company
- Maintenance Battalion
- Supply Battalion
- 45th Armored Medical Battalion
- 503rd Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment
643rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 22-12-1944 - 26-12-1944)
703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 25-06-1944 - 17-12-1944 & 02-01-1945 - 09-05-1945)
803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 25-06-1944 - 02-07-1944)
413th AAA Gun Battalion (att 07-07-1944 - 16-07-1944)
486th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (att 25-06-1944 - 09-05-1945)

Combat Narrative 3rd Armored Division (Shelby L. Stanton)

The 3rd Armored Division arrived in Normandy France on June 23 1944 and entered combat against the Villiers - Fossard salient north-east of St Lô June 29 - 30 1944. CCB crossed into the Airel Bridgehead on July 7 and the division reached the Haut-Vents crossroads after heavy combat by July 11.
CCB passed through the 1st Infantry Division to seize Marigny July 26, and CCA forced a crossing of the Sienne at Gavray on July 30. It then secured a crossing of the Seé at Brécey July 31 and on August 1, CCB attacked toward St Pois.
The division assembled August 12 and the next day swung around Domfront toward the Vire - Argentan Road to close the Falaise Gap, capturing Ranes after heavy combat on August 15. It fought through Fromenthal August 16 - 17, and on August 25 CCB crossed the Seine River below Paris at Tilly.
The division crossed the Marne River in the Mieux area and continued to pursue against disorganized resistance, crossing the Aisne River east of Soissons on August 29 then entered Belgium. Advancing east from Namur astride the Meuse, the division seized Huy September 6, mopped up Liege September 8, took Verviers against rearguard resistance, and reached the West Wall at Schmidthof on September 12 1944.

The division breached the West Wall fortifications between Roetgen and Rott with CCB on September 13 as CCA pushed through antitank obstacles to Nutheim. CCB crossed the Vicht River southwest of Stolberg September 14 as CCA reached Eilendorf, a suburb of Aachen.
On September 15 the division encountered the second belt of West Wall defenses where it suffered heavy tank losses in the Battle of Geisberg Hill which commenced that same day, as CCB took but was forced out of Mausbach. The next day CCA was halted in its advance on Stolberg, and CCB finally took Geisberg Hill on September 17 and then was forced off.
The division then fought the Battle for Weissenberg Hill and Muensterbusch Hill September 18 - 20. Stolberg finally fell September 22, as the division postponed its West Wall offensive and used smoke screens to withdraw CCB task forces from Donnerberg. The division was next committed to clearing the Lousberg Heights and cutting the Aachen - Laurensberg Highway October 18 - 28 1944.
The division attacked the Stolberg corridor on November 16 and took heavy tank losses at Hastenrath and Scherpenseel which fell November 18. The division took Huecheln after battling through a minefield on November 24, then attacked to clear the west bank of the Roer River on December 10. It
took Geich the next clay. As a result of the German Ardennes Counteroffensive, CCA went in defense of Eupen, CCB assisted 30th Infantry Division, and assembled then in the Hotton - Grand Pré area on December 19. CCB attacked then Stoumont and La Gleize on December 20 while the remainder of the division attacked to secure the Manhay - Houffalize Road.
The 3rd Armored contained a German attack at Hotton, but lost a key road junction southeast of Manhay on December 23 1944. The following day its roadblock at Belle Haie was reduced and the 3rd attacked to take Grandménil December 25 - 26, and CCA recovered Sadzot after its temporary loss on December 28.
After the 83rd Infantry Division took over this zone at the end of the month, the division attacked toward Houffalize on January 3 1945. Fighting across the Groumont Creek, the Bois de Groumont, and into Provedroux by January 8, the 83rd Inf Div attacked through its lines the next day. The 3rd then attacked into Bihain January 12, reached the Ourthe River January 19 and seized Gouvy and Beho on January 22 1945.
The 3rd Armored attacked out of the Elle River bridgehead February 26 and gained two bridgeheads at Giesch and Paffendorf the next day over the Erft River. After repulsing counterattacks, the division attacked out on March 3 and took Stommeln with air support.
It reached the Rhine River at Roggendorf and Worringen March 4 and fought the Battle for Cologne March 5 - 7 assisted by the 104th Infantry Division.

After maintaining defensive positions, it crossed the Rhine March 23 and attacked again March 25. It reached the Lahn River at Marburg March 28 and then closed the Ruhr Pocket after the Battle of Paderborn March 31 - April 1. The division reached the Weser River on April 7 and the Mulde River near Torten April 15. It fought the Battle for Dessau April 21 - 23 and was relieved along the Mulde April 25. It withdrew to Sangerhausen for rehabilitation April 26 and hostilities ended May 7 1945.

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We decided to jump in the Forest last weekend using my notes from year 1964 done while running in the area for old War material. In this area of the Krinkelterwald I noticed in the past 18 garbages holes (trou poubelle) hole that were created and used by the armies to drop all the garbages laying around.
The note (I was 9 years old in 1964) stated : old strange barrel infantry gun or destroyed small tank, probably Italian.
We opened already (1970’s) one hole from the list in the area and it was full of World Wat Two French Smoke and Explosive Hand Grenade as well as Italian Offensive Hand Grenades used by the German during the Winter Offensive of December 1944, but an Italian Gun (37 MM) remains a strange thing to find.
To help you, there are the photos we did after getting that gun out of the ground.

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On November 19 1939, this Unit (1st Division) was stationed at Fort Hamilton New York, moverd to Fort Benning Georgia and also to the Louisiana Maneuvers in the Sabine Louisiana on May 11 1940. On June 5 1940, moved back to Fort Hamilton New York then to Fort Devens Massachusetts on February 4 1941. The Divison was sent to both Carolina Maneuvres of October and November 1941 then moved to Samarcand North Carolina on October 16 1941. On December 6 1941, the 1st Division returned to Fort Devens Massachusetts and was transfered to Camp Blanding Florida on February 21 1942 where it was redesignated 1st Infantry Division on May 15 1942. The 1st moved then to Fort Benning Georgia on May 22 1942 and to Indiantown Gap Mil Reservation on June 21 1942. The Division departed New York Port of Embarkation on August 1 1942, arrived in England on August 7 1942 and assaulted in Nort Africa on November 2 1942.

Commanders :
Maj General Donald Cubbison : (July 1942 - June 1942)
Maj General Terry de la Mesa Allen : (June 1942 - July 1943)
Maj Gen Clarence R. Huebner : (July 1943 - December 1944)
Maj Gen Clift Andrus : (December 1944 - VE Day)

Casualties :
Killed in Action : 3.616 - Wounded in Action : 15.208 - Died of Wounds : 664

1st Infantry Division (Big Red One) Order of Battle 1944
16th Infantry Regiment
18th Infantry Regiment
26th Infantry Regiment
Headquarters & Headquarters Battery Division Artillery
5th Field Artillery Battalion (155 MM)
7th Field Artillery Battalion (105 MM)
32nd Field Artillery Battalion (105 MM)
33rd Field Artillery Battalion (105 MM)
1st Reconnaissance Troop Mecz
1st Engineer Combat Battalion
1st Medical Battalion
1st Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment
Headquarters Special Troops
Headquarters Company, 1st Infantry Division
Military Police Platoon
701st OD Light Maint Company
1st Quartermaster Company
1st Signal Corps Company
745th Tank Battalion (att 06-061944 - 08-05-1945)
634th Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 01-08-1944 - 02-05-1945)
635th Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 07-06-1944 - 30-09-1944)
703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 18-12-1944 - 31-12-1944)
103rd AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (att 16-06-1944 - 07-02-1945)
103rd AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (att 24-02-1945 - 08-05-1945)

1st Infantry Division (Big Red One) Combat Narrative (Shelby L. Stanton)
The 1st Infantry Division landed November 8 1942 in North Africa as the 16th and 18th Infantry Regiments went ashore east of Oran and the 26th Infantry Regiment landed at Les Andalouses, and entered Oran November 10 1942. The 18th Infantry Regiment went into action at Djebel el Ahmera with the British, and the 26th cleared the Ouseltia Valley by January 25 1943 and went into positions at Kasserine Pass on February 18 1943. The division attacked as a concentrated whole for the first time on March 16 1943 east from El Guettar, and the 18th and 26th Inf contained two strong German counterattacks on March 23. The 18th Inf was forced out of Djebel Berda on March 25 and the attacks toward Gabes were checked by March 28. The division took Sakket on April 3rd 1943 in an attempt to break this stalemate but further offensive movement clown the Gabes road was stopped April 5. The division then relieved the British 4th Div near Beja on April 16 and attacked April 22 along the Medjez el Bab-Tunis highway. After the 18th Infantry Regiment cleared Hill 407 and the 26th Hill 575, the 26th reached Djebel el Anz against strong German resistance of April 28. The next day the 16th Inf began its attack on Hill 523, and the division was actively engaged in Tunisia until May 9 1943. The division assaulted Gela Sicily July 10 1943. After fending off a German armored attack on July 11 it pushed inland and took Mazzarino and Niscemi on JUly 14 then Barrafranca on July 16. The division seized the Salsa River crossings east of Caltanisseta and repelled a German counterattack at Gangi on July 25. It reached Troina August 1 after a series of sharp battles over difficult terrain, but an all-out attack on the town failed August 4. It was taken after the Germans withdrew during the night of August 6 1943. The division left Sicily October 23 1943 and landed in England to train for the invasion of northern France. Reinforced by the 16th Infantry Regiment, it assaulted Omaha Beach France in the face of fierce opposition. The 16th Inf, which led the division attack, reached the St Lô - Bayeux highway on June 10 1944, and the 18th and 26th seized Caumont on June 13. 0n June 13 the division was relieved by the 5th Infantry Division in line and withdrew to Colombieres. It next attacked as part of the COBRA breakout effort on July 26 1944, took Marigny and secured the Sée River crossings July 31. It sped south to Mortain where it was relieved by the 30th Infantry Division on August 6, allowing it to then push forward to Mayenne with the 3rd Armored Divison. The division assembled south of Paris on August 25. The 16th Infantry Regiment mopped up the Belgian Mons Pocket September 3 1944, and the division crossed the Meuse River at Liege September 9, reaching the German border against scattered rearguard resistance. It laid siege to the fortress-city of Aachen and the battle was commenced with an attack on its municipal forest on September 12 1944. As the division tried to encircle Aachen, the 16th Inf was halted at the West Wall September 15 1944. On October 8 1944 the division renewed its Aachen assault with the 18th Inf pushing through Verlautenheide, the 26th Inf attacking through the heart of the city, and the 16th Inf holding defensive positions near Eilendorf. By October 12 the 26th Inf had gained most of the factory district between Aachen and Haaren and began an all-out central attack the next day. After severe fighting it had gained most of Observatory Hill but German counterattacks forced all further advances to a halt on October 15 1944. The 16th Inf was forced to defend its area against strong German assaults as well. On October 18, the division was reinforced for yet another attack on Aachen. The 26th Inf gained Observatory Hill and forced the Germans back into the western suburbs, and on October 21 the city was finally taken by direct assault. After being relieved by the 104th Infantry Division, the 1st Infantry Division opened First Army’s offensive to secure the Roer River crossings east of Aachen on November 16 1944. After 15 days of intense fighting in this sector the division had only gained four miles, which included the 26th Inf’s capture of Laufenburg Castle November 20, and on November 29 Nov the same regiment was hit hard by a strong German counterattack at Merode. The 9th Infantry Division relieved the division December 5 1944 which then went to a rest area in the Luchem - Langerwehe - Juengersdorf - Merode region (less the 16th Inf attached to V Corps). As a result of the German Ardennes counteroffensive the division was sent to the Malmedy sector. It cleared the region south of Eupen, contained numerous German attacks în the Butgenbach and the Faymonville region, and fought at Elsenborn Ridge December 21 - 28 1944. The division’s lines were breached at Butgenbach December 22 but shortly restored. It then attacked and took Steinbach January 15 1945, opening a passage for the 7th Armored Division drive toward St Vith. The division next fan into stiff resistance northeast of Schoppen as the 16th Inf cleared the Bambusch Woods. After blunting the German drive, the division advanced on the West Wall January 28 and attacked through the Buchholz Forest. It was relieved by the 99th Infantry Division on February 5 and moved to assembly areas at Aywaille Belgium. The division took over the 8th Infantry Division zone and initiated the attack across the Roer River at Kreuznau with the 16th Inf on February 25 1945 against mode rate opposition. The division took Burg February 27 and the 16th Inf crossed the Neffell Mar 45. The division reached Bonn March 7 and captured it March 9, ending German resistance west of the Rhine. On March 15 the 16th Inf assaulted across the Rhine River and the division pressed its attack toward the Sieg in the face of strong German defenses. On March 30 it attacked with three regiments in line to gain the heights dominating Seigen, and on April 1 was relieved by the 8th Infantry Division and trucked to blocking positions southwest of Paderborn to help seal the Ruhr Pocket. On April 8 1945 the division was called up to force the Weser River afte’r the 3rd Armored Division had reached it only to find all the bridges blown. The 16th and 18thlnf expanded the bridgehead while the motorized 26th Inf attacked toward Einbeck. With the 4th Cavalry Group attached the division was tasked with mopping up along the edge of the Harz Mountains. The bypassed German troops were encircled commencing April 12 1945 and organized resistance ended by April 20. The division next relieved the 97th Infantry Division in place, and then was transferred to the Czechoslovakian border on April 30. It made limited attacks May 2 to improve its positions. On May 6 the division opened its drive on Karlsbad. The 18th Inf had seized Sangerberg and Mnichov, the 16th Inf had taken Kynsperk, and the 26th Inf was in Schoenbach when hostilities were declared ended on May 7 1945.

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Activated November 15 1942 at Camp Van Dorn Missouri, the 99th Infantry Division moved on September 16 1943 for the Third Army N°-4 Louisiana Manoeuvres.
Moved again to Camp Maxey Texas on November 19 1943 then staged at Camp Myles Standish Massachusetts from September 13 1944 until departed Boston Port of Embarkation for England and arrived October 10 1944. The 99th landed in France on November 3 1944.


Commanders :
November 1942 - July 1943 : Maj Gen Thompson Lawrence
July 1943 - August 1945 : Maj Gen Walter E. Lauer
August 1945 : Brig Gen Frederick H. Black.

Casualties :
Killed in Action : 993 - Wounded in Action : 4.177 - Died of Wounds : 141

99th Infantry Division : Order of Battle 1944
393rd Infantry Regiment
394th Infantry Regiment
395th Infantry Regiment
Headquarters & Headquarter Battery Division Artillery
370th Field Artillery Battalion (105 MM)
371st Field Artillery Battalion (105 MM)
372nd Field Artillery Battalion (155 MM)
924th Field Artillery Battalion (105 MM)
324th Engineer Combat Battalion
324th Medical Company
99th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment
Headquarters, Special troops
Headquarters Company 99th Infantry Division
Military Police Platoon
799th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
99th Quartermaster Company
99th Signal Corps Company
750th Tank Battalion (att 28-01-1945 - 05-02-1945)
786th Tank Battalion (att 23-02-1945 - 09-05-1945)
629th Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 22-02-1945 - 09-05-1945)
644th Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 28-01-1945 - 08-02-1945)
801st Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 09-11-1944 - 03-02-1945)
814th Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 08-02-1945 - 13-02-1945)
817th Tank Destroyer Battalion (att 13-02-1945 - 22-02-1945)
535th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion (att 11-12-1944 - 09-05-1945)

99th Infantry Division Combat Narrative

The division landed at Le Havre France on November 3 1944 and assembled at Aubel Belgium, and entered the line north of the Roer River between Schmidt and Monschau November 9 1944. After a period of defensive patrolling, the division attacked toward the Roer and Urft Dams December 13 1944 against heavy resistance from the West Wall.
On December 16 the German Ardennes Counteroffensive hit the division which initially held at Hofen but gave ground to the south. The division was partially surrounded and suffered heavy losses as it retreated to new defensive positions before Elsenborn Ridge on December 19. The next day German forces temporarily breached the lines west of Wirtzfeld, but the division reestablished its front.
From December 21 1944 to January 29 1945 the division was rebuilt on the front and maintained defensive positions. It attacked with the 393rd Inf into the Elsenbuchel Woods east of Elsenborn on January 30 1945 and gained its objectives in the Monschau Forest February 1 1945. It was then withdrawn into reserve except for the 395th Inf which was detached to assist the 1st Inf Div in the West Wall near Hellenthal February 3 to 5 1945.
On February 5 1945 the division relieved the 1st Inf Div, but on February 11, was itself relieved in line and moved to Waimes Belgium for rehabilitation.
On February 20 1945 it moved to the Aubel and Clermont areas.
The division attacked again, reinforced by the 4th Cavalry Group, on March 2 1945 with the 393rd Inf as it crossed the Erft River at Glesch and took Neurath. The detached 395th Inf meanwhile assisted the 3rd Armored Division at Pfaffendorf Bridgehead March 1 to 3. The division sped along the Erft on a broad front and reached the Rhine at Grimlinghausen March 5, the 395th Inf capturing Udesheim the next day.
On March 8 1945 the division was relieved and moved to Stadt-Meckenheim area March 9 1945. It crossed the Rhine at Remagen March 10 - 11 and took over the southern flank of the bridgehead, withstanding counterattacks and expanding it through the Honnigen Wald into Honnigen which fell to the 394th Inf after heavy combat by March 16. The 395th Inf reached the Wied River March 17 and the division made limited attacks to improve positions.

The 393rd and 395th Inf attacked across the Wied River March 22 and advanced past Kurtscheid the next clay, cutting the Koln - Frankfurt Highway near Willroth on March 25 as the 394th Inf crossed the Wied also. Driving east behind the 9th Armored Division, the 393rd Inf cleared to the Dill River line northwest of Wetzlar and relieved the armor of crossing in the Asslar - Hermannstein region on March 28 Mar. The following day the 394th lnf relieved the 7th Armored Division at Giessen. The division was relieved at Wetzlar March 30 Mar 1945 and deployed to the Gemuenden area on April 1 1945. On April 4 it relieved the 9th Infantry Division in the Schwarzenau area.

The division began its attack on the Ruhr Pocket with the 393rd and 394th Inf in assault on April 5, taking Wingeshausen the next day as it cleared resistance bypassed by the 7th Armd Div.
On April 9 1945 the division crossed the Lenne River and the 394th Inf secured Bracht and the 395th Inf cleared the Saalhausen - Langener sector. By April 16 all resistance in the eastern portion of the Ruhr Pocket collapsed as the Iserlohn garrison surrendered to the division. It then started toward its assembly area at Trossenfurt, northwest of Bamberg, and relieved the 42nd Infantry Division of responsibility for Fuerth on April 21 1945.
The division attacked again on April 23 as the 394th and 395th Inf followed in the wake of the 14th Armored Division to advance to the Allersberg - Holpoltstein line by the end of the day. Against heavy opposition, it reached the Altmuhr River at Dietfurt and Kinding April 25 and then pushed rapidly to the Danube from the Altmuhl Bridgeheads the following day. The 393rd Inf assaulted across the Danube River on April 27 at Eining, followed that same day by the 395th Inf which was repulsed in the Neustadt area.
After sharp combat the bridgehead was expanded and the division then advanced to the Isar River against little or no resistance. On April 30 and May 1 1945 the division crossed the Isar with the 393rd Inf at Landshut and the 395th Inf in the Moosburg area to cover bridging ope rations of the 14th Armd Div. The division then continued its advance without opposition to the Inn River and Giesenhausen when hostilities were declared ended on May 7 1945.

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Monsieur S. came home today laden down with bags of gold like Ali Baba. How he is going to do away with it so that the ferret eyes of the enemy will not spy it out, is a problem to me. And I do not want it explained for I am sure I should look right into the forbidden corner at the wrong moment and give the secret away.
Although there are thousands of German soldiers who have come into the city and who control it, they are like rats in a trap. On account of the twelve surrounding forts they cannot leave it and for the same reason no one can come to their aid. So they have mounted machine guns in corner houses of many streets and it is horrible to see those deadly mouths gaping out of the Windows. In case of an uprising among the civilians the soldiers’ revenge will be to kill the women and children. But no! that is not possible in these days, from men who are neither savages nor Turks.

Monday, August 10 1914

A heavy cannonading began at 4.30 am it literally tore us from sleep, for it seemed as if the very house were tumbling down about our ears and the singing and whizzing of those big shells was bizarre, to put it mildly. One did not know whether to get up or efface one’s self in the blankets. I remember having the utmost confidence in the headboard of my bed, which was toward the window. But that did not obliterate the siren whistle of those big shells and the moment of suspense between the lightning and the thunder. After each deafening burst I kept reiterating to myself, “Saved again”, as one would repeat a chronological table of something important.
About 8.00 am we straggled into the breakfast room all of us rather lifeless and with very white faces and little appetite for either eating or talking.
There seemed to be only one thing to say, which was, “Did you hear that ?”
It was the same Sensation again of the thread between heaven and earth.
I wonder if it will break ! This afternoon we took a little walk into the city along the river, Madame Nagelmarckers, her two sons, Monsieur S. and Monsieur J., her daughter, Baronne de H., and myself. We passed several Prussian guards on the bridges and Monsieur S. talked with one of them. It appears that the men are very disheartened. This man said he had started with a Company of seven hundred soldiers and entered Liege with sixty four. That’s what it means to “take cities without difficulty” and nobody remembers the seven hundred mothers, or wives, or children that are left. The burgomaster has received some most sensational news from Brussels, but it is too ridiculous to be believed.

Tonight is still and Nature is beautiful in the moonlight. Is it the calm before the storm ? Here in the Chateau we are comfortable with plenty to eat and faithful servants. In town one is not so lucky as a cousin of Madame Nagelmackers is quartering forty soldiers and ten officers at table who are not, or rather, who are a little argumentative, and we have heard of some instances where the “host” and “hostess” have had to sleep in the garret or the cellar or wherever they could, while the best rooms are appropriated by the militaires.
Blankets, etc., are also being requisitioned from many houses.
It is reported that General Leman narrowly escaped being captured recently when he was lunching in the court of the Cafe in town. His companions-in-arms suddenly became aware of four men in strange uniform who were approaching, and gave the alarm. General Leman succeeded in getting over the wall of the garden while the others engaged the spies in a hand-to-hand fight and overcame them.

August 11 1914, Tuesday

Invincible Liege ! People are still firm in their faith, encouraged by the peace of the morning. The day was quiet until 6.00 pm, when furious shooting into the valley began. We saw the great shells bursting in the air and between the clouds of smoke we could distinguish an old monastery on the other side of the valley which was being shot to pieces by the enemy’s field cannon. The structure changed shape half a dozen times before our eyes and the setting sun concentrated, as if purposely, all its rays on the Windows which made them blaze forth through all that fury like the veritable Hand of God, writing in fire. It seemed almost like a premonition. Pressure from those tremendous guns could remodel mountains, and Nature herself, sometimes, cannot hold out against the fiendish ingenuity of man. And the city, itself ! Can it hold out ?
In the garden, very near the foot of the mountain, is the old farmhouse, in one corner of which is a little chapel whose door Stands open the year round. It is of particular interest to the peasants, being the last relic of a certain superstitious legend of the countryside. The people come from miles around, crossing the fields by a little path which they themselves have beaten down, to kneel before this tiny altar; and on the last Sunday in May, the annual fête, the priests, leading a religious procession which Starts from the church, say Mass there.
This year, May 31st 1914, the head gardener, who is the indisputable authority on floral subjects in the village, borrowed everything from the conservatory and gardens that he could lay his hands on in the way of decoration. He arranged the semi-circle in front of the little chapel very artistically with branches of leaves, palms and hundreds of pansies which the day before had been uprooted from the terraces of the Chateau to make room for the red, summer geraniums.
At ten o’clock this Sunday morning the usual fusillade and tolling of bells announced the departure of the procession from the church. It passed slowly along by the highroad and presently we heard a chorus of young voices singing hymns, the girls and boys of the village : the music was soft and illusive in the distance, developing a sweet crescendo as they turned into the pasture, fairly plowing their way through a sea of daisies. Behind them came two little acolytes, fair as angels, swinging their golden incense lamps ; then followed six choir boys, chanting the Mass, like verkable della Robbias, in their red soutanes and exquisite, white, lace surplices. Next were the clergy, in robes of cloth of gold and rare Flemish lace, carrying the Host under a purple velvet canopy. The village people followed on in quiet devoutness and, arrived at the chapel, placed lighted candles in the sconces at each side of the grille door. When the Mass was said and the last plaintive notes had died away, little children came forward and heaped their thousand-colored bouquets before the altar. It was an impressive ceremony and must, by its charming simplicity, leave a mark on many a worldly heart.

August 12 1914, Wensday

Today, August 12th, 1914, at dusk, as the cannon had ceased firing, we took a little recreation, following the paths on the mountainside ; looking down from a height of perhaps one hundred feet through the trees, we saw the little chapel gleaming like a beacon in the dark, dozens of blinking candles pinioned against the black walls. The grille door was woven with nosegays, making a curtain of flowers which partially concealed the altar beyond. Before it, stretching up supplicating hands, many women knelt, bowed down with grief and despair, and children, awed by recent memories, stood immovable in their places. Poor, poor people ! Some of them in spite of their unwavering faith must drink the bitter cup so near at hand.

August 13 1914, Thursday

It is true that one gets inured to danger (particularly if one has not so far been hit) and after a week of the bombardment, we have a distinct feeling of annoyance at being disturbed at an unearthly hour every morning by the screeching and bursting of shells.
About 4 am we were awakened by another terrifying whizzing and exploding of bombs as if we were in the very midst of a battlefield. This lasted about three hours and all we could do was wait. I often wonder if it’s as hard for the men to go off to war as it is for the women to stay. The battle was inconceivably furious this morning. If you could imagine five hundred of the worst thunderstorms, shaken up together, that you ever experienced, you would arrive at a mild notion of the tumult, not counting the apprehension, the danger and that terrifying voice in the whistling trail of every shell which sings, “This time I’ll get you”.

At four this afternoon the Fort of Chaudfontaine fell, blown up by the Prussians. Between four and six o’clock the firing ceased. It was an evening of ineffable beauty and the garden looked so lovely in its mantle of roses, the little lake at the foot with its white swans and the wooded mountain rising up almost from its waters, a picture of calm and contentment. We were there taking a long breath after the nightmare of the day, when the young gardener rushed in from the village with the news that thirty of the soldiers in the fort, wounded and burned beyond recognition, were being brought into the Sisters’ Convent, which had been turned into a Red Cross Ambulance hospital.
The shells from the great field pieces of the enemy falling upon the forts had shattered the cupolas and had caused them to fall in upon the Belgians who were thus imprisoned and barely escaped suffocation from the poisonous gases of the exploding shells. The electric wires were cut immediately so that the poor things who were entrapped three stories Underground groped about in the dark some time before they at last found the stairs which led them up through shot and flame and gas to the air.
Gathering some old linen together we fairly flew across the field to the convent and stopped short, staggered by what we saw. Never on this earth could one imagine so horrible a sight as those thirty charred bodies with no Suggestion of faces, just a flat, swollen, black surface, with no eyes, nose nor mouth. Some of the wounded lay on beds, others in the middle of the floor or wherever there was space, and each was holding up hands burned to the bone. The room was dimly lighted, a hushed quiet reigned except for an occasional stifled groan of pain or a sigh of concern from the villagers or the swish of the black garments of those ministering angels, the nuns, as they fluttered about among the suffering; their white coifs, like a halo, contrasting them with that other Angel, whose black wings, indeed visible, already shadowed his chosen.

August 14 1914, Friday

One has hoped against hope, but the worst has happened and the people are despondent. Liege is certainly in the hands of the Prussians. They have been pouring into the city all day and most of the forts have either been destroyed by the German field artillery or been blown up by their defenders rather than surrender. We nursed the soldiers all day, if last night was horrible I could not find the words to describe what the day light revealed, or the awful odor of burned flesh when the wounds were redressed. It was pitiful to see the courage of the poor men, the Belgians are brave not only on the battle field. With lips too seared to articulate, they would try to speak and one could occasionally catch an indistinct “de Veau” or a half-formed “Merci, chere Soeur”, but never a moan or a groan.

At night, as we were wearily returning home, the young footman, with ashen face, met us halfway down the Steps and announced that there would be Prussian officers at dinner who were already quartered in the Chateau. We were nearly too tired to be impressed at this as one naturally would, at least, be moved in one sense or another, but we did inwardly wonder what the keynote might be at table.
At eight o’clock dinner was served. Madame Nagelmackers daughter and I, after such a scrubbing and disinfecting, came down the last ones and stepped into a veritable play world of the Middle Ages with the most beautiful setting, a large salon, opening out onto the terrace, with old, Flemish-wood fire place and raftered ceiling, Japanese bronzes, rugs from the Orient, soft lamps and portraits of dear grandmothers, in the beauty of their youth, smiling out from their golden frames on the walls. As we came into the room from the brightly lighted hall, a semi-circle of gray-green coats rose right up out of the dimness and we were blinded by a vision of shining buttons, polished boots, gleaming swords and a military salute accompanied by clinking spurs.
At the end of the room stood Madame Nagelmackers and her sons waiting for us. Naturally there were no presentations and the moment was unique in the extreme, nobody moved for a second which seemed like a decade and nobody spoke, so all there remained to do was to acknowledge the salute with a semi-circular bow.
Dinner was an odd affair tho’ it went off not so badly. Madame Nagelmackers, in her proud Russian
beauty and her admirable control of the conditions, was superb. I never admired anybody so much, for it is not easy to entertain at one’s board an enemy who has just usurped home and country, but her extraordinary charm and dignity gave the Situation its note and the “guests” were everything that was agreeable. We talked of generalities, as well as “War”, in four languages (Russian, French, English and German) with much the same sang-froid as the juggler who tosses knives and, when the meal was done, thanked Heaven that nobody had launched a tactless bomb which might have plunged us into a boiling sea.
There was nothing particularly boastful in their conversation, though at times a certain assured reference to “Paris in a fortnight” crept in, which we found difficult to digest, in fact I was furious.
Paris, indeed ! Beautiful Paris !
My neighbor at table on the right was a man of perhaps fifty-eight years, rather gray and grandfatherly, with such nice, blue eyes. Prefacing all his remarks with a nervous little cough to fix my attention, he would launch with difficulty one or two phrases in restricted French followed by a few straggling words in English and finally finished up with a burst of voluble German. It was a work of art to understand him, but I arrived panting, at least I had that Sensation, and it is not the first time I have given thanks for a woman’s natural intuition. Then I decided to lead out next, anyway I wanted to get him started on “War” without precipitating an international difficulty and I asked him as stupidly as possible (perhaps I did not need to simulate that) if he liked “War”.
He hesitated just a second and I was prepared for the usual self-respecting denial when he horrified me by answering a simple “Yes”.
Voilà, le sentiment passe !
Afterward when we went into the salon all the officers, commencing with the superior, came up to Madame Nagelmackers and kicking their spurs together with the habitual “Danke, Frau”, kissed our hands all around. The youngest soldier among them was a handsome boy of about twenty-two years, who interested me rather, because he was different, even his boots were different and he truly had a striking manner, though very gracious.
I am convinced that he was a prince of a reigning house. The atmosphere had a way of parting in rapid waves when he came in and dropping behind him like an impervious shield when he went out. Fair, young Achilles ! Will a fatal arrow attain his charmed person ?

August 15 1914, Saturday

We took care of the wounded all day : it is the most heartrending spectacle to see those poor, black heads lying there on their pillows. They were so shapeless and immovable, I had almost begun to look upon them as without life like charred logs, when, after finishing a dressing this morning, I was startled by a hearty, “Merci, chere Soeur”.
Oh, the joy of it ! That brightened the whole scene and flooded me with hope. Then they have not lost their intelligences, they aren’t mere pieces of wood and one day when their poor flesh has rejuvenated itself, they will be given back to real life, and their country, again.

The village people and the Sisters were so ardent in their * desire to help that dressings well covered with ointment sometimes fell from their eager fingers onto grimy blankets or flopped, butter side down, so to speak, upon the floor; which did not disconcert anyone but me, whose modern prophylactic soul rattled and shook with horror as the recalcitrant bandage was gaily redeemed from its dusty resting place and applied as originally intended.
It seemed as if I must remonstrate, but the dear whole-hearted helper was so sure that her dressing would cure and the patient was so overwhelmingly grateful for the trouble she took to pick it up for him, that I was dumb before their exquisite faith. Here was something too big for my stilted aseptic advice and it occurred to me, suddenly, that perhaps there are many things yet undreamed of in our philosophy.
All day long the troops in an endless chain have been passing on the highroad before the Chateau.
The air was full of mingled sounds, as, for example, the singing of the soldiers in the distance, which sounds like the droning of bees far away and always heralds an advance of troops; the rhythmic shuffling of feet, the thud of horses’ hoofs, the chugging of autos which carry the superior officers, and the heavy wheels of the gun carriages with their clanking chains. Their Order, equipment and discipline are admirable to see.

All their apparel is new, as one of the officers told Monsieur D. at Spa. Uniforms, boots, belts, saddles, bridles and even buttons, all new and spie and span for a triumphal entry into Paris. Each man carries two sets of buttons, one for field Service (negligible) and the other, shining brass ones, for the review down the Champs Elysees. All the officiers wear a tiny card-board map of elgium about (3″ x 4″), hung on their coat buttons and every soldier has embossed on his belt plate “Gott mit Uns”.
At dinner the officers were very entertaining ; the ice was somewhat broken, at least, we knew better what piece was safe clinging to and we managed to exchange some ideas. It is rather odd how few of these educated men speak French. In fact, it is so odd that it makes us suspicious and cautious.
Monsieur J. attacked the captain with this question, as a leader, “when he thought the war would be over ?” (This being the second week of it.)
His answer was net and forbade argument, “We shall be ‘home’ by Christmas, or Easter at the latest”. But he did have the grace to congratulate the Belgian army on its stout defense of Liege, for instead of the two days given the Germans by their Emperor to capture it, they had been constrained to take nearly two weeks at it.

August 16 1914, Sunday

A warm, beautiful morning. As Madame de H. and I walked through the garden and the wood to the little convent ambulance, it was difficult not to contrast smiling Nature with the frightful scenes of which, in a few minutes, we would be a part. The awful stench of burned flesh met us half a block away and congealed my courage as I walked, for it permeates everything.
We can even taste it, it clings in our hair when we go home and we are obliged to hang our nursing
clothes out of the window all night. I felt as if I must run away from it and those terrible dressings, reeking with purulence, where ears and eyelids and lips come off and fingers and hands peel like a glove.
Then I thought of the patience of those brave fellows and the pain and awfulness of living it. The fortitude and devotion of the village men and women are beyond praise, they come day after day to help in the nursing, some spending the night, turn and turn about. Especially the tenderness of the men for their “camarades” is one of the sweetest things I ever saw, for they are as gentle and capable in their care as any woman could possibly be.
Prussian troops continue to pass and it is a wonderfully impressive sight; infantry in gray green khaki, singing, always singing their famous a Wacht am Rhein “and other folk songs : the Uhlans, on beautiful prancing horses, with their long lances and gray-blue capes fluttering in the wind ; chasseurs in light green ; “Hussars de la Mort” with the death’s head emblem in the front of their high für hats and endless companies of artillery with their huge field cannon, each drawn by six magnificent horses. On the gun carriages sit four gunners back to back, still as statues, with arms folded as if on parade. It was for all the world like a circus when the procession goes twice around the ring before commencing the serious business of the entertainment.
Dinner was gay tonight (one is obliged to make the best of a bad affair) and the officers as men of the world were interesting and in unusually good spirits.
The Captain, a little facetiously, took up the menu and, drawing a tiny note-book and pencil from his pocket, proceeded to copy it in French, soliciting Madame Nagelmackers’ aid en passant.

A curious fact occurred to me as I sat there looking down both sides of the table, how much alike they were, it seems as if they must even think the same thoughts to resemble each other so much. As their heads were closely cropped, outlines were baldly apparent, low forehead sloping back to a narrow crown and all set upon a bulwark of neck. They must surely have been Struck in the same mould.
Though forceful, none of them were good-looking except the young one, of whom I have spoken, and his face in repose was shockingly cruel. They are expecting marching orders in the morning and are probably eager to ride on to victory (?). They bade us good night and good-bye by kissing our hands as usual, a click of spurs, a military bow and very gracious thanks to Madame X. for her hospitality.

August 17 1914, Monday

About half-past three in the morning I was wakened from a sound sleep by a commotion in the court under my window. Impatient horses were pawing the ground and a voice exactly like a snarling dog was hurling out orders, I peeped out cautiously and saw that the snarling dog was the amiable captain who copied the menu last night.
The officers left at 4 am Fort Loncin fell today and General Leman, commander in chief of the army here, was taken prisoner. Thousands of soldiers have passed as usual. In the afternoon a Company of Prussians arrived, whose captain had mistaken the route, which put him in an abominable humor, having made his men march fifty miles out of their way and also risking a court-martial on his own account. He ordered Monsieur S. to open the garage door, in the hope of lodging his men there for the night. Unluckily the chauffeur, being absent, had the key, which plunged his Military Highness into a towering rage and he placed Monsieur S. at once under arrest between two soldiers, baionnette au canon, while the others battered in the door with the butt of their guns.
Not finding sufficient quarters for two hundred men, he marched Monsieur S. away, as guide, half a mile. down the road to a neighbor’s. That excitement had hardly quieted down when another batch of officers arrived at dusk, demanding lodgings for the night. These men were a rough type, altogether different from the preceding ones.
About eight o’clock as we, the women, were waiting in the library for dinner to be announced, we heard a tremendous stamping of heavy boots and spurs and a snarl of angry voices just over our heads. Baronne de H., brave little woman as she always proved herself to be, flew up the stairs in a flash and found her brothers at the end of the hall between two orderlies with fixed bayonets, trying to pacify seven officers who were disputing angrily and were just about to enter one of the private apartments, in fact their father’s room.
She addressed them in a few vehement words, “I forbid you to enter the room of my father, who has been dead only a week”. Then she added that the other soldiers who had been here were gentlemen and that she expected them to be. They were cowed at once and all humility, begging pardon properly. They pleaded fatigue for their rudeness and said “certainly they expected to be gentlemen, too”. Wasn’t that comical ? They were ill at ease and rather sullen at dinner : and such a dinner as we had, glacial does not express it. The captain of the band spoke English, French, Russian and German, but he could not coax anybody into conversation, for we clung to “Oui” or “Non,” and stopped there. More than that, a kind of rigid fascination fixed our attention on one of their number, the tallest and lankiest, who sat down at least two feet from the table and endeavored to serve himself like that. Every mouthful was fraught with tense anxiety (for us). Happily they went to bed early, the captain kissing our hands and asking Madame Nagelmackers. if she were used to that, it being the custom in Germany. Hardly had they got under cover and we were alone again, when a hoarse cry arose in the court, it was blood-curdling to us, as every sound these days is full of terror and possibilities. But it turned out to be only the cry of the sentry. There had been promiscuous shooting along the railroad in the village and all our brave soldiers tumbled out of bed, fell down the staircase one after the other, buckling on swords as they went.
It is the greatest wonder to me that we were not all shot on the spot when we stood there staring up, as one very young lieutenant descended three Steps at a time with a revolver in one wobbly hand which was shaking like an aspen leaf, and a pair of field glasses in the other. I think the sudden excitement may have unnerved him and there is no doubt, this time, that the gods favored the innocent.
That was the last we saw of our guests.

August 18 1914, Tuesday

This morning one of them came back for some personal things, principally his watch, which, in the true, novel style, could not be found anywhere. So the Herr Leutnant ordered a thorough search and said, with a grand air, to the housekeeper that if it could not be found he would be obliged to take one of the servant’s as a forfeit. Fancy !
I can see the butler’s poor, old, bowed legs, now, flying up the stair-case, with a bayonet stuck in his back to expedite matters. I do not know if this threat lent an added zest to the search, but fortunately someone had the happy thought to look under the mattress (where the officer had put it himself) and there was the ill-fated timepiece calmly ticking off German minutes. I think I forgot to tell you that since the invasion we retire at ten instead of eleven o’clock, having been advised to adopt Celtic time.
Prussian troops in khaki continue to pass ; will they never cease ? One’s spine shivers at the sight of the endless, green snake which crawls along, insinuating its greedy length into the gardens of plenty. This morning four new officers came to the Chateau; three of them were nondescript, but the fourth, to all appearances, was an Englishman, pure blood. He spoke English absolutely without accent and had a perfect English drawing-room air. It was as funny as an impersonation and as he had appeared on the scene alone, I believe his brothers-in-arms were almost suspicious of him. After a little the story came out. He is really a German, but has lived fifteen years in London. At the debut of the war he had been obliged to take up arms against a sea of troubles, or relinquish forever his right to go back to Baden, where his parents live. Naturally he chose the former (also probably thinking that “War” was a word only) and allowed himself to be bored by circumstances. He told us some amusing tales of his having been already arrested three times for an English spy. Everybody here likes him very much and I welcomed him personally as the nearest approach to an Anglo-Saxon that I have seen in many months.

Monsieur J. and several of the representative men of the village, including Monsieur le Cure (a little, fat, rosy-cheeked man, adored by his flock), were taken as hostages for twenty-four hours and had to sleep in the railroad Station. It was nervously comical to see Monsieur J. starting off, his valet following with a mattress on his back and a box of Sandwiches in his hand against the misery of the night. But it is not so amusing to be the victim of even a threat which at any moment may take the form of a sudden reality for no reason except to terrorize honest people who are defending their homes. The enemy’s way of punishing and evading future insurrection among the civilians is to take people as hostages and shoot them if necessary, or burn the houses.
This they have already done in several quarters in Liege. A few nights ago several students fired on some German officers in a cafe and the latters’ revenge was instantaneous and terrible; they just stood eighteen men up in front of the University and shot them like dogs, then burned that section for blocks around.
Austrian artillery was passing today with their great cannon drawn by automobiles. The wheels of the gun carriages are enormous and the cannon are the biggest things we have yet seen.

August 19 1914, Wednesday

Such an odd picking little noise, like a mouse, disturbed us at break fast this am Madame Nagelmackers opened the door and was astonished to see a German soldier unscrewing the telephone from the wall. Her obvious surprise moved the man to explain, which was unqualifiedly this, “Madame, permit me, but we need your telephone for field Service”.
I suppose he may as well have it anyway for nothing so modern and useful as telephones has existed for us since August 3rd. A group of very surly officers have “taken over ” Madame R.’s Chateau down in the country.
The moment they arrived night before last, the Colonel ordered her to bring out all her best wine, throwing her his soiled gloves to wash at the same time.
The patients at the Convent are beginning to show a little life now, though their poor, black faces are more grotesque than ever as an eye, here and there, begins to peep out from a crack in the crusted surface. They have begun to talk after a fashion, though their poor, dried lips can hardly accomplish the task. Jean, the big fellow who jumped seven mètres into the ditch from Fort Chaudfontaine when it blew up, died this morning, the result of a fractured skull. French and German aeroplanes alike have been flying over the city, dropping the most sensational circulars of the victories of their particular
armies. But the news is “trop beau”, one cannot believe it and probably it is only destined to encourage the soldiers. It appears that the officers tell their men all kinds of extraordinary tales, to give them heart for the fight, and the poor things believe (hearing French spoken here) that they are already in France, for yesterday one of them in a passing train was heard demanding the Eiffel Tower. An officer admitted to Monsieur S. that Germany prints three newspapers, one for the officers, one for the soldiers, and one for imbeciles. I suppose the latter means us.

August 22 1914, Saturday

Bread is being rationed out now in the village and we are allowed only two small pieces at a meal. It seems to me that I ever wanted one more slice so much in my life. The soldiers have cleared out the baker’s supply and he cannot get any more flour. Monsieur S. has bought a bicycle and goes into town every morning to find out about things. Sometimes it seems as if we could hardly wait until he gets back to lunch for the news. And oh! such terrible things are happening. Some funny incidents too, intersperse themselves from time to time. During the recounting of some of these awful tales of violence and revenge which we are hearing from the little villages the young footman’s knees doubled right up and nearly let him down while he was serving the table and he is getting greener and greener from day to day. He becomes absolutely petrified when the officers address him and whispers out an unintelligible something as he vanishes through a door.

The horrible carnage at Namur has begun and we already have heard sickening accounts of it. The story, as we have had it by word of mouth, is that one of the seven forts capitulated (the city was evacuated), allowing the enemy to enter in over a tract of land which was literally sown with this famous, new Poudre Turpin which exploded under the feet of whole regiments at once, and the forts completed the slaughter.
Troops, troops, always troops plodding along. Their attitude could not be called determined for there is not enough mental action in it, though there does exist an indisputable tenacity which is appalling. How they lack that infectious ardeur, that splendid elan which characterizes every little poilu ! But they just plod on like a great machine, lacking intelligence in its parts, each vital, however, to the perfectly fitted whole.
Madame Nagelmackers and I felt as if we could not sit still another minute this afternoon and, safe, or no, we decided to take a walk on the mountainside. We could hear regiments approaching first by a faint buzzing in the distance which rounded out into song as it drew near; as an officer told us, the men often sing in four voices which is quite beautiful. Then, we became aware of a different noise, a sort of loose rumble, as if cohesion would presently not exist for the thing, whatever it was, that caused this new note. But it was not a note, it was a disturbance which grew and grew in proportions. Madame Nagelmackers and I scurried up and down the paths trying to find a vista through the trees that would disclose this monster which was moving so protestingly along the road.
I imagined it would be snorting flame and its eyes mouldering fires, but instead its eyes were neat little Windows with tidy curtains, for the monster turned out to be three diminutive houses on wheels drawn by a huge motor. What their end and purpose might be, is imaginable. If it is for the comfort of the High Command en campagne, the great clumsy procession rivaling the speed of a snail is a heap of trouble for a little luxury.

August 24 1914, Monday

Namur is taken by the Germans. Practically nothing remains of the city. A German major who was brought, wounded, to Liege, said the battle was too frightful to narrate. He entered the city with one thousand men and left it with sixty-five. Just outside the forts, where he had been stationed with two hundred horses, three bombs fell upon them at the same moment and only seven of the poor beasts remained. His admiration for the pointing and firing of the Belgian and French cannon was unlimited.
Just before lunch this morning, two very ragged looking individuals (Belgian civilians) came to the Chateau. They were travel stained indeed, just having made the journey on foot from Brussels and in a calmer era would have had some success in the role of common ordinary tramps. As it was, they excited a little curiosity by the suspicious way they had of looking about, and our first thought was spies until one of them, edging toward the outside of the group, made Baronne de H. understand that he had something to communicate to her.
Inquiring if it were safe, he suddenly leaned down and drew out from the sole of his shoe, a piece of paper on which was written, “A banker of Brussels sends greetings all are well”. “The little woman burst into a flood of tears for she realized that it was a message from her husband, one of the Garde Civique of Brussels. During the three, long, anxious weeks of devotion to others, I had often remarked and wondered at her courage in never mentioning her own longing and apprehension for her husband and three little children. Before we had recovered from the first onslaught of the army, she must have known, after it left here, that it would pass their Chateau three kilometres the other side of Brussels and what would it leave in its wake ? Can you imagine her anxiety, when every day we were hearing frightful stories of children having their hands chopped off and people’s heads being paraded on bayonets ? But I never remember her uttering a Single “I wonder”, or an “I wish”. Does this not bear out what the illustrious Roman said about the “Belgians”, which certainly did not exclude the women ? It is the grandest thing that ever could be this response of the women to the Nation’s call, for it is not just passive self-sacrifice, but impassioned co-operation.

In the afternoon Madame de H. and I went to Liege to arrange her passport for Brussels. Two of the officers who are here offered to go with us in order to facilitate an entrance into the “Kommandatur” which is the general headquarters and is in that ancient and beautiful place of the Princes-Eveques, onetime feudal lords of the principality of Liege.
I wanted to rebel openly when I saw that wonderful court, world famous for its beauty, which has been turned into a depot of supplies and barracks with horses stabled under those delicate, Gothic arches, mode is of purity and beauty. But to what good ?
Will anything ever expiate the offense ?
There are also horses in the theater and machine guns in all the Upper Windows.
While Madame de H. was waiting to see Count Moltke in his office, I walked about the court with one of the soldier attendants who came with us and had an opportunity of peeking through many doors which would otherwise have been closed to me. My companion, who is a wholesale grain merchant in peace times, enjoyed his authority immensely and dragged his sword, half unbuckled, on the ground, which clanked behind us and made merry music in his ears, I am sure. The whole place was a perfect beehive though there was little confusion. The soldiers were diligently counting supplies, feeding horses and sorting Belgian cannon and shells which had been captured.

On the road from Angleur to Liege we were obliged to give way to some troops which were returning from Namur. The auto stopped right in the middle of a column, which, as we heard, was a conglomeration of the tag ends of different regiments and I was almost afraid the men peered in at us so maliciously. I have never seen such a frightening spectacle of humanity, for it was the personification of a rogues’ gallery with every kind of cut-throat, brigand and robber mixed up into a grand ensemble, toiling and perspiring, limping and crawling along in the dust and heat.
Does battle blot out the soul of a man in one savage conflict ?
Obviously, it is before a weary march that one finds exalted faces.
But perhaps they were not desperadoes only tired and dirty and unshaven.

It is said, however, that when war was declared, the enemy opened the doors of all the prisons and that the front ranks of the attacking forces (which were sure to be lost) were entirely composed of convicts and prisoners. And also, the officers in the regular army are so hated by their men that when they started out to conquer the world every officer was changed to a different regiment.
This evening we sat on the terrace enjoying the afterglow of the setting sun and the calmness of the garden, listening to the soldiers singing in the orchard, next. This singing in the twilight is heartbreaking and particularly melancholy, as the music is slow and has more consolation in it than the usual soul-inspiring quality of battle hymns. At intervals we heard the captain speaking with great force and enthusiasm, the hurrays of the men, an occasional “Vaterland, Vaterland”, and again and ever, “Die Wacht am Rhein”.

August 26 1914, Wednesday

Two new officers (not Prussians) of the Landsturm arrived this morning men of fifty to fifty-five years of age. One is a hardware merchant en civil and has a brown beard and the asthma; the other is a lawyer, with big, blinking eyes and they both looked as if they hated war.
The “Englishman” is still here his department is looking after supplies at the depot. He has borrowed all the English books in the house and sits reading all day up in the signal box at the Station, so the family have named him “Monsieur Seegnal Box”, which, with a tiny, French accent, sounds quite attractive.
We are so enthusiastic about our patients at the Convent, for they are all improving and developing personalities now.
Every morning at eight-thirty we rush over there as quickly as we can to see how the poor children are getting on and who has another eye open. Nature has begun her restorative work and oh ! what a satisfaction it is to see the new skin stretching out tiny shreds to bridge over the martyred flesh. The atmosphere of the ward is gay. Most everybody can laugh, at least with their hearts, for stiffened lips do not all respond yet. The work has arranged itself in admirable routine, where humanity is not entirely swallowed up in duty. There are young girls and boys who fetch basins of water, old women who roll bandages, faithful, sweet-faced matrons who bind up dreadful wounds, and strong, young men who lift, so tenderly, pain-racked bodies and who can toss a joke or a word of encouragement with equal discretion, which never fails to infuse the downhearted with their own priceless vitality. Then there is the Mere Supérieure, of thin, aesthetic face, who comes with a gentle word of the “Faith” for each one the austere Soeur Felicité, who counts the cups and searches your soul and brings in hot coffee and a steaming ragout; and the pretty, young Soeur Monique, with her uplifted face, who cannot conceal a shy admiration for big, blond Henri who rails at everything and is as lovable as a baby. Then the villagers : in the middle of the room, Monsieur B. (Secretary and Treasurer, I should say) cuts off gauze with a calculating eye at one end of a long table and at the other, rosy-cheeked Monsieur R. (painter of every house and barn in the village) Stands all day long with a spatula in his hand and slaps on the ointment for dressings. There is a sort of professional twist in the gesture and his merry, little eyes glance around, not seeking but rather gathering in approval, and from under his bristling, white moustache will burst a salute for one, a joke for another, or a reproach for another. Here, there and everywhere he is needed, is Monsieur F., whose great, dark eyes are acquainted with pain ; he is a frail, little person and the substantial man of the village, a living paradox. Just when Monsieur R. announces — dramatically waving his spatula — that that is the last ounce of boric ointment and no more peroxide in the cupboard and we are raving around and denouncing the pharmacist, Monsieur F. steps up and inq