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They formed part of the Belgian-French-British Army Group Flanders under command of King Albert I of Belgium and his French Chief of Staff General Jean Degoutte. They played an important part in the Fifth Battle of Ypres , in which they breached the German lines at Houthulst and conquered Passchendaele , Langemark and Zonnebeke .
Besides the regular army, the Belgian government in 1914 could call on a large militia known as the Garde Civique (Burgerwacht in Dutch). Formed soon after the Belgian Revolution in 1830, the Garde was a paramilitary organisation, which was intended to supplement the small professional army as a reserve and also serve as a police force in ...
The German occupation of Belgium (French: Occupation allemande, Dutch: Duitse bezetting) of World War I was a military occupation of Belgium by the forces of the German Empire between 1914 and 1918. Beginning in August 1914 with the invasion of neutral Belgium , the country was almost completely overrun by German troops before the winter of the ...
The Belgian army fought the defensive Battle of the Yser (16–31 October) from Nieuwpoort (Nieuport) south to Diksmuide (Dixmude), as the German 4th Army attacked westwards and French, British, and some Belgian troops fought the First Battle of Ypres (19 October – 22 November) against the German 4th and 6th Armies.
In Belgium, after four years of war, as of 26 May 1918, the army had 166,000 men of which 141,974 were combatants, forming twelve infantry divisions and one cavalry division. It had 129 aircraft and 952 guns of all calibres. From September, the Belgian army was involved in the Allied offensive until the final victory of 11 November 1918.
The Belgian Army and its allies had managed to hold the last corner of Belgium, ending the Race to the Sea and the period of open warfare. The front line along the Yser River became known as the Yser Front and was held by the Belgian Army until 1918.
The Battle of Liège (5–16 August 1914) was the opening engagement of the German invasion of Belgium and the first battle of the First World War.The city of Liège was protected by a ring of modern fortresses, one of several fortified cities to delay an invasion to allow troops from the powers which had guaranteed Belgian neutrality to assist the Belgian Army in the expulsion of the invaders.
The 1st Cavalry Division was positioned at the Belgian border near the Ardennes. [2] When the German offensive was confirmed, most of the 1st Cavalry Division was near Neufchateau and its main objective was to regroup with the retreating 1st Division of the Ardennes Hunters, and the other detachments of the Cavalry Division. Delays hampered the ...