Tournai By General-Major Frantz
On our arrival at Tournai, towards the end of September, 1914, we were welcomed as the saviours of the country. Our arrival was supposed to mean the reconquering of the whole province of Hainault. The inhabitants of Tournai had already suffered by the first invasion and on seeing me, with my Staff and troops, they imagined that they were now saved. They were all the more convinced of this as some French troops arrived at the same time. Alas, these troops were composed of a Battalion of Territorials, who had never been under fire, and a Squadron of Chasseurs, also Territorials, commanded by a Captain of fifty years of age; two Squadrons of Algerian goumiers of all ages and tribes, who looked superb. They were cavalrymen with brown faces, and were wearing their white burnous and carrying their long, slender guns in their shoulder belts. Their Sheiks, who had already fought for France, were proud of the crosses of the Legion of Honour which they wore.
These troops did not look sufficient for the defence of the town and Baron Stiénon du Pré, the Burgomaster, asked the Commander of the French troops if they would really prove an efficient protection,[Pg 229] or whether they would have no reinforcements and would have to leave Tournai to its fate, on the first attack.
When the Germans had made their first appearance here, Tournai had been ordered by them to pay a tax of three million francs, and whilst this sum was being found, by means of a house to house collection, the Burgomaster and several other prominent men had been taken to Ath, as hostages. From there, they were sent to Brussels and imprisoned nine days, although the sum exacted had been handed over to the enemy.
The French Commander considered the Burgomaster's question a poor kind of welcome, and I asked the latter for an explanation. He apologised amply and assured us of the absolute loyalty of himself and of all his citizens. After this, the French had no further cause for complaint with regard to their reception by the inhabitants of Tournai. The remembrance of their sufferings was, however, too recent for the prominent men not to dread a renewal of them. The evil days when they had all been living under the Prussian heel was uppermost in the thoughts of all the townspeople. We were constantly being asked by them whether the Germans had been definitely driven back, etc.... Unfortunately the information I received prevented my giving them an assurance of this.
For several days we lived at Tournai in constant danger of a fresh invasion. I took the precaution to have all the Civic Guard Scout Chasseurs provided afresh with arms. Their own guns were now in France and in different places in Belgium, so that instead of their Mausers they were supplied[Pg 230] with Gras rifles. This did not inspire them with confidence. They were absolutely lacking in initiative, but were always very willing. My principal forces consisted of about a hundred Gendarmes of the Hainault province, under Lieutenant-Colonel Bloem, of the Gendarmerie. I supplied my men and, later on, my volunteers, with fifty-seven new bicycles, which the Germans had left behind them in their sudden retreat. Thanks to these machines, I was able to send patrols out to a good distance. They managed to bring back a great deal of useful information and they succeeded in killing, or taking prisoners, a certain number of Uhlans. At the same time, we managed to convince the enemy that considerable troops were massed at Tournai and in the neighbourhood, and this illusion delayed their march forward. The famous German spying system was very defective here, and our enemies knew so little about the troops advancing on Tournai that, believing they had no time to take their wounded away with them, they had left a certain number in our hospitals. I sent them away promptly, as prisoners, to Bruges.
On the 30th of September, 1914, I learnt that enemy troops of all arms, estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 men, had reached Ath and, in the afternoon, had sent their outposts to Ligne, about half way to Leuze. We might, therefore, expect to be attacked the following day. I sent a request for help to Lieutenant-General Clooten, who provided me with about a hundred volunteers from Eecloo. Their instruction had only been rudimentary, but they were excellent men.
As we had no Artillery, I sent an urgent request to the Commander of the French Division of Douai to[Pg 231] come to our help, but he could not, as he was threatened on three sides at the same time. We were, therefore, reduced to Gendarmes, to Scout Chasseurs, and to the Eecloo Volunteers, with the addition of a Cyclist Corps under Lieutenant Gérard. This officer had been ordered to destroy the Thulin bridge, over the canal from Mons to Condé. Unfortunately, the Belgians were betrayed by a woman in the neighbourhood and fell into an ambush, thereby losing forty men out of the hundred and twenty of which their contingent was composed. The others fell back on Tournai. They were all daring young men, full of enthusiasm, and quite ready to undertake the most dangerous missions in the enemy's lines. I remember, among others, a soldier of the 12th Line Regiment. He had walked some miles, bringing a wounded comrade with him in a wheelbarrow.
Towards ten o'clock at night, on the 30th of September, Lieutenant Gérard had come to me and placed himself at my service. I explained to him the situation, and that very night he went and blew up several fortification works on the railway line between Ath and Leuze.
At midnight, Lieutenant Gérard came to tell me that he had been beyond Ligne and had succeeded in his daring enterprise. Thanks to this bold expedition, the first Uhlan patrols did not reach Tournai till late the following morning.
As we were threatened from the south-east as well as from the south, I was obliged to divide my poor forces in a way to bar the passage for the enemy in these two directions, and also towards the north-east, on the Tournai-Frasnes road. In the plains, my patrols of Gendarmes and Volunte............