The Battle of Halen, also known as the Battle of the Silver Helmets (, , ) because of the many cavalry helmets left behind on the battlefield by the German cuirassiers, took place on 12 August 1914 at the beginning of the First World War, between German forces led by Georg von der Marwitz and Belgian troops led by Léon De Witte. The name of the battle alludes to the Battle of the Golden Spurs (11 July 1302), when of golden spurs were recovered from the battlefield. Halen (Haelen in French) was a small market town and a convenient river crossing of the Gete and was situated on the principal axis of advance of the Imperial German army. The battle was a Belgian tactical victory but did little to delay the German invasion of Belgium.
Background
On 3 August the Belgian government refused a German ultimatum and the British government guaranteed military support to Belgium if Germany invaded. Germany declared war on France, the British government ordered general mobilisation and Italy declared neutrality. On 4 August, the British government sent an ultimatum to Germany and declared war on Germany at midnight on Central European time. Belgium severed diplomatic relations with Germany and Germany declared war on Belgium. German troops crossed the Belgian frontier and attacked Liège. A week after the German invasion, German cavalry had been operating towards Hasselt and Diest, which threatened the left flank of the army on the Gete. Belgian general headquarters chose Halen as a place to delay the advance and make time to complete an orderly retreat to the west. The Belgian Cavalry Division was sent from Sint-Truiden to Budingen and Halen, to extend the Belgian left flank.
Prelude
The German II Cavalry Corps (2 [HKK 2]) commanded by General Georg von der Marwitz, was ordered to conduct reconnaissances towards Antwerp, Brussels and Charleroi. By 7 August, the scouting parties had found that the area to a line from Diest to Huy was empty of Belgian and Allied troops. Belgian and French troops were rumoured to be between Tienen and Huy; Marwitz advanced to the north, towards parties of Belgian cavalry, which had retired towards Diest. On 11 August, large bodies of German cavalry, artillery and infantry had been seen by Belgian cavalry scouts in the area from Sint-Truiden to Hasselt and Diest. Belgian headquarters anticipated that the German manoeuvres foreshadowed a German advance towards Hasselt and Diest. To block the German advance, the Belgian Cavalry Division commanded by Lieutenant-General Léon de Witte was sent to guard the bridge over the River Gete at Halen. During an evening meeting, the Belgian general staff convinced de Witte to fight a dismounted action, to negate the German numerical advantage.
General de Witte had garrisoned the Gete crossings at Diest, Halen, Geetbets and Budingen. The main road from Hasselt to Diest passed through this village, most of which was on the left bank. If captured, Loksbergen and Waanrode would be outflanked and the left wing of the Belgian army threatened. General de Witte used Halen as an outpost and concentrated a battalion of cyclist infantry and dismounted cavalry behind the village, from Zelk to Velpen and the hamlet of Liebroek, to act as a line of resistance if Halen were captured. At Halen, there are a number of bridges across the rivers Gete and Velp. The village is also transected by the Grootebaan (the main road), which connects Hasselt and Diest. At the start of the war, there were not many bridges in the region, making those at Halen tactically important. The Belgian, as well as the German military high commands, was fully aware of this. Equally important, to the south of the Halen town centre, ran an elevated railway dam which followed a wide, south to north curve through the landscape. This was the former train connexion between the towns of Tienen and Diest, nowadays still prominent in the landscape, partly coinciding with Sportlaan and Stadsbeemd streets and further used as a tourist cycle track. Of the old Halen train station, nothing is left.
To defeat France, the German deployment plan based on work by Alfred von Schlieffen and Helmuth von Moltke included a rapid push through Belgium to avoid the French fortifications along the border with Germany. The rapid capture of Liège, a big railway junction, was crucial for the Germans. Although the city fell on 7 August, the surrounding forts held out until 16 August. Due to the resistance around Liège, East-Brabant and the Gete River drew the attention of the Germans. If their army could push through somewhere between the towns of Diest and Sint-Truiden, the road to Brussels would lay open, driving a wedge between the Belgian army divisions to the north and to the south.