Siege of Namur (1914) 1914
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 20 August 1914 – 25 August 1914 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1914 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | Belgium | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Western Front | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 50.4670, 4.8670 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Namur (French: siège de Namur) was a battle between Belgian and German forces around the fortified city of Namur during the First World War. Namur was defended by a ring of modern fortresses, known as the Fortified Position of Namur and guarded by the 4th Division of the Belgian Army. The purpose of the fortified Belgian cities was to delay an invasion force until troops from the states guaranteeing Belgian independence came to their aid. The French Fifth Army planned to counter-attack while the Germans were besieging Namur.
The German 2nd Army arrived in force on 20 August 1914 and used the experience gained from the Battle of Liège (4–16 August). The Germans did not attempt a coup de main but waited until the next day and bombarded the forts using super-heavy siege artillery and four batteries on loan from Austria-Hungary. The forts were destroyed by the bombardment, some being demolished by conventional heavy artillery rather than the siege guns, due to flaws in the concrete protection encasing the forts. In contrast to Liège, the Germans reduced the forts while suffering very few casualties.
The defeat of the Fifth Army at the Battle of Charleroi on 21 August prevented the French from advancing further and only one regiment reached Namur as reinforcement.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Namur (1914) (revision 1370743865), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Namur (1792) 1792 · 0 km
- Battle of the Sambre (1918) 1918 · 0 km
- Siege of Namur (1746) 1746 · 0 km
- Siege of Namur (1695) 1695 · 0 km
- Siege of Namur (1692) 1692 · 0 km
- Battle of Gembloux (1578) 1578 · 12 km
Other battles of the Western Front
- Battle of Liège 1914
- Battle of the Frontiers 1914
- First Battle of Artois 1914
- First Battle of Champagne 1914
- First Battle of the Marne 1914
- Rearguard Affair of Le Grand Fayt 1914
- Siege of Antwerp (1914) 1914
- Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf 1915
- Battle of Kitcheners' Wood 1915
- Battle of Loos 1915
All 48 battles of the Western Front →
Browse more: battles in Belgium · Europe · World War I era battles