Siege of Namur
1914 CE.
Shown on the map at 50.467°, 4.867°.
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.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Namur (1914), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.