1914-10-20xxx

It was an event not soon forgotten.

On Friday evening, October 23, 1914, the huge hall of the Imperial Order of Oddfellows temple on Gore street, near James, was filled to overflowing.

Madame Lalla Vandervelde, the wife of the secretary of state was the attraction, and the large audience present were there to hear her tell of her country tragedy and heroism in the face of the German invasion.

The hall had been decorated - not ostentatiously, but appropriately. In front of the chairman’s table a small Belgian flag had been placed. A few palms were put he stage itself some palms had been placed, while large Union Jacks had been hung on the wall behind the stage.

Proceedings began with the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, and former Hamilton mayor, Sir John S. Hendrie officially welcoming in the speaker:

“He said the sympathy of the people of Ontario went out to little Belgium in this time of its distress. The people of Hamilton were always generous in the cause of all that was right, and he assured the representative that the country's sympathy had been aroused.

“ ‘Belgium had behaved as an honorable race should be have, and now it is our duty to do all in our power to relieve the suffering of your people,’ said the lieutenant-governor.”¹

¹ “Great Sympathy Shown for Belgium”

Hamilton Herald.   October 20, 1914.

Hamilton Mayor George Allan then extended the freedom of the city to Madame Vandervelde, and expressed his confidence that Hamiltonians would respond generously to the call for financial donations, and that the $3500 figure already raised would be increased substantially.

Mrs. (Dr.) Samuel Lyle spoke briefly on behalf of the women of Hamilton, telling Madame Vandervelde of “Hamilton’s unbounded admiration for the gallantry of the Belgians”¹

At this point, three young ladies from the Loretto academy came on stage, greeting the distinguished visitor. They then presented her with a beautiful bouquet of roses and a purse filled with gold.

          When it was Madame Vandervelde’s turn to speak, she was was greeted with prolonged applause as she rose:

          “The speaker was overwhelmed by the welcome given and cordially thanked all. She spoke in a quiet voice, but pronounced her words very clearly, using good English. She spoke as a grief-stricken woman patriot and the terrible tales she related seemed to wring her heart with anguish.”¹

          The reporter for the Hamilton Spectator was also highly complimentary of the way Mme. Vandervelde spoke:

          “Never was an audience so profoundly impressed nor so deeply moved as that which filled the I.O.O.F. temple last night to its remotest corners to listen to the message of Madame Lalla Vandervelde, wife of the Belgian minister of state, to the Canadian people.

          “Stirred one moment  to surging enthusiasm at the recounting of some brave and noble deed, struck silent the next by the unvarnished story of some unspeakable act three thousand miles away. The big audience was kept in a perpetual condition of deep emotion.

          “She told a tale poignant with human feeling, strong in its tragic simplicity. The speaker made no attempt at rhetoric. The message was given without frills or amplifications and with a dramatic directness that reached all hearts.

          “It was the spoken narrative of the desecration of Belgium, the crushing of a small but gallant people by a ruthless foe. Madame Vandervelde spoke often with visible emotion, sometimes with a scarcely audible sob, sometimes with the fire of righteous indignation burning in her heart.”²

                ² “Dramatic Story of Belgium’s Tragedy”

          Hamilton Spectator.   October 20, 1914  .

The speaker recounted how Belgium had made every effort to remain neutral when the war broke out, but that Germany wanted a “benevolent neutrality” allowing Germany to march through the country to France unimpeded.  The Germans issued an ultimatum to Belgium to grant such a neutrality or else, in the words of the ultimatum, “we shall consider Belgium an enemy.”

When the deadline of the ultimatum passed, German troops proceeded to enter Belgium. Belgium had about 150,000 troops in its army, hardly enough to successfully stem the German advance, but, the Belgian army fought heroically enough to slow the German advance towards France.

“The Germans acknowledge themselves that in violating the neutrality of Belgium they were acting in contradiction to the dictates of international law. The German chancellor confessed to it on August 4 in the Reichstag.

“Why did they treat my poor country so ruthlessly if it were not revenge themselves upon it for not having allowed them to pass through ?”

“By burning towns and by throwing bombs from airships, Germany hopes to frighten civilian populations to such an extent that they will clamor for peace at any price. This, however, will never come to pass,” Mme. Vandervelde declared.

“Help us, I implore you by giving generously to our relief fund which will do so much towards the construction of a new Belgium, towards enabling all these poor refugees once to resume their daily lives and their work.”

Madame Vandervelde had personally visited her country’s soldiers close to the battlefront and had many anecdotes about what she saw:

“ ‘Our troops fully realized the fearful odds they were fighting against, but their spirits were splendid. The afternoon before the Battle of Louvain, we visited the line and distributed tobacco among the men., ate our evening meal with them and saw the arrangments that had been made for the wounded, of whom, alas, there were to be so many.

“We patted the clever dogs that pulled the milirailleuses – the little guns which look like toys. They are wonderfully intelligent; they bring the small guns to which they are harnessed into position, either walking or running according to the word of command. At another word of command, they stop suddenly, are unharnessed and at once lie down, each dog behind its own gun. They are supposed to move until they are called, but several soldiers told me that when it came to hand-to-hand fighting, the dogs rushed forward to try to defend their masters. Many of the poor creatures have, of course, been killed.’¹

Before the battle, Madame Vandervelde had visited the city of Louvain:

“Instead of the ordinary aspect which it usually presented on a summer day, the streets were full of soldiers. The inhabitants were surprised but cheerful and full of hope.

“ ‘Could anyone forsee that it was soon to be burned to ashes?’ she asked with simple pathos.

“Of the grandeur of the architecture, the beauty of its churches, university and houses, Mms. Vandervelde spoke in reverent terms. And all that had been destroyed.”²

Madame Vandervelde also shared an example of the hardships endured by non-combatants as the German army laid ravage to her country:

“ ‘I remember speaking to an old woman of seventy-two who had walked from half past three at night to nine the next morning flying from the enemy, and never shall I forget the pitiable sight of a young girl of about fifteen, with curvature of spine, who had never been out of bed and who had to walk as best she could, supported and partly carried by her parents. Poor child, she was worn out with pain and exhaustion and had high fever.”¹

Before the speaker shared examples of the atrocities which the German army had been guilty of, she noted that an official inquiry ordered by her king, had been “conducted by well-known and highly regarded magistrates, men of ripe years, who would not let themselves be carried away by any sort of passion. Each case was examined most carefully. Witnesses were called  and recalled and thoroughly cross-examined and only those cases which were absolutely authenticated were embodied in the inquiry report.”¹

The speaker advised that she would not Harrow” the feelings of the audience with the whole account of German violations of the laws of war. She would confine herself to a few characteristic examples:

“ ‘On August the 9^th at Orsmach, Germans picked up a well-known German officer, Commander Knapen, very seriously wounded, propped him up against a tree and shot him. Then they hacked his corpse with swords.

“ ‘The Rev. Count De Ribaucourt, military chaplain, declared the following before the commission : On August 25^th, I ascertained that in the village of Hofspade, near Malines, an old woman of about 60 years of age, had been killed by a dozen bayonet thrusts as the Germans drew back before our carbineers. She still had a needle and cotton in her hands which she had been sewing with.

“ ‘The British consul at Antwerp sends the following declaration : In a small village which had been entirely destroyed by fire, situated between the railway viaduct of Antwerp and Ellewyt, I witnessed the following sight during the last attack which was made on the 26^th of August, 1914. In a small farm, an old man was attached by the arms to a rafter of the roof of his house. The body was quite charred, only the heads, arms and feet were intact. Further on, a second case. A little boy of about fifteen years of age had his hands tied behind his back and his body was riddled with stabs of German bayonets. These are atrocious cases. Several dead bodies were found as if they had been killed while begging pardon, the arms uplifted, and the hands joined. It is true, so help me God.’

“ ‘And listen to this: a man has told me, as well as he could for tears, of his little son of three years, who stood before his door waving his arms and crying ‘Vive L’Angleterre’ as the Germans entered. His arms were cut off and he was bayoneted to death.’ ’’ ¹

The moving address was concluded with a spirited declaration that the allied cause was just:

“ ‘We, the allies, are fighting for the dignity of humanity. We are fighting for the right of civilization to continue to exist. We are fighting so that the nations may live in Europe without being under the heel of another nation. It is a great cause. It is worth great sacrifices – and when we have defeated our enemies and the allied armies pass under the Arche de Triumphe, let it be a Belgian regiments that heads the way.’ “¹

Although the audience had been in a state of shocked silence as the atrocities were recounted, it was different as Madame gave fervent expression to patriotic sentiments as he concluded her speech. The applause she received was long and loud, and she was cheered to the echo.