Memorials Colonel Dusart

There is a plaque in Dutch on the left pillar and one in French on the right pillar at the front of the entrance gate of the remaining façade of the barracks located in the square that all honour Colonel Dusart.

The left one reads : TER GEDACHTENIS VAN KOLONEL DUSART GEVALLEN VOOR LUIK AAN DE SPITS VAN HET 11de LINIEREGIMENT DEN 6 AUGUSTE 1914
opgeregichiment bij openbaar inschriving

The right one reads: A LA MEMOIRE DU COLONEL DUSART TOMBE' DEVANT LIEGE A LA TETE DU 11e REGIMENT LE 6 AOUT 1914
erige par souscription publique

In English this would translate to : IN MEMORY OF COLONEL DUSART FALLEN BEFORE LIEGE AT THE HEAD OF THE 11th LINE REGIMENT AUGUST 6 1914
built by public subscription

Between 1874 and 1875 a new barracks was built in the regimental home city of the 11th Linie Regiment on the Wapenplaats in Hasselt.On the 26th June 1913 Colonel Dusart took command of Hasselt's garrison regiment. It was from here on the morning of the 29th July 1914 that Colonel Dusart assembled his regiment on the Wapenplein ,and to the sounds of "Le chant du depart " he marched them off to be ready to defend Liege against the German threat.
In the courtyard of the barracks 10 Belgian spies were executed on the 16th December 1916, and the Wapenplaats was renamed Martelaarsplein in 1919 in both their honour and a further nine spies executed at the nearby Herkenrode barracks. However ,the square was renamed again in 1922 to Dusartplein as a lasting testament to the colonel's sacrifice, leadership and popularity.

At the outset of the Second World War the 11th Linie Regiment was part of the Belgian 4th Infantry Division deployed on the Albert Canal ,with its western flank hinged at Diepenbeek ,while the 11th regiment was on the eastern edge of the division with its command post in Castle Groenendaal. While the Belgian 1st Division held the Hasselt sector of the Albert Canal.

During the occupation the barracks housed Belgian POWs and after liberation it held Nazi collaborators. The 11th Linie returned to Colonel Dusart barracks in 1947,but was disbanded in 1956. For a short period the barracks was home to the 31st Artillery from 1968, with the barracks being largely demolished in the second half of the 1970s,except the façade which you see in the images above.

Charles Eduard Dusart was born in Gent on Christmas Day 1860. A son of a lieutenant in an engineering regiment , he enrolled at the Royal Military School in Brussels in 1877. He left for the Congo as a lieutenant in 1890 to help in the fight against the slave trade. While serving in various campaigns he acquired the rank of captain in 1892, and on the 27th June 1893 he was able to return to Belgium. Twenty years later and promotions up to full colonel find Dusart in Hasselt , where as the garrison commander he becomes a popular local figure who endears himself to his troops with whom he would share a drink at a village inn after a lengthy march.

As part of the defence of Liege in August 1914 the 11th Linie was deployed at Rhees between Herstal and Barchon .During the night of the 5/6th August after a heavy thunderstorm a German attack overpowered the bivouacs sentries. After the initial surprise Colonel Dusart organised a counterattack, leading his men from the van. Hit by a bullet he was killed along with several of his men . So on the 6th August 1914 he became he the first Belgian senior officer killed in action in the First World War. Today he lies with his men close to where they fell, in the cemetery of Rhees where a memorial in their honour stands.

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Source

• Text: Ian Paterson
• Photos: Ian Paterson
• https://bel-memorial.org/cities/limburg/hasselt/hasselt_gedenplaten_colonel_Dusart.htm
• https://bel-memorial.org/names_on_memorials/display_names_on_mon.php?MON_ID=2942
• https://www.hasel.be/dusart-charles-uit-onze-straatnamen-kolonel-dusartplein-1959
• https://18daagseveldtocht.be/infanterie/actieve-leger/11de-linieregiment/