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Death wire

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mdrouet44

The document describes the "Death wire", a 450km long electrified fence constructed by Germany along the Belgian-Dutch border during WWI to control movement. It consisted of high-voltage wires strung between poles. Over 850 people, mostly Belgian or German, were killed by electrocution or shot by guards when trying to pass through illegally. While some crossed via legal corridors with permits, others attempted dangerous methods like using insulating materials. The wire severely disrupted border communities until it was dismantled after WWI, with some sections later reconstructed as memorials.

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The ‘Death wire’ in WWI
The Death wire: what was it? • a 450 km long electric obstacle • a German weapon, constructed in 1915 • on Belgian territory, near the border with the Netherlands, all over, from west to east
Death wire
Knokke-Zoute in the north-west of Belgium, at the seaside
The Death wire: how is it constructed? • pine poles with porcelain insulators • 5 to 6 wires of 5 mm, with 20 to 30 cm of distance in between • at 50 m high, 2 wires for the electricity supply
Death wire
The Death wire: why? • to prevent people from crossing the border: o volunteers for the Belgian army, via England o spies o clandestine post deliverers o smugglers o refugees o resistance fighters • less German soldiers needed to guard the Belgian-Dutch border
The Death wire: consequences • for the Dutch state: guarding the frontier is not necessary anymore • for the borderers: visiting each other is strictly controlled and registrated • for the farmers: making kilometers of detours for going to their fields (at 100 m) on the other side of the obstacle
The Death wire: consequences despite of the warning sign: deadly victims o how many?  in total: 850 (?) people  in our province Limburg: 300 (?) o how?  electrified  shot by German or Dutch guards o which nationalities?  Belgian (50%), German (25%),  Dutch (10%), French (4%), Russian (10%)
The Death wire: consequences Details about some victims • youngest victim o = Peter, 4 years old o while playing o killed by a 2000 Volt shock • most dreadful incident o gunbattle between German guards and Belgian refugees o 3 Belgian refugees and 1 German guard were shot
The Death wire: how is it surveilled? • at night, number of guards is doubled • during the day, surveillance balloons
The Death wire: how is it surveilled? • every 1,5 to 2,5 km: ‘switch houses’ with technical equipment • every 50 to 150 m: patrolling guards
Detail of a German map about the electric wire in the province of Limburg in 1916 Saint-Benedictus Abbey in Achel divided in 2 by the Death wire: a Dutch (left) and a Belgian part Belgian-Dutch border and Death wire in our province of Limburg Kaulille (Caulille) = near BREE where our school is situated = where the gunpowder factory was with electricity supply for the Death wire
The Death wire: legally passing how? • via 75 legal corridors, near important roads and railways o 50 for soldiers o 9 for citizens o 16 for soldiers and citizens • with an official licence to pass
The Death wire: illegally passing how? • giving money to the German guards for switching off the electricity • passing via a drain or a small canal under the ground • using sticks covered with rubber inner tubes of bicycle wheels for extending the distance between the wires
The Death wire: illegally passing how? • using all sorts of materials: o a jumping-pole o a barrel without a bottom and an upper side o woolen blankets, wrapped around the wires
The Death wire: illegally passing how? • using all sorts of materials: o a rubber doormat of 1,5 m, shoved under the wire o a wooden ‘windowframe’, with isolated upper and lower side
The Death wire: demolished when? • the Death wire = considered as battle catch by the Belgian government at Armistice • some farmers used it for refencing their grass-lands • tragic death: on Nov 12 in 1918 - a farmer tried to pass via the wire - the Germans hadn’t switched off the electricity yet
The Death wire: reconstruction in Kinrooi at 10 km from Bree: 50 m reconstructed electric wire with a fence ...
The Death wire: reconstruction a switch house and a guardhouse
Memorial for the victims near Liège

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Death wire

  • 2. The Death wire: what was it? • a 450 km long electric obstacle • a German weapon, constructed in 1915 • on Belgian territory, near the border with the Netherlands, all over, from west to east
  • 4. Knokke-Zoute in the north-west of Belgium, at the seaside
  • 5. The Death wire: how is it constructed? • pine poles with porcelain insulators • 5 to 6 wires of 5 mm, with 20 to 30 cm of distance in between • at 50 m high, 2 wires for the electricity supply
  • 7. The Death wire: why? • to prevent people from crossing the border: o volunteers for the Belgian army, via England o spies o clandestine post deliverers o smugglers o refugees o resistance fighters • less German soldiers needed to guard the Belgian-Dutch border
  • 8. The Death wire: consequences • for the Dutch state: guarding the frontier is not necessary anymore • for the borderers: visiting each other is strictly controlled and registrated • for the farmers: making kilometers of detours for going to their fields (at 100 m) on the other side of the obstacle
  • 9. The Death wire: consequences despite of the warning sign: deadly victims o how many?  in total: 850 (?) people  in our province Limburg: 300 (?) o how?  electrified  shot by German or Dutch guards o which nationalities?  Belgian (50%), German (25%),  Dutch (10%), French (4%), Russian (10%)
  • 10. The Death wire: consequences Details about some victims • youngest victim o = Peter, 4 years old o while playing o killed by a 2000 Volt shock • most dreadful incident o gunbattle between German guards and Belgian refugees o 3 Belgian refugees and 1 German guard were shot
  • 11. The Death wire: how is it surveilled? • at night, number of guards is doubled • during the day, surveillance balloons
  • 12. The Death wire: how is it surveilled? • every 1,5 to 2,5 km: ‘switch houses’ with technical equipment • every 50 to 150 m: patrolling guards
  • 13. Detail of a German map about the electric wire in the province of Limburg in 1916 Saint-Benedictus Abbey in Achel divided in 2 by the Death wire: a Dutch (left) and a Belgian part Belgian-Dutch border and Death wire in our province of Limburg Kaulille (Caulille) = near BREE where our school is situated = where the gunpowder factory was with electricity supply for the Death wire
  • 14. The Death wire: legally passing how? • via 75 legal corridors, near important roads and railways o 50 for soldiers o 9 for citizens o 16 for soldiers and citizens • with an official licence to pass
  • 15. The Death wire: illegally passing how? • giving money to the German guards for switching off the electricity • passing via a drain or a small canal under the ground • using sticks covered with rubber inner tubes of bicycle wheels for extending the distance between the wires
  • 16. The Death wire: illegally passing how? • using all sorts of materials: o a jumping-pole o a barrel without a bottom and an upper side o woolen blankets, wrapped around the wires
  • 17. The Death wire: illegally passing how? • using all sorts of materials: o a rubber doormat of 1,5 m, shoved under the wire o a wooden ‘windowframe’, with isolated upper and lower side
  • 18. The Death wire: demolished when? • the Death wire = considered as battle catch by the Belgian government at Armistice • some farmers used it for refencing their grass-lands • tragic death: on Nov 12 in 1918 - a farmer tried to pass via the wire - the Germans hadn’t switched off the electricity yet
  • 19. The Death wire: reconstruction in Kinrooi at 10 km from Bree: 50 m reconstructed electric wire with a fence ...
  • 20. The Death wire: reconstruction a switch house and a guardhouse
  • 21. Memorial for the victims near Liège