In 1914 the Fort de Loncin was one of the last Liège forts to suffer German bombardment.
Liège first came under attack on 6 August 1914.
Loncin was massively bombarded for three days from 12 to 15 August, before one of its two magazines, with twelve tons of explosive, blew up.
The explosion destroyed the heart of the fort, killing 350 of the 550-man garrison, their bodies remaining under the wreckage.
Loncin was the only fort at Liège that did not surrender.
Many of the dead remain in the fort and the site is considered a war grave as well as a museum.

The commander of the Liège sector, General Gérard Leman, had chosen the fort as his command post after Germans entered the center of Liège.
Following the explosion he was rescued, unconscious or delirious, from the fort's ditch and made prisoner.
The fort's commandant, Victor Naessens, wrote:
"Under the effect of this titanic volcano, what remained of the concrete massif was dislocated and the greater part of the garrison was crushed by blocks of concrete, burned alive or asphyxiated."

The 42 cm Big Bertha howitzer, the secret weapon of the German army in 1914, quickly became widely celebrated.
The destruction of the Fort de Loncin was immediately used for propaganda by the Germans, precipitating the surrender of the last two Liège forts, Fort de Flémalle and Fort de Hollogne.
The propaganda did much to cement the reputation of the Big Bertha.
In 1914 the Fort de Loncin was one of the last Liège forts to suffer German bombardment. Liège first came under attack on 6 August 1914. Loncin was massively bombarded for three days from 12 to 15 August, before one of its two magazines, with twelve tons of explosive, blew up. The explosion destroyed the heart of the fort, killing 350 of the 550-man garrison, their bodies remaining under the wreckage. Loncin was the only fort at Liège that did not surrender. Many of the dead remain in the fort and the site is considered a war grave as well as a museum.
The commander of the Liège sector, General Gérard Leman, had chosen the fort as his command post after Germans entered the center of Liège. Following the explosion he was rescued, unconscious or delirious, from the fort's ditch and made prisoner. The fort's commandant, Victor Naessens, wrote:
"Under the effect of this titanic volcano, what remained of the concrete massif was dislocated and the greater part of the garrison was crushed by blocks of concrete, burned alive or asphyxiated."
The 42 cm Big Bertha howitzer, the secret weapon of the German army in 1914, quickly became widely celebrated. The destruction of the Fort de Loncin was immediately used for propaganda by the Germans, precipitating the surrender of the last two Liège forts, Fort de Flémalle and Fort de Hollogne. The propaganda did much to cement the reputation of the Big Bertha.
Fort de Loncin