Battle of Halen

Battle of Halen
	Part of the Battle of the Frontiers in the First World War
	; Contemporary postcard depicting the failure of the German cavalry at Halen
Date	12 August 1914
Location	Halen (Haelen), Limburg Province, Belgium50°56′57″N 05°06′38″E / 50.94917°N 5.11056°E
Result	Belgian victory
Belligerents
Belgium	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Léon De Witte; Adolf Proost;	Georg von der Marwitz
Strength
5 regiments; 2,400 cavalry; 450 infantry cyclists;	6 regiments; 4,000 cavalry; 2,000 infantry;
Casualties and losses
160 killed; 320 wounded;	150 killed; 600 wounded; 300 captured;
	Halen class=notpageimage\| Halen (Haelen), a market town in the province of Limburg in eastern Belgium

The Battle of Halen (German: Gefecht bei Halen), also known as the Battle of the Silver Helmets (Dutch: Slag der Zilveren Helmen; French: Bataille des casques d'argent) because of the many cavalry helmets left behind on the battlefield by the German cuirassiers, took place on 12 August 1914 at the beginning of the First World War, between German forces led by Georg von der Marwitz and Belgian troops led by Léon De Witte. The name of the battle alludes to the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, where 500 pairs of golden spurs were recovered from the battlefield. Halen (Haelen in French) was a small market town and a convenient river crossing of the Gete and was situated on the principal axis of advance of the Imperial German army.^[a] The battle was a Belgian tactical victory, but did little to delay the German invasion of Belgium.
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