During World War I, Zwijndrecht and Burcht and its two forts were part of the Belgian defensive line. By 1914, the two villages were full of Belgian soldiers, and orders were issued to reinforce the Fort of Zwijndrecht and the Fort of Kruibeke. Local civilian residents were recruited for the reinforcement work, soldiers were quartered in private homes and factories, farmers were required to loan their horses and carts for military use, and food and goods were confiscated for the military. In spite of all efforts, Belgium fell to the Germans in October 1914 and Burcht and Zwijndrecht, like all the German-occupied communities in Belgium, suffered greatly for the next four years from food shortages. By the end of the war, 80 young people from Zwijndrecht and Burcht had perished on the front. 82 civilian unemployed civilians from Burcht as well as 99 non-unemployed citizens had been deported to Germany as forced labor. In addition, 5 civilians were deported to Germany for political reasons. A total of 8 citizens from Burcht lost their lives as a result of these deportations. Zwijndrecht counted 155 forced laborers and civilian prisoners deported to Germany, of which 5 did not survive. Three of these, Jan Baptist Wathy and Jozef and Frans Van Gaever lost their lives when the ship transporting them was torpedoed.