The Battle of the Marne—The Race for the Sea—Antwerp, the True Flank—Admiralty Concern about Antwerp—The Neutrality of the Scheldt—Opening of the Siege of Antwerp, September 28—Lord Kitchener’s Plans—Belgian Decision to Evacuate Antwerp—Conference at Lord Kitchener’s House, Midnight, October 2—British Ministers urge further Resistance—My Mission to Antwerp—French Aid Promised—The Situation in Antwerp, October 3—My Proposals to the Belgian and British Governments—Progress of the German Attack—Strange Contrasts—Acceptance of my Proposals by British and Belgian Governments—Chances of Success—Relief Approaching—Fighting of October 5—The Belgian Night Attack Fails—The Front broken in, October 6—Arrival of the British Naval Brigades—Arrival of Sir Henry Rawlinson—Decisions of British and Belgian Council of War, Night of October 6—The Personal Aspect—Five Days Gained.

It is not possible to understand the British attempt to prolong the defence of Antwerp without seeing the episode in its true setting. The following is a simple way of reviewing the military operations in the West up to the point which this account has now reached.

The German armies swept through Belgium intending to turn and drive back the French left and left centre. At the same time after a diversion in Alsace the French centre struck forward on either side of Metz at the German left and left centre. The French hoped that this counter-stroke would rupture the German line and paralyse the turning movement through Belgium. However, after the whole fronts had been in collision for several days of intense battle, it appeared that the French counter-stroke had not ruptured the German line, and that the turning movement through Belgium had succeeded in driving back the French left. Thus by the twentieth day the French right was thrown on to the defensive and their three armies of the left and left centre and the British army were in full retreat southward towards Paris. The Germans therefore were completely successful in the first main shock.

But henceforward the French right stood like a rock in front of Nancy under General de Castelnau, and at the Trouée des Charmes under General Dubail, and the Germans sustained a series of bloody checks. Meanwhile the French left and centre by retreating for five marches extended the pursuing Germans to the utmost while falling back themselves on their own reserves and supplies. And by September 6 (the 37th day) the French armies turned and assumed the offensive on the whole front of 120 miles from Paris to Verdun. In addition a new French army under General Maunoury had come into existence to the north of Paris which attacked the German right, and all the time the resistance of the Nancy army (de Castelnau) and of the army of General Dubail on its right continued unbreakable. Thus from September 6 the whole of the French and German armies and the British Expeditionary Force were locked in general battle on a front of over 180 miles, with practically every division and all their reserves on both sides thrown in.

This battle, which lasted for four days, was the greatest of the war. The Germans aimed not at the capture of Paris or Verdun or Nancy, but at the final destruction of the French military power. Had they succeeded in breaking the French front between Paris and Verdun or in falling upon its rear from the direction of Nancy, nearly half the French Army, certainly more than a million men, would have been cut off in the Verdun angle. The rest, whatever happened in the neighbourhood of Paris, would have had to retreat to the southward and would never again have been numerous enough to form a complete front. Compared with stakes like these, the entry into Paris by the German right flank or the capture of the Channel Ports by a couple of German corps were insignificant and rightly discarded by the German Headquarters. Once the French Army was cut in half and finally beaten, everything would fall into their hands. They therefore directed all their available troops to the battlefield, ignored the Channel Ports, and compelled von Kluck, commanding their right army, to skirt Paris and close in to their main battle front. How near they were to success will long be debated and never decided. But certainly they were within an ace. No military reproach lies upon their disregard of other objectives: but only upon any failure to disregard them. It is not to their neglect to enter Paris or seize Calais that their fatal defeat was due, but rather to the withdrawal of two German army corps to repel the Russian invasion of East Prussia.

The soul of the French nation triumphed in this death struggle, and their armies, defeated on the frontier, turned after the long marches of retreat, and attacked and fought with glorious and desperate tenacity. British attention has naturally been concentrated upon the intense military situation developed before and around Paris, in which our own army played a decisive part; and the various pressures which operated upon von Kluck have now been minutely exposed. Attacked on his right flank and rear by Maunoury’s army while advancing to the main battlefield, he was compelled to counter-march first two of his corps and then his two remaining corps in order to make head against the new danger. Thus a gap of 30 miles was opened in the German line between von Kluck and von Bülow. Into this gap marched the battered but reanimated British army. The tide had turned. But the whole of this great situation about Paris was itself only complementary to the battle as a whole. The gaze of the military student must range along the whole line of the French armies, the defeat of any one of which would have been fatal. Most of all his eye will rest upon the very centre of the Paris-Verdun line, where Foch though driven back maintained his resistance. ‘My centre cedes. My right recoils. Situation excellent. I attack.’ But all the four French armies between Paris and Verdun fought with desperate valour, while Dubail and de Castelnau round the corner maintained their superb defence. And thus, weakened by its rapid advance, the whole German line came to a standstill. And as this condition was reached, the penetration by the British and by the Fifth French army on the British right, of the gap in the German line between von Bülow and von Kluck determined both these commanders in succession to retreat, and thus imposed a retrograde movement upon the whole of the invading hosts. ‘The most formidable avalanche of fire and steel ever let loose upon a nation’ had spent its force.

From the moment when the German hopes of destroying the French armies by a general battle and thus of ending the war at a single stroke had definitely failed, all the secondary and incidental objectives which hitherto they had rightly discarded became of immense consequence. As passion declined, material things resumed their values. The struggle of armies and nations having failed to reach a decision, places recovered their significance, and geography rather than psychology began to rule the lines of war. Paris now unattainable, the Channel Ports—Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne—still naked, and lastly Antwerp, all reappeared in the field of values like submerged rocks when the tidal wave recedes.

The second phase of the war now opened. The French, having heaved the Germans back from the Marne to the Aisne, and finding themselves unable to drive them further by frontal attacks, continually reached out their left hand in the hopes of outflanking their opponents. The race for the sea began. The French began to pass their troops from right to left. Castelnau’s army, marching behind the front from Nancy, crashed into battle in Picardy, striving to turn the German right, and was itself outreached on its left. Foch’s army, corps after corps, hurried by road and rail to prolong the fighting front in Artois; but round the left of this again lapped the numerous German cavalry divisions of von der Marwitz—swoop and counter-swoop. On both sides every man and every gun were hurled as they arrived into the conflict, and the unceasing cannonade drew ever northwards and westwards—ever towards the sea.

Where would the grappling armies strike blue water? At what point on the coast? Which would turn the other’s flank? Would it be north or south of Dunkirk? Or of Gravelines or Calais or Boulogne? Nay, southward still, was Abbeville even attainable? All was committed to the shock of an ever-moving battle. But as the highest goal, the one safe inexpugnable flank for the Allies, the most advanced, the most daring, the most precious—worth all the rest, guarding all the rest—gleamed Antwerp—could Antwerp but hold out.

Antwerp was not only the sole stronghold of the Belgian nation: it was also the true left flank of the Allied front in the west. It guarded the whole line of the Channel Ports. It threatened the flanks and rear of the German armies in France. It was the gateway from which a British army might emerge at any moment upon their sensitive and even vital communications. No German advance to the sea-coast, upon Ostend, upon Dunkirk, upon Calais and Boulogne, seemed possible while Antwerp was unconquered.

My own feeling at the outbreak of the war had been that if the right things were done, Antwerp ought to hold out for two or even three months, that is to say, until we knew the result of the main collision of the armies on all the fronts—French, Russian, Austrian. I rested my thought on Metz and Paris in 1870–71, Plevna in 1878, Port Arthur in 1904. The fall of Namur unsettled these foundations. Still Antwerp, even apart from its permanent fortifications, was a place of great strength, fortified by rivers and inundations, and defended by all that was best in the Belgian nation and by practically its whole Field Army.

I was from the beginning very anxious to do everything that could be done out of our slender resources to aid the Belgian King and nation to maintain their stronghold, and such small items as the Admiralty could spare in guns and ammunition were freely sent. The reports which we received from Antwerp and the telegrams of the Belgian Government already at the beginning of September began to cause me deep concern. So also did the question of the Scheldt, whose free navigation both for troops and munitions seemed vital to the Belgian people.

I thought that Antwerp should be made to play its part in the first phase of the war by keeping as many German troops as possible out of the great battle. If the Belgian Army defending the city could be strengthened by British troops, not only would the defence be invigorated, but the Germans would be continually apprehensive of a British inroad upon them from this direction, the deadliness of which Lord Roberts’s strategic instinct had so clearly appreciated. It was true that we had no troops in England fit to manœuvre in the field against the enemy. But the defence of the fortified lines of Antwerp was a task in which British Territorial troops might well have played their part. Accordingly on September 7 I sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Sir Edward Grey and Lord Kitchener emphasising the importance of Antwerp, particularly from the naval standpoint:—

‘The Admiralty view the sustained and effective defence of Antwerp as a matter of high consequence. It preserves the life of the Belgian nation: it safeguards a strategic point which, if captured, would be of the utmost menace.’

In order to save Antwerp, two things were necessary: first, effective defence of the fortress line; and second, free uninterrupted communication with the sea. The first was tolerably well provided for by the Belgian Army which could easily be reinforced by British Territorial troops. But the second essential, the free communication with the sea, was a larger matter, and in it were involved our relations with the Dutch. I proposed that we should request the Dutch Government to give a free passage up the Scheldt to Antwerp for whatever troops and supplies were needed. I pointed out further that it was impossible to try to supply an army at Antwerp by Ostend and Ghent; that the appeals which the Belgians were then making to us to send 25,000 troops to co-operate with an equal number of Belgian troops for the purpose of keeping open the line Antwerp-St. Nicholas-Ghent-Bruges-Ostend was a counsel of despair.

‘It involves practically a flank position for a line of supply protected by forces large enough to be hit hard and perfectly powerless against any determined German attack which it is thought worth while to deliver. At any moment a punch up from Brussels by a German division or larger force would rupture the line, and drive the troops trying to hold it to be disarmed on neutral Dutch territory or into the sea.’

I dwelt on the disadvantages to the Allies of a neutrality which kept the Rhine open for Germany and closed the Scheldt to Antwerp.

As these questions are still of some delicacy I have thought it better to summarise rather than reprint my memorandum. But I draw the reader’s attention to the date—September 7.

I still think that strong representations to the Dutch Government might well have induced them to grant this relief to Antwerp and the Belgian nation in their agony. The original guarantee of Belgian neutrality was given to the Government of the Netherlands, and it would have been a natural and legitimate demand that they should put no needless obstacle in the way of its fulfilment. The sympathies of Holland for the sufferings of Belgium were naturally restrained by the fear of sharing her fate. But a neutral Holland was of far more use to Germany than a hostile, a conquered, or even an allied Holland. Once Holland was attacked by or allied to Germany we could close the Rhine, and if we were in alliance with Holland, the Texel and other Dutch islands of enormous strategic importance would become available for the forward action of the British Navy. We should in fact have that oversea base without which a British naval offensive was impossible. I do not therefore believe that if Holland had agreed to open the Scheldt for the succour of Antwerp, Germany would have declared war upon her. There would have been a long argument about interpretations of neutrality in which the Germans, after their behaviour, would have started at a great disadvantage. I still think that if Holland could have said to Germany ‘the English are threatening us with a blockade of the Rhine if we do not open the Scheldt,’ Germany would have accepted the lesser of two evils.

The Foreign Secretary did not, however, feel able to put this grave issue to the Dutch Government. Neither did Lord Kitchener wish to use the British Territorial Divisions in the manner proposed, and while adhering to my own opinion I certainly do not blame him. He would not send any Territorials into Antwerp, nor was anything effective done by the Allies for the city during the whole of September. From the moment when German Main Headquarters had extricated and reformed their armies after the failure at the Marne, the capture of Antwerp became most urgently necessary to them. Accordingly on the afternoon of September 9, as is now known, the German Emperor was moved to order the capture of that city. Nothing was apparent to the Allies until the 28th. The Belgian and German troops remained in contact along the fortress line without any serious siege or assaulting operations developing. But on the 28th the Germans suddenly opened fire upon the forts of the Antwerp exterior lines with 17–inch howitzers hurling projectiles of over a ton.

Almost immediately the Belgian Government gave signs of justified alarm. British intelligence reports indicated that the Germans were seriously undertaking the siege of Antwerp, that their operations were not intended as a demonstration to keep the Belgian troops occupied or to protect the lines of communication. Information had come from Brussels that the Emperor had ordered the capture of the town, that this might cost thousands of lives, but that the order must be obeyed. Large bodies of German reserve troops were also reported assembling near Liége. In view of all these reports it was evident that the rôle of our small British force of marines, omnibuses, armoured cars, aeroplanes, etc., operating from Dunkirk was exhausted. They had no longer to deal with Uhlan patrols or raiding parties of the enemy. Large hostile forces were approaching the coastal area, and the imposture whereby we had remained in occupation of Lille and Tournai could be sustained no longer.

Lord Kitchener was disquieted by the opening of the bombardment upon the Antwerp forts. He immediately sent (on September 29) a staff officer, Colonel Dallas, into the city to report direct to him on the situation. On the evening of October 1 this officer reported that:—

‘The Belgian War Minister considered the situation very grave. Did not think that resistance to the German attack could be maintained by defensive measures only within the fortress. That the only way to save Antwerp from falling was by a diversion from outside on the German left flank. That the French had offered a division and that he looked forward to co-operation by an English force also if that could be arranged.’

The minister had also said

‘That a Belgian cavalry division and some volunteers, and possibly two divisions of the Belgian Field Army would be able to assist in the operation which would be most effective in the neighbourhood of Ghent.’

The Commander of the Antwerp fortress also considered the situation grave, and while Colonel Dallas was with him a message arrived to say that Fort Ste. Catherine had fallen, that the German troops had pressed forward between it and the adjoining work, and had occupied the Belgian infantry trenches at this point.

Colonel Dallas further reported that according to the Belgian headquarters the German Army in Belgium comprised—‘Siege army, consisting of the 3rd Reserve Army Corps, 1 division of marines, 1 Ersatz reserve division, 1 brigade of Landsturm, 2 regiments of pioneers, 1 regiment of siege artillery.’ And that ‘The troops of the Military Government of Brussels consist of a weak Landwehr brigade and some Bavarian Landsturm, number unknown.’

The Belgian Field Army was about 80,000 strong, in addition to which there were some 70,000 fortress troops. Four divisions of the Belgian Army were defending the southern portion of the outer perimeter of the Antwerp defences, with the 5th Division in reserve, and one weak division was at Termonde. A cavalry division of about 3,600 sabres was south-west of Termonde guarding communications between Antwerp and the coast. Ghent was held by some volunteers.

On the night of October 1, Sir F. Villiers reported that

‘On southern section of the outer line of forts German attacks continued to-day, and in the afternoon the enemy’s troops disabled fort Wavre, Ste. Catherine and adjoining works, and occupied Belgian trenches at this point.’

The Belgian troops were, however, still holding out on the Belgian side of the River Nethe.

Lord Kitchener now showed himself strongly disposed to sustain the defence or effect the relief of Antwerp, and to use the regular forces he still had in England for this purpose, provided the French would co-operate effectively. Early in the afternoon of October 2 he moved Sir Edward Grey to send the following telegram to the British Ambassador at Bordeaux:—

‘The French Government should be informed that military advisers here consider that in view of the superior forces Germany has in the field there, the dispatch of a French Territorial division with the additions proposed in ten days’ time, together with the force we are prepared to send, would not be able effectively to force the Germans to raise the siege of Antwerp.

‘Unless something more can be done they do not advise the dispatch of the force. We are sending some heavy artillery with personnel to assist Belgians.

‘Situation at Antwerp is very grave, and French Government will fully realise the serious effect on the campaign that would be entailed by its loss.

‘Unless the main situation in France can be decided favourably in a short time, which would enable us to relieve Antwerp by detaching a proper force, it is most desirable that General Joffre should make an effort and send regular troops to region of Dunkirk, from which post they could operate in conjunction with our reinforcements to relieve Antwerp.

‘We can send some first-line troops, but not sufficient by themselves to raise the siege of Antwerp, and we cannot send them to co-operate with any but French regulars.

‘If General Joffre can bring about a decisively favourable action in France in two or three days the relief of Antwerp may be made the outcome of that, but if not, unless he now sends some regular troops the loss of Antwerp must be contemplated.’

All he was able to send to Antwerp was the following:—

‘Be very careful not to raise hopes of British and French forces arriving quickly to relieve Antwerp. The matter has not been decided, as the Territorial division offered by France in ten days’ time would, in my opinion, be quite incapable of doing anything towards changing the situation at Antwerp. I have represented this. Unless a change is made, I consider it would be useless to put in our little force against the very superior German forces in the field round Antwerp.’

He then entered in some detail upon the few guns he was sending, giving particular directions about the use of the two 9·2’s.

Up to this point I had not been brought into the affair in any way. I read, of course, all the telegrams almost as soon as they were received or dispatched by Lord Kitchener, and followed the situation constantly. I warmly approved the efforts which Lord Kitchener was making to provide or obtain succour for Antwerp, and I shared to the full his anxieties. I saw him every day. But I had no personal responsibility, nor was I directly concerned. My impression at this time was that the situation at Antwerp was serious but not immediately critical; that the place would certainly hold out for a fortnight more; and that meanwhile Lord Kitchener’s exertions or the influence of the main battle in France would bring relief. So much was this the case that I proposed to be absent from the Admiralty for about eighteen hours on the 2nd–3rd October.

I had planned to visit Dunkirk on October 3 on business connected with the Marine Brigade and other details sent there at General Joffre’s request. At 11 o’clock on the night of the 2nd I was some twenty miles out of London on my way to Dover when the special train in which I was travelling suddenly stopped, and without explanation returned to Victoria Station. I was told on arrival I was to go immediately to Lord Kitchener’s house in Carlton Gardens. Here I found shortly before midnight besides Lord Kitchener, Sir Edward Grey, the First Sea Lord, and Sir William Tyrrell of the Foreign Office. They showed me the following telegram from our Minister, Sir Frederick Villiers, sent from Antwerp at 8.20 p.m. and received in London at 10 p.m. on October 2:—

The Government have decided to leave to-morrow for Ostend, acting on advice unanimously given by Superior Council of War in presence of the King. The King with field army will withdraw, commencing with advanced guard to-morrow in the direction of Ghent to protect coast-line, and eventually it is hoped to co-operate with the Allied armies. The Queen will also leave.

It is said that town will hold out for five or six days, but it seems most unlikely that when the Court and Government are gone resistance will be so much prolonged.

Decision taken very suddenly this afternoon is result of increasingly critical situation. I have seen both Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, who maintain that no other course was possible, in view of danger that the King’s Government and field army will be caught here.

I saw that my colleagues had received this news, which they had already been discussing for half an hour, with consternation. The rapidity with which the situation had degenerated was utterly unexpected. That the great fortress and city of Antwerp with its triple line of forts and inundations, defended by the whole Belgian Field Army (a force certainly equal in numbers to all the German troops in that neighbourhood), should collapse in perhaps forty-eight hours seemed to all of us not only terrible but incomprehensible. That this should happen while preparations were in progress both in France and England for the relief or succour of the city, while considerable forces of fresh and good troops undoubtedly stood available on both sides of the Channel, and before General Joffre had even been able to reply to Lord Kitchener’s telegram, was too hard to bear. We looked at each other in bewilderment and distress. What could have happened in the last few hours to make the Belgians despair? Our last telegram from Colonel Dallas, received that afternoon, had said: ‘Situation unchanged during night and Germans have not made further progress. Great slaughter of Germans reported and corresponding encouragement to Belgians, who are about to undertake counter-attack in neighbourhood of Fort Ste. Catherine.’ And now a message at 10 p.m. announced immediate evacuation and impending fall!

Those who in years to come look back upon the first convulsions of this frightful epoch will find it easy with after knowledge and garnered experience to pass sagacious judgments on all that was done or left undone. There is always a strong case for doing nothing, especially for doing nothing yourself. But to the small group of Ministers who met that midnight in Lord Kitchener’s house, the duty of making sure that Antwerp was not cast away without good cause while the means of saving it might well be at hand was clear. I urged strongly that we should not give in without a struggle: and we decided unitedly upon the following telegram to Sir F. Villiers:—

The importance of Antwerp being held justifies a further effort till the course of the main battle in France is determined. We are trying to send you help from the main army, and, if this were possible, would add reinforcements from here. Meanwhile a brigade of Marines will reach you to-morrow to sustain the defence. We urge you to make one further struggle to hold out. Even a few days may make the difference. We hope Government will find it possible to remain and field army to continue operations.

On the other hand, the danger of urging the Belgian Government to hold out against their considered judgment without a full knowledge of the local situation was present in every mind, and even if the forces for the relieving army were to come into view, there was much to be arranged and decided before precise dates and definite assurances could be given. We were confronted with the hard choice of having either to take decisions of far-reaching importance in the utmost haste and with imperfect information, or on the other hand tamely to let Antwerp fall.

In these circumstances, it was a natural decision that some one in authority who knew the general situation should travel swiftly into the city and there ascertain what could be done on either side. As I was already due at Dunkirk the next morning, the task was confided to me: Lord Kitchener expressed a decided wish that I should go; the First Sea Lord consented to accept sole responsibility in my absence. It was then about half-past one in the morning. I went at once to Victoria Station, got into my train which was waiting, and started again for Dover. A few minutes before I left, Lord Kitchener received the answer to his telegram of the 2nd from the British Ambassador in Bordeaux. Sir Francis Bertie said that before he could carry out the instructions sent him about Antwerp, he had received a letter from the French Foreign Minister stating that with the shortest delay possible two Territorial Divisions, complete with artillery and cavalry, would be sent to Ostend for the relief of the fortress. This was to be without prejudice to what the French Government expected to do very soon in respect of ‘a contemplated combined movement, French, British and Belgian, on the extreme left of General Joffre’s armies which indirectly would have the effect of causing German troops in the neighbourhood of Antwerp to retreat, and so effect its relief.’ The French Government, he said, could not go back on their decision to employ Territorials. The French Foreign Minister declared that the Territorials were good troops, better in some respects than some of the Regulars, and that they were sending two divisions complete, with artillery and cavalry, instead of one. Sir Francis Bertie added that the French Government had received reports from its Attaché in Antwerp stating that ‘though the military situation there was not good, it could not be regarded as really bad. The Germans had suffered severe losses in the attacks which they had made on some of the outer works. Those attacks had not been simultaneous, which fact indicated that the Germans were not in great force, had only a limited siege train and not more than two army corps before Antwerp.’

Meanwhile a telegram was also sent (1.15 a.m. October 3) by Sir Edward Grey to the Belgian Government saying that I would arrive on the morning of the 3rd.

‘It is hoped that the First Lord of the Admiralty, who is fully acquainted with our views, may have the honour of an audience with the King before a final decision as to the departure of the Government is taken.’

On this the Belgian Council of War, sitting at dawn on the 3rd, suspended the order for the evacuation of the city.

‘I communicated at once with Minister of War,’ telegraphed Sir F. Villiers, October 3, 6.37 a.m. ‘He summoned a meeting of Ministers, who, after deliberation, informed me that, awaiting arrival of First Lord they had decided to postpone departure. Audience with King for Mr. Churchill will be arranged for at as early an hour as possible.’

Lord Kitchener now threw himself into the task of concentrating and organising a relieving Army. He telegraphed at 9.40 a.m. on October 3 asking the French War Minister to make all preparations to send the proposed two divisions with cavalry and artillery complete as soon as possible and to let him know how soon they could be dispatched. He was asked in reply whether he would prefer one Territorial Division with a complete brigade of Fusiliers Marins. He replied that he preferred the two divisions, and that the question of time was of the greatest importance and urgency. He was told, however, that it had been decided to send the Fusiliers Marins after all. He replied that whichever was most convenient to the French should be sent, so long as it was sent with the least delay possible. He telegraphed to his Staff Officer in Antwerp, Colonel Dallas, at 2.15 p.m. October 3:—

‘What force in your opinion would suffice? Give full details of what troops are most required to deal with the situation in co-operation with the Belgian Field Army.

‘The French Government say they will send two divisions with full complement of cavalry and artillery, but I do not yet know when they will be available. If a corps of our troops, under Sir John French, together with the 7th Division, and cavalry division from here, [were] concentrated at Lille in order to attack the right flank of the main German Army and drive it back, would this action, if accomplished in about four or five days, in your opinion, relieve the situation at Antwerp quickly enough to prevent the fall of the place, or must any troops employed to relieve Antwerp be sent there via Zeebrugge, and, if so, can you give me approximately the longest time we can have to get troops there, so that I can inform the French Government?’

At 7.35 on the same afternoon the composition of the French contingent was received from the British Ambassador:—

‘87th Territorial Division from Havre, under General Roy, consisting of 12 battalions of infantry, 2 groups of artillery (90–millimetre guns), 2 squadrons of reserve cavalry (Dragoons), now being formed at Dunkirk, 1 engineer company, headquarters and staff and usual services attached to a division.

‘The Fusiliers Marins brigade, under command of Rear-Admiral Ronarc’h, will be composed of two regiments of Fusiliers Marins (6,000), 86 mitrailleuses manned by seamen (260), 1 regiment of Zouaves (2,000). Total of contingent about 23,000 men.

‘The Havre division will embark there on 5th October, and should be landed at Dunkirk 7th October.

‘The Fusiliers Marins brigade will be sent to Dunkirk by land instead of by sea. It will arrive at Dunkirk at about same time as the Territorial division, namely, 7th October.’

I did not reach the city till after 3 p.m., and after consulting with Colonel Dallas I was visited by the Belgian Prime Minister. Monsieur de Broqueville was a man of exceptional vigour and clarity both of mind and speech. He had been called to the helm of the Belgian State at the moment of the decision not to submit to wrongful aggression. He explained to me the situation with precision. General de Guise, the commander of the fortress, added his comments. The outer forts were falling one by one. Five or six shells from the enormous German howitzers were sufficient to smash them to their foundations, to destroy their defenders even in the deepest casemates, and to wreck the platforms of the guns. Now the forts of the inner line were being similarly attacked, and there was no conceivable means of preventing their destruction one after another at the rate of about a fort a day. The army was tired and dispirited through having been left so long entirely upon its own resources without ever a sign of the Allies for whom they had risked so much. Material of every kind—guns, ammunition, searchlights, telephones, entrenching materials—was scanty. The water supply of the city had been cut off. There were many rumours of German sympathisers in its large population. At any moment the front might be broken in under the heavy artillery attack which was then in progress. But this was only half the danger. The life and honour of the Belgian nation did not depend on Antwerp, but on its army. To lose Antwerp was disastrous; to lose the army as well was fatal. The Scheldt was barred by a severe interpretation of neutrality. The only line of retreat was by a dangerous flank march parallel to the Dutch frontier and the sea-coast. Two Belgian divisions and the cavalry division were staving off the Germans from this only remaining line of retreat. But the pressure was increasing and the line of the Dendre was no longer intact. If Ghent fell before the Belgian Army made good its retreat, nothing would be saved from the ruin.

In these circumstances they had decided first to withdraw to what was called the entrenched camp on the left bank of the Scheldt, that is to say, towards their right; and, secondly, in the same direction through Ghent towards the left flank of the Allied armies. These orders had been suspended in consequence of the telegram from the British Government.

I then exposed Lord Kitchener’s plan and stated the numbers of the French and British troops already available for the assistance of the Belgian Army. I emphasised the importance of holding the city and delaying the Germans as long as possible without compromising the retreat of the army. I pointed out that the issue of the battle for the seaward flank still hung in the balance, and that the main armies were drawing nearer to Belgium every day. I asked whether the relieving forces mentioned, if actually sent, would influence their decision. They replied that this was a new situation; that had this help been forthcoming earlier, events might have taken a different course. Even now, if their line of retreat were safeguarded by the arrival of Allied troops in the neighbourhood of Ghent, they were prepared to continue the resistance. I thereupon drew up, with their approval and agreement, the following telegram to Lord Kitchener:—

‘Subject to confirmation on both sides, I have made following arrangement with M. de Broqueville, Prime Minister:—

‘Every preparation to be made by Belgian Government now for a resistance of at least ten days, and every step taken with utmost energy. Within three days we are to state definitely whether we can launch big field operation for their relief or not, and when it will probably take effect. If we cannot give them a satisfactory assurance of substantial assistance within three days, they are to be quite free to abandon defence if they think fit. In this case, should they wish to clear out with field army, we (although not able to launch the big operation) are to help their field army to get away by sending covering troops to Ghent or other points on line of retreat. Thus, anything they will have lost in time by going on defending Antwerp with all their strength will be made up to them as far as possible by help on their way out.

‘Further, we will meanwhile help their local defence in all minor ways, such as guns, marines, naval brigades, etc.

‘I have put the terms high to avoid at all costs our undertaking anything we could not perform, and also to avoid hurry in our saying what troops we can spare for big operations. You will be able, as your telegram No. 7 (to Colonel Dallas) indicates, to do much better than this, and to give decided promise within three days, but the vital thing is that Belgian Government and army should forthwith hurl themselves with revived energy into the defence.

‘Attack is being harshly pressed at this moment, and half measures would be useless, but Prime Minister informs me that they are confident they can hold out for three days, pretty sure they can hold out for six, and will try ten.

‘This arrangement, if adopted, will give time necessary for problem to be solved calmly.

‘Two thousand marines are arriving this evening.

‘I am remaining here till to-morrow.

‘I have read this telegram to Belgian Prime Minister, who says that we are in full agreement, subject to ratification by Council of Ministers which is now being held.

‘If you clinch these propositions, pray give the following order to the Admiralty: Send at once both naval brigades, minus recruits, via Dunkirk, into Antwerp, with five days’ rations and 2,000,000 rounds of ammunition, but without tents or much impedimenta.

‘When can they arrive?’

I had been met on arrival by Admiral Oliver, the Director of the Naval Intelligence Division. This officer had been sent by the Admiralty on September 29 to see what could be done to disable the large quantity of merchant shipping which lay in the Scheldt, so that if the city fell it could not be used by the Germans for embarking troops to invade England. He was a great stand-by in this time of stress. Night and day he laboured on the ships. With the assistance only of a Belgian sapper officer, four privates and a Belgian boy scout, he inserted explosive charges between the cylinders of thirty-eight large vessels, and by this means ruptured the propelling machinery so that not one of them was fit to go down the Scheldt during the whole of the German occupation.

While waiting for the reply from London that afternoon and also the next morning, I went out and examined the front: a leafy enclosed country, absolutely flat; a crescent of peering German kite balloons; a continuous bombardment; scarcely anything in the nature of an infantry attack; wearied and disheartened defenders. It was extremely difficult to get a clear view and so understand what kind of fighting was actually going on. We were, however, at length able to reach the actual inundations beyond which the enemy was posted. Entrenching here was impossible for either side, owing to the water met with at a foot’s depth. The Belgian pickets crouched behind bushes. There was at that moment no rifle fire, but many shells traversed the air overhead on their way to the Belgian lines.

Although the artillery fire of the Germans at Antwerp was at no time comparable to the great bombardments afterwards witnessed on the Western Front, it was certainly severe. The Belgian trenches were broad and shallow, and gave hardly any protection to their worn-out and in many cases inexperienced troops. As we walked back from the edge of these inundations along a stone-paved high road, it was a formidable sight to see on either hand the heavy shells bursting in salvoes of threes and fours with dense black smoke near or actually inside these scanty shelters in which the supporting troops were kneeling in fairly close order. Every prominent building—château, tower or windmill—was constantly under fire; shrapnel burst along the roadway, and half a mile to the left a wooded enclosure was speckled with white puffs. Two or three days at least would be required to make sound breastworks or properly constructed and drained trenches or rifle pits. Till then it must be mainly an affair of hedges and of houses; and the ineffective trenches were merely shell traps.

Antwerp presented a case, till the Great War unknown, of an attacking force marching methodically without regular siege operations through a permanent fortress line behind advancing curtains of artillery fire. Fort after fort was wrecked by the two or three monster howitzers; and line after line of shallow trenches was cleared by the fire of field guns. And following gingerly upon these iron footprints, German infantry, weak in numbers, raw in training, inferior in quality, wormed and waddled their way forward into ‘the second strongest fortress in Europe.’

As the fire of the German guns drew ever nearer to the city, and the shells began to fall each day upon new areas, the streams of country folk escaping from their ruined homes trickled pitifully along the roads, interspersed with stragglers and wounded. Antwerp itself preserved a singular calm. The sunlit streets were filled with people listening moodily to the distant firing. The famous spires and galleries of this ancient seat of wealth and culture, the spacious warehouses along the Scheldt, the splendid hotels ‘with every modern convenience,’ the general air of life, prosperity and civilisation created an impression of serene security wholly contradicted by the underlying facts. It was a city in a trance.

The Marines did not arrive until the morning of the 4th, and went immediately into the line. When I visited them the same evening they were already engaged with the Germans in the outskirts of Lierre. Here, for the first time, I saw German soldiers creeping forward from house to house or darting across the street. The Marines fired with machine-guns from a balcony. The flashes of the rifles and the streams of flame pulsating from the mouth of the machine-guns lit up a warlike scene amid crashing reverberations and the whistle of bullets.

Twenty minutes in a motor-car, and we were back in the warmth and light of one of the best hotels in Europe, with its perfectly appointed tables and attentive servants all proceeding as usual!

The reply of the British Government reached me on the morning of the 4th, and I sent it at once to Monsieur de Broqueville.