The Purpose of the Antwerp Effort—The Belgian Army effects its Retreat—Loss and Gain—Ten Precious Days—Onslaught of the German Reinforcements—The Struggle for the Channel Ports—Labours of the Admiralty—Achievements of the Transport Department—Correspondence with Sir John French—General Joffre requests Naval Support—Admiral Hood’s Operations on the Belgian Coast—Commodore Tyrwhitt destroys the German Torpedo Boats—The German Armies reach Salt Water—Beginning of the Battle of the Yser—The Inshore Squadron—‘One Flank the Germans cannot turn’—Further Correspondence with Sir John French—The Crisis of the Battle—The German Advance Stemmed—Effect of Antwerp on the Main Decision.

The object of prolonging the defence of Antwerp was, as has been explained, to give time for the French and British Armies to rest their left upon that fortress and hold the Germans from the seaboard along a line Antwerp-Ghent-Lille. This depended not only upon the local operations but on the result of the series of outflanking battles which marked the race for the sea. A decisive victory gained by the French in the neighbourhood of Peronne, or by the British beyond Armentières and towards Lille would have opened all this prospect. High French authorities have concluded that a more rapid and therefore no doubt more daring transference of force from the right and centre of the French front to its left, ‘looking sixty kilometres ahead instead of twenty-five,’ and generally a more vigorous attempt to outflank the Germans following immediately upon the victory of the Marne and the arrest of the armies at the Aisne, might well have shouldered the Germans not only away from the sea, but even out of a large part of occupied France. In the event, however, and with the forces employed, the French and British did not succeed in turning the enemy’s flank. The battles at Albert, La Bassée and Armentières produced no decisive result; Peronne and Lille could not be reached and the fighting lines continued simply to prolong themselves to the north-west. The retention of Antwerp would have rewarded the victory of the main armies with a prize of the utmost value. Its extended resistance diminished the consequences of their failure. Everything at Antwerp had depended on a victory to the southward. And this victory had been denied. Nevertheless, as will now be shown, the effort was fruitful in a remarkable degree.

The fall of Antwerp released the besieging army. A marine division marched into the city on the 10th.^[69] The rest of the German divisions were already streaming south and west in hot pursuit, and hoped for interception of the Belgian Army. But a surprise awaited them.

On the night of the 9th the German forces who had crossed the Dendre river had come in contact with French Fusiliers Marins at Melle and Meirelbeke, and during the 10th they found themselves in presence of British regular troops of unknown strength, whose patrols were feeling their way forward from Ghent to meet them. The 7th Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division had come upon the scene in accordance with the fourth condition of the Anglo-Belgian agreement of October 4. The British, French and Belgian forces from Ghent thus threatened the left flank of any serious German cutting-off movement northwards to the Dutch frontier.

Uncertain of the size of the army by which they were confronted, and mystified by the indefinite possibilities of landings from the sea, the Germans paused to collect their strength. They knew that the bulk of the British Army had already left the Aisne. Where was it? Where would it reappear? What were these British regulars, who stood so confidently in their path? On the 12th when they considered themselves strong enough to advance upon Ghent, the whole of the Belgian Field Army had passed the dangerous points in safety, only one single squadron being intercepted. Of this complicated operation the victorious Germans became spectators.

Only weak parties of Germans ventured beyond Lokeren during the night of the 9th–10th to molest the retreat of the Antwerp troops. The 2nd Belgian Division and two out of the three Naval Brigades came through intact. But the railway and other arrangements for the rear brigade were misunderstood, and about two and a half battalions of very tired troops, who through the miscarriage of an order had lost some hours, were led across the Dutch frontier in circumstances on which only those who know their difficulties are entitled to form a judgment.

If the Belgian Field Army had begun its withdrawal on October 3, as originally intended, it could probably have got safely without aid to Ghent and beyond. But the fortress troops, numbering many thousands, to whom it had been throughout resolved to confide the last defence of Antwerp, must in any case have been driven into surrender to the invader or internment in Holland once the Field Army had gone. The prolongation of the defence and the delay in the departure of the Field Army neither bettered nor worsened their fortunes. They, therefore, do not enter into any calculation of the loss and gain attendant on the attempted operation of relief. So far as actual results are concerned, the damage caused by the bombardment of the city, which was not extensive, and the internment of two and a half British Naval battalions, on the one hand, must be weighed against the gain of five days in the resistance and the influence exercised on subsequent events by the 7th Division and 3rd Cavalry Division on the other.

At the time the British Government decided to send help to Antwerp the total German field force in Northern Belgium had been correctly estimated at four or five divisions. But before the city capitulated and while the British troops were still at Ghent, there began to manifest itself that tremendous unexpected development of German force which from the moment of Antwerp’s fall was launched against the Allied left and aimed at Calais.

Besides the liberated Siege Army and the troops which had threatened the Antwerp communications, no fewer than four fresh Army Corps (XXIInd, XXIIIrd, XXVIth and XXVIIth), newly formed in Germany and concentrating in Belgium, were already at hand. And in front of this formidable army there stood from October 10 to October 21 only the wearied Belgians, the Fusiliers Marins, and the British 3rd Cavalry and 7th Divisions. The caution of the German advance may perhaps have been induced by their uncertainty as to the whereabouts and intentions of the British Army, and their fear that it might be launched against their right from the sea flank. But, however explained, the fact remains, and to it we owe the victory of the Yser and Ever-Glorious Ypres.

A simple examination of dates will reveal the magnitude of the peril which the Allied cause escaped. Antwerp fell twenty-four hours after the last division of the Belgian Field Army left the city. Had this taken place on October 3rd or 4th, the city would have surrendered on the 4th or 5th. No British 4th Corps^[70] or Fusiliers Marins would have been at Ghent to cover the Belgian retreat. But assuming that the Belgian Army had made this good unaided, the same marches would have carried them and their German pursuers to the Yser by the 10th. There would have been nothing at all in front of Ypres. Sir John French could not come into action north of Armentières till the 15th. His detrainments at St. Omer, etc., were not completed till the 19th. Sir Douglas Haig with the 1st Corps could not come into line north of Ypres till about the 21st. Had the German Siege Army been released on the 5th, and followed by their great reinforcements already available advanced at once nothing could have saved Dunkirk, and perhaps Calais and Boulogne. The loss of Dunkirk was certain and that of both Calais and Boulogne probable. Ten days were wanted, and ten days were won.

We had now without respite to meet the great German drive against the Channel ports. The six divisions released from the siege of Antwerp, and the eight new divisions, whose apparition had been so unexpected to the British and French Staffs, rolled southward in a double-banked wave. The Belgian Army trooped back in a melancholy procession along the sea-shore to the Yser. General Rawlinson, with the 7th Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division, extricating himself skilfully from large German forces—how great was not then known—and lingering at each point to the last minute without becoming seriously engaged, found himself by October 15 in the neighbourhood of a place called Ypres.^[71] Meanwhile Sir John French, detraining at St. Omer, and hopefully believing that he was turning the German right, struck through Armentières towards Lille, and sent imperative orders to Rawlinson, over whose head the storm was about to break, to advance in conformity and seize Menin. The French forces intended for the relief of Antwerp and the beginnings of larger French reinforcements endeavoured to close the gap between Rawlinson and the Belgians. The dykes were opened and large inundations began to appear. In this manner was formed a thin, new, loosely organised, yet continuous allied front from the neighbourhood of La Bassée to the sea at the mouth of the Yser; and upon this front, which grew up and fixed itself at every point in and by the actual collision of hostile forces, was now to be fought the third great battle in the West.

These events involved the Admiralty at many points. The position of Rawlinson’s troops in the presence of vastly superior forces was precarious, and for some days we stood ready to re-embark them. We laboured to salve everything possible from the Belgian wreck. The Royal Naval Division must be brought back to refit, reorganise and resume its interrupted training. The Admiralty details—aeroplanes, armoured trains, armoured cars, motor omnibus transport, etc.—with which I had been endeavouring during the previous weeks to conceal our nakedness in the vital coastal area, could now be merged in the arriving British armies.

It would not have been possible to deal with these complications—themselves only one subsidiary part of our task—unless Prince Louis and I, working in complete accord, had had the power to give orders covering the whole business which were unquestioningly obeyed. Yet some of the orders which I was forced to give to the Admiralty Transport Department left me with misgivings that we were asking more than they could do. Fortunately, a few weeks before, I had taken the step of appointing in the place of the retired Admiral who usually directed this cardinal machine the young civilian Assistant Director of Transports, whose abilities in conference and on paper were distinguished. Often in these weeks and in the succeeding months I had to turn to Mr. Graeme Thomson’s department with hard and complex demands. Never did they fail. October 10 was the climax of their strain. I cannot do better than quote the minute I wrote at the time:—

1. Between 5,000 and 6,000 men of the R.N. Division are assembling at Ostend. They will not be ready to embark until to-morrow, the 11th. The whole of these, including Marines, should sail after dark on the 11th for Dover and proceed to the camp at Deal, all previous orders to the contrary being cancelled.

2. 1,500 Belgian recruits and volunteers are at Ostend, and are to be embarked at once for Cherbourg, the French authorities being informed by telegram.

3. The transportation of the 11,000 Belgian recruits and reservists at Dunkirk to Cherbourg is to continue without intermission as rapidly as possible. The Belgians will be rationed by the Admiralty while on board ship, and the Belgians at Dunkirk will be rationed from the supplies of the R.N. Division until embarked.

4. All transports are to leave Zeebrugge at once, and all transports, other than those employed above, which are not accommodated in safe shelter at Ostend, are to leave in both cases for convenient British ports.

5. Enough transports to embark the 7th Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division are to be kept in immediate readiness, with steam up, for the next forty-eight hours, in Ostend, Dunkirk, Dover, and the Thames. It is unlikely, having regard to the military situation, that any re-embarkation will be required, but we must be continually prepared for it, and should an emergency arise, both Zeebrugge and Ostend must be used, notwithstanding any risks. Flotilla dispositions to be arranged accordingly. General Rawlinson to be informed that we are holding these ships in readiness, and that he should communicate direct with the Admiralty by telephone if at any moment the situation renders his re-embarkation likely. We are assuming that he could give us twelve hours’ notice, within which time the transports could be counted upon.

6. All Marines and R.N. Division details at Dunkirk are to be re-embarked and brought back via Dover to Deal.

7. Colonel Osmaston’s Marine Artillery are to remain at Dunkirk for the present.

8. The armoured trains and naval ratings working them, and all available aeroplanes and armed motor-cars, except those now at Dunkirk under the command of Commander Samson, are placed under the orders of General Rawlinson.

9. The three monitors are to be held in readiness, with steam up, to cover a re-embarkation at Ostend or Zeebrugge, should it become necessary. General Rawlinson is to be told to telephone or telegraph if at any time he thinks such naval protection will be required.

10. The Transport Department will provide whatever ships are necessary to carry the stores, ammunition, and matériel of the Belgian field army. The transports standing by for the 7th Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division are a prior claim on our resources. But as there is no doubt that we can meet the two, the Transport Department is to get into direct telephonic communication with the Belgian authorities and arrange forthwith for the beginning of the embarkation of these stores. For the embarkation of stores, as apart from troops, Zeebrugge may be used equally with Ostend.

11. 8,000 to 10,000 Belgian wounded are to be evacuated from Ostend to England as speedily as possible. The Transport Department is to make proposals and preparations for their movement, while at the same time the necessary arrangements for their reception in this country are being concerted by the medical authorities.

12. All motor transports of the R.N. Division, excluding armed and other motor-cars under Commander Samson actually employed, are to be collected at Dunkirk under Colonel Dumble, who is to reorganise them as quickly as possible, and will receive further instructions on that subject.

It was with a feeling of relief and of admiration that I saw all these immense demands smoothly and punctually complied with.

While in Antwerp I had been in constant communication with Sir John French both through Colonel Bridges and by aeroplane. On October 5 he had written, ‘Thank you so much for writing so fully and clearly to me from Antwerp. If the place is to be saved you have saved it by your prompt action. As a matter of principle I hate putting mobile troops inside a fortress, but in this case it is very likely that the appearance of a large force inside the place may have a great moral effect. But the situation ought to be most carefully watched....’ The Field Marshal proceeded to complain of the exclusion by Lord Kitchener of the forces under General Rawlinson from the main British army. What would happen if and when he joined up with them? Other points of difference arose between the Commander-in-Chief and the Secretary of State. ‘I shall do the best I can,’ the former continued, ‘to bring relief to the place at the earliest possible moment and am arranging to concentrate in the North as quickly as circumstances will allow. The Germans are pushing out their flank defence towards the West and South-West....’ He expressed a wish that we could meet.

I replied to this on October 11 when the fate of Antwerp was already decided. Using my old and intimate friendship with the Field Marshal I laboured as always to smooth the differences between him and Lord Kitchener.

I consider that Kitchener has been thoroughly loyal to you, and has done and is doing everything in human power to support you. It would be disastrous to the cause and ruinous to all if there were any breakdown in true comradeship between you and Kitchener. Military staffs always tend to make mischief between principals, and try to set their caps at each other.

The fall of Antwerp was a great and untimely injury to the Allied cause. I do not agree with the policy which abandoned it^[72]; and I fear you will now have the army which was before Antwerp to meet almost immediately. But I care for nothing but the future in war. I clear my heart of all useless reflections and sterile controversies. It is vain to look backwards, and I turn my gaze with hope to the re-entry of the British army into the decisive centre of the struggle and pray for the victory.

I am arranging the omnibuses and armoured cars for you as quickly as possible. Rawlinson has got a very good naval armoured train which I have attached to him, but which you had better take over when he joins up.

The destruction of the Zeppelin and its shed was a gallant feat of arms.

Naval affairs at the moment imperatively keep me here—Alas! I hope you will not allow Joffre to deprive you of Dunkirk as your advanced base and fortified camp. In view of embarkation facilities Calais or Boulogne ought to be entrenched too—so that you have both. But we all feel Dunkirk is the right place, and belongs to you.

The wave of [German] reinforcements from the East, and the slow development of the Russian pressure, makes the situation rather grim just now.

I hope greatly to see you soon. Only five hours from your lines!

I earnestly trust the day goes well. But anyhow we will compel the end to do so.

You will want the big army I expect before your task is finished.

On October 16 General Joffre telegraphed to Lord Kitchener as follows:—

‘Now that the operations extend up to the coast of the North Sea between Ostend and the advanced defences of Dunkirk, it would be important for the two Allied Navies to participate in these operations by supporting our left wing and acting with long-range guns on the German right wing. The Commander of the Naval Forces would then act in concert with General Foch through the Governor of Dunkirk.’

This duty we instantly accepted.

* Monitors were delayed by weather, but will be in position from daylight 18th; meanwhile eight destroyers should have arrived on the flank between 4 and 5 p.m. 17th, and two scout cruisers an hour later. They have been told to communicate with Colonel Bridges on the quays of Nieuport.

We are sending two battleships mounting eight 12–inch guns to Dunkirk roadstead to-morrow to cover the fortress and its coast approaches.

We set to work forthwith to support the Allied left flank. I entrusted this operation, which required an officer of first quality, to Admiral Hood, till then my Naval Secretary. He was now appointed to the Dover Command, while I took in his stead Admiral Oliver. On the 18th the three ex-Brazilian monitors, renamed Humber, Mersey and Severn, escorted by four destroyers, arrived at Dunkirk and the memorable series of naval operations on the Belgian Coast began.

There was no difficulty in finding plenty of ships of different classes to cover the flank of the army. Besides the three monitors, a large proportion of the destroyers from Dover were readily available. There were many old battleships, and these at certain states of the tide could get into suitable positions for bombarding. In addition there was the Scout class, seven of which were available, all happily newly re-armed with the very best 4–inch guns. But Admiralty reserves of ammunition had been based upon the needs of purely naval actions, which are few and far between, and not many of which all ships survive. Bombarding the German positions on the Belgian Coast week after week, and possibly for months, made demands upon our stores of a totally different character. We had to pick ships primarily for the class of ammunition they fired; ships that could use up old ammunition and ships whose value was so small that we could afford to spend all their ammunition. As October wore on we scoured the dockyards for every little vessel that carried a gun of any kind. Even the smallest gunnery tenders, 250 ton gunboats forty years old, were pressed into service, and in one way or another the fire was continuously maintained.

It was evident that these operations would have to be carried on under unceasing submarine attack. Moreover, we had to be prepared for a sudden dash by German cruisers and destroyers. We trusted to Commodore Tyrwhitt with the Harwich Striking Force either to protect us from this or to exact retribution on the return journey. On the 17th the Germans, torn between the will to wound and the fear to strike, broke all the commandments of the text books by sending a feeble force of four small destroyers from the Ems down the Dutch Coast. They were almost immediately destroyed by the Commodore, the British ships engaged being the light cruiser Undaunted and the destroyers Lance, Lennox, Legion and Loyal.

From the middle of October onwards the German hosts could look upon salt water. First Zeebrugge was occupied, then Ostend, then mile by mile the sand-dunes and golf courses and gay villas of that pleasure coast were devoured by invading war. In his first contact with the new element the land monster committed several imprudences. Apparently contemptuous of the power of ships’ guns, he deployed batteries of artillery on the open beach, and opened fire on our Scouts and destroyers. These experiments were not repeated. A Swedish writer, Dr. Sven Hedin, at that time with the German armies, belauding them and bowing obsequiously before what he had convinced himself was world-conquering power, has described a scene in the restaurant of the best Ostend hotel. The room was crowded with hungry officers of the invading army, just marched in, all sitting down to excellent fare.

‘A destroyer had just detached itself from the rest and was making at full speed for Ostend, parallel with the coast, as close as possible to the shore. Presently another destroyer appeared, following in the wake of the first. What could they want, these ruffians? Strong language was heard—it was a piece of consummate impudence to come steaming right under our noses like this. Evidently they were reconnoitring—but what insolence, they must have known that we had occupied Ostend! Aha! they suspect that there are submarines and destroyers in the inner harbour, and want to see whether they can detect anything from outside!... Astounding insolence. Two small German guns are hurried up. “Are they going to shoot?” I asked. “Oh, yes, they are going to shoot all right.”... The first shot rang out.... Directly the German shots had been fired, the two destroyers swung round to port and at the same moment opened fire. Their guns seemed to flash out straight at us....’

The results were instantaneous. The restaurant, which had been ‘one of the most elegant in Europe,’ was blasted into a smoking shambles of ruin and death.

In this manner the German Army and the British Navy first came into contact with one another.

Here are a few of our messages at that time:—

Most important to send the scouts at once and some destroyers to Dunkirk to work along the coast to Nieuport to support the Belgian left, now being attacked by the Germans; also monitors as soon as weather permits.

Acknowledge.

Belgian Army is on line River Yser left bank, from Nieuport to Dixmude, with advanced posts on E. bank at Lombartzyde Rattevalle and Mannekensvere.

King is at La Panne, the last village on French coast.

The rôle of ships is as follows:—

Firstly, to prevent any disembarkation of German troops between Nieuport and La Panne and to South-West.

Secondly to fire against enemy, which are advancing on Nieuport.

The first German attempt to send destroyers down the Broad Fourteens being so successfully defeated may cause a larger number to be sent next time: be ready to meet them. We are sending scouts and destroyers to support the Belgian left at Nieuport.

Two battleships are leaving Portland to-night for Dover, four more destroyers are being sent to escort them. Therefore, if you can spare four destroyers, send them temporarily for Dover patrol to arrive at daylight.

Engagement continues at Nieuport. I believe that naval bombardment has done harm to enemy.

6–inch ammunition is urgently required for monitors, and must be sent as soon as possible, otherwise they will be useless....

Fired to-day 11 hours continuously, could see no improvement in situation. Patrolling coast every night. Monitors expended 600 6–inch shells daily. In Foresight alone 1,100 shells fired to-day, and even then unable to comply with all demands.

I have returned for a few hours to Dunkirk, at the request of Colonel Bridges, to confer on future movements.

I have enough ships.

Firing has been less to-day.

In the event of a sudden northerly gale, the monitors and Bustard would be lost. This is a justifiable risk if they are doing valuable work, and is much less than submarine risk.

On the 18th instant requests for naval assistance were made to the Admiralty by the Allied Commanders. In consequence a naval flotilla, mounting a large number of powerful long range guns, came into action at daybreak on the 19th off the Belgian Coast, supporting the left of the Belgian Army and firing against the right of the German attack, which they were by their position able to enfilade. The Germans replied by shells from their heavy guns, but owing to the superior range of the British Marine Artillery practically no damage has been done. The three monitors, which were building in British ports for Brazil and were acquired on the outbreak of war, have proved particularly well suited to this class of operation. A heavy bombardment of the German flank has been maintained without intermission since the morning of the 19th and is being continued to-day. Observation is arranged from the shore by means of naval balloons, and all reports indicate that substantial losses have been inflicted upon the enemy and that the fire is well directed and effective against his batteries and heavy guns. Yesterday a heavy explosion, probably of an ammunition wagon, followed upon a naval shot. The naval losses have so far been very small considering the damage done and the important assistance rendered to the Belgian left flank. All reports received by the Admiralty show the courage and determination with which the Belgian Army, animated by the King in person, is defending the last few miles of Belgian soil. The naval operations are under the command of Rear-Admiral the Hon. Horace L. A. Hood, C.B., M.V.O., D.S.O.

From First Lord.

* Vital to sustain Belgian Army with effective Naval Artillery support to-morrow.

Arrange details with Bridges.

Am sending Gunnery School tenders to Dunkirk; draw upon them as you need.

Recognise importance to Navy of dominating Belgian Coast; make the most of your opportunity.

Thanks for message. All going well.

Will bombard Ostend. Belgian Head-quarters granted permission.

Am quite satisfied that our firing has done good.

All yesterday the monitors and other vessels of the British bombarding flotilla fired on the German right, which they searched thoroughly and effectively in concert with the operations of the Belgian Army. All German attacks on Nieuport were repulsed. Much damage was done to the enemy by naval fire which enfilades the German line, and enemy’s prisoners taken yesterday and the day before testify to the heavy losses they have suffered from this cause. Fire was also opened in the afternoon on the German batteries near Ostend. Admiral Hood now has a fine flotilla of vessels very suitable for this work and at the same time not of great naval value. During the day our ships were persistently attacked by an enemy’s submarine, and torpedoes were fired without success at Wildfire and Myrmidon. Other British vessels again attacked the submarine. The naval aeroplanes and balloons aided in the direction of the fire. The weather continued fine and favourable. No loss was sustained by the flotillas yesterday.

Am off Nieuport. All well here. Have not succeeded so well to-day owing to long range of German batteries, which are not yet located by me. Aeroplanes reconnoitre the place when weather permits, and, if located, shall attack batteries with guns I can muster. Portion of shell on board here proves bigger guns.

Urgent. Order Venerable^[73] to raise steam at once ready to proceed to support Allied left off Nieuport. Report how soon she can be ready to proceed.

Four destroyers must accompany her.

Certainly go on, husband ammunition till good targets show, but risks must be run and Allies’ left must be supported without fail by the Navy. You have all done very well, and on land the line has been maintained. Keep it up.

The Belgian authorities begged me to fire more rapidly. Deliberate firing will not produce more results as it is unmarked. I understand that 48 hours of clinging to Nieuport may achieve decisive results. If I am to order the firing to be deliberate, I shall not be able to do what the Belgian army requires.

Have continued bombardment against increasing opposition. Captain of Falcon and five men killed and several wounded. Wildfire hit on the water line and sent in for repairs. Brilliant one killed and several wounded. Rinaldo eight wounded.... Submarine sighted—all destroyers now chasing [her]. Venerable has just grounded on sand-bank out of gunfire. Tide rising, fine weather. She will be off in half an hour.

Save ammunition where possible, but don’t lose any chance of hitting the enemy. Give your ships the following message: ‘The inshore flotilla and squadron have played an appreciable part in the great battle now proceeding. You have shown the Germans that there is one flank they cannot turn.’

You have full discretion to go ahead.

Meanwhile the British Army was heavily engaged. Sir John French wrote to me October 21:—

I began this letter two days ago. I had to stop in the middle of a sentence and hadn’t a single minute to go on with it. We have been hard pressed the last two days. The enemy has received considerable reinforcements and a big battle has been raging all along our front from a point 10 miles North of Ypres to La Bassée, which is W.S.W. of Lille. We have given way now and then in places and recovered the ground again—and on the whole have lost nothing (except unfortunately, men and officers!) although the enemy has attacked with the utmost vigour.

I have been all along the line but the ground is so flat and the buildings so numerous that it is impossible to see much of the infantry work. I have this moment got a wire from the 1st Corps that they have captured 350 prisoners this afternoon....

He ended by some very friendly expressions about Kitchener and my part in clearing up misunderstandings; also with some kind words about Antwerp.

I am touched and honoured by the kindness of your letter written from the field of Armentières. It was a disappointment to have to give up my visit but the press of events here was decisive.

Antwerp was a bitter blow to me, and some aspects of it have given a handle to my enemies, and perhaps for a time reduced my power to be useful. From minute to minute one does not know that some fine ship will not be blown up by mine or submarine.^[74] Great good fortune has attended us so far. Out of twenty-five submarine attacks only five have been effective, and only on ships of no value. But every reconnaissance ordered, carries with it the risk of a disproportionate loss. And if an atmosphere of distrust and malice is created—as is deliberately and laboriously being done—an unlucky incident might produce a most unpleasant state of feeling.... However, I am resolved not to be drawn by any impatience from those carefully considered plans of the naval war which I revealed to you in July, which are the result of three years’ study, and with which Jellicoe is in the fullest accord. These plans will not produce any feat of éclat, but they will keep England safe and prosperous, and enable her in good time to put in the field an army which will definitely and finally turn the scale.

Kitchener is strangely alarmed about invasion, and on the C.I.D. we have witnessed an absolute reversal of rôles—the W.O.^[75] declaring the country not safe and an invasion of 250,000 a possibility, and the Admiralty reassuring them, or trying to. You know how carefully I have examined that position, and how I have never minimised the risks. But now that we are face to face with realities, I am not alarmed, and my policy is that you should be reinforced by any effective division that can be formed and maintained; and that the Navy will prevent any invasion of a serious character. The Prime Minister is solid as a rock; but waves of nervousness pass over others, and may result in some retardation of your reinforcements.

We are making extraordinary efforts to grapple with the submarine menace which tends to drive our great ships so far away, and during November we shall, I believe, have got the better of it, and have secured all our anchorages by network and other means. Then we shall be able to give a greater assurance to those who need it.

But my dear friend, I do trust you realise how damnable it will be if the enemy settles down for the winter along lines which comprise Calais, Dunkirk or Ostend. There will be continual alarms and greatly added difficulties. We must have him off the Belgian Coast, even if we cannot recover Antwerp.

I am getting old ships with the heaviest guns ready, protected by barges with nets against submarines, so as to dispute the whole seaboard with him. On the 31st instant Revenge, four 13½-inch guns, will come into action if required, and I have a regular fleet of monitors and ‘bomb-ketches’ now organised which they all say has hit the Germans hard, and is getting stronger every day.

If you could again passage off to the left, I could give you overwhelming support from the sea, and there you will have a flank which certainly they cannot turn.

You have on your front gained a fine success in hurling back the whole weight of the German right. All your messages are so good—cool, resolute and informing. They will make a good page of military history. My heart is with you in the army.

‘Your letters are always a great help and strength to me. Thank you indeed for the last one. I wish you would try and take a less gloomy view of what those people chatter about. What does it matter....’ I tried hard to retain a hold on the Belgians and with them to operate alone on the northern flank; but the French sent Foch and a Mission. As the Belgians were practically the guests of France, using their territory and Calais as a base, I had no alternative but to gracefully ‘submit.’

I am, however, on the very best terms with Foch, who is doing splendid work....

He added—

The fighting is still severe—I’ve been at two points of the line to-day—but it is certainly slackening.

The Germans will never get further west.

This is only a hurried line written in the watches of the night.

No words written after the event can convey half so truthful or half so vivid an impression as these unstudied letters and brief operative telegrams flashing to and fro. Reading them again I feel once more the battle going on, the exhausted Belgians clinging desperately to the last few miles of soil left to their nation, their dauntless King and Queen amid the shells at Furnes; the French troops hastening up, but only in driblets; the heroic Fusiliers Marins holding Dixmude till not a fifth were left alive; our little ships barking away along the coast with the submarines stabbing at them from underneath and heavier metal opening on them every day from the shore; inundations slowly growing, a shield of merciful water rising inch by inch, hour by hour, between the fainting Belgian line and the cruel monster who had come upon them; and all the time our own men fighting against appalling odds, ten days, twenty days, thirty days, from Ypres to Armentières; nothing to send anyone, not a man, not a musket. Each night Colonel Bridges spoke to me on the telephone from the Belgian Head-quarters at Furnes. Each night we felt it might be the last time he would speak from that address. It was only very gradually towards the end of October that one began to feel that the French and Belgian troops were getting a firm grip of the line of the Yser, and that Sir John French could write, ‘The Germans will never get further west.’ But three more weeks of agony ensued before the decision at Ypres finally declared itself in favour of the British Army.

We are, I feel, entitled to treat the Antwerp episode as an integral and vital part of this tremendous battle for the Channel Ports. If we had not made our belated effort to prolong its defence, the whole after course of events would have been different, and could hardly have been better. But for the time gained at Antwerp and the arrival in such a forward situation of the British and French forces assigned so hurriedly for its relief, the impulsion of the Allied Armies towards the sea—already less than was required—must have been sensibly weakened. The great collision and battle with the German right would have taken place all the same. Perhaps the same result would have been achieved. But where? Where would the line have been drawn when the armies settled down into trenches from which they were not appreciably displaced for more than four years? At the very best the water defences, Gravelines—St. Omer—Aire, would have been secured. Dunkirk and its fine harbour would have become another nest of submarines to prey on our communications in the Channel; and Calais would have been exposed to a constant bombardment. The complications of these evils—the least that could be expected—must have reacted formidably upon the whole subsequent fortunes of the Allied Armies in France.

If this be true—and history must pronounce—the men who were responsible for the succour of Antwerp will have no reason to be ashamed of their effort. Hazard and uncertainty pervade all operations of war. It is idle to pretend that Lord Kitchener or anyone else foresaw all the consequences that flowed from the decisions of October 4. The event was very different from both hopes and expectations. But rarely in the Great War were more important results achieved by forces so limited and for losses so small, as those which rewarded this almost forlorn enterprise; nor is there in modern times, a more remarkable example of the flexibility, the celerity, and the baffling nature of that amphibious power which Britain alone wields, but which she has so often neglected.