FALL OF ANTWERP
_Great Seaport of Belgium Besieged by a Large German Force_--_Forts
Battered by Heavy Siege Guns_--_Final Surrender of the City_--_Belgian
and British Defenders Escape_--_Exodus of Inhabitants_--_Germans Reach
the Sea._
When the battle of the Marne ended in favor of the Allies and the
Germans retired to take up a defensive position along the Aisne, the
Belgian army renewed its activities against the invader. With the
fortified city of Antwerp as their base, the Belgians began (on
September 10) an active campaign, having for its object the reoccupation
of their cities and towns which had been taken and garrisoned by German
troops. In some cases they were successful in regaining possession of
points which they had been forced to abandon during the German advance
in August, and there were many hot encounters with the Germans who were
left to hold open the German lines of communication through Belgium, But
the forces of the Kaiser were too numerous and too mobile for successful
opposition, and soon the Belgian army, despite the most gallant efforts,
was compelled once more to retire behind the outer forts of Antwerp and
there await the coming of an enemy who was approaching in force.
Great credit must be given to the Belgian army for the patriotic
manner in which it met the sudden invasion by the Germans, and for its
continued resistance against tremendous odds. Inspired by the example of
King Albert and his devoted Queen, who spent most of their time with the
Belgian forces in the field, and shared with them the vicissitudes of
war, the defenders of Belgium fought with the utmost pertinacity. The
resistance of the Belgians when invaded, and the success of the Allies
in halting the advance upon Paris and turning it into a retreat at the
Marne, appear to have inflamed the German generals with a desire to
crush Belgium completely under an iron heel. An object lesson of the
power and possibilities of the great fighting machine must be given
somewhere. Halted in France by the Franco-British armies and meeting
with varying fortunes against the Russian hosts in the eastern campaign,
Germany chose to make Belgium once more the international cockpit and
hurled an army against Antwerp. This move, if successful (as it proved
to be) would serve two purposes--first, the further punishment of
Belgium for her unexpected resistance, and second, the striking of
a direct blow at Great Britain, the possession of Antwerp being
strategically regarded as "a pistol leveled at the head of London."
THE SIEGE OF ANTWERP
In the third week of September the Germans, having massed a force
believed to be sufficient for the capture of Antwerp, brought up their
heavy Krupp siege guns which had been used successfully at Liège and
Namur, and planted them within their seven-mile range, so as to command
the outer belt of forts east and south of the city. [See map of the
fortifications of Antwerp on page 102.] These huge howitzers were
reinforced by heavy siege guns furnished by Austria. The fortification
system of Antwerp was believed by its builders to be practically
impregnable, but they had not reckoned with the tremendous shattering
power and great range of the latest Krupp siege guns. For Antwerp was
destined to fall, her outer and inner defenses broken down, within ten
days from the time the siege began in earnest.
BRITISH MARINES AID DEFENDERS
The number of German troops engaged before Antwerp was variously
estimated at from 80,000 to 200,000. The siege proper began on Tuesday,
September 29. For more than a week previously there had been daily
engagements in the suburbs of the city and on several occasions the
Belgians made a sortie in force, only to encounter overwhelming numbers
of the German enemy, before whom they were compelled to retire behind
the shelter of the forts. In all these engagements the Belgians gave a
good account of themselves and inflicted severe losses on the enemy. But
the odds against them were too great and then when the great siege guns
began to thunder, it was soon realized that the city was in imminent
danger.
King Albert did all in his power to encourage the defense and by his
presence among his troops on the firing lines around the city added
greatly to his reputation as a patriotic soldier. A force of several
thousand British marines, coming from Ostend, aided the Belgian defense
in the last days of the siege, but all efforts were unavailing. One by
one the forts succumbed to the German fire with which the Belgian guns
could not cope, and German troops penetrated nearer and nearer to the
doomed city.
Finally, on October 9, when the inhabitants were in a state of terror
as a result of the long-continued bombardment of the forts, and the
shelling of the city, further resistance was seen to be useless, the
defending forces, Belgian and British, made their escape to Ostend or
into the neutral territory of Holland, the city formally capitulated
through the Burgomaster, and occupation by the Germans followed
immediately. The bulk of the British marines made their way back to
Ostend, but a rearguard, consisting of 2,000 British, together with some
Belgians, was cut off by the advance of the Germans across the Scheldt,
and rather than surrender to them marched across the border into Holland
and surrendered arms to the Dutch authorities. The men were interned and
will be held in Holland till the end of the war. It is probable that
this rearguard was deliberately sacrificed to enable the Anglo-Belgian
army to make good its retreat.
The fate of Antwerp shows what might have happened to Paris had the
Germans been able to bring up their great siege guns to the outer
fortifications of the French capital and protect them while they
performed their tremendous task of battering the defenses to pieces.
The wrecking of Antwerp's outer and inner forts in ten days proves that
solid, massive concrete, chilled steel and well-planned earthworks
afford little or no security against the monstrous cannon of the
Kaiser's armies. There appeared to be but one way of withstanding them.
As seems to have been demonstrated in the valley of the Aisne, they
are apparently ineffective against field forces deeply intrenched in a
far-flung line.
THE FIGHTING OUTSIDE ANTWERP
Early on Tuesday morning, October 6, one of the fiercest of the
engagements outside Antwerp ended with the crossing of the River Nethe
by the Germans and their approach to the inner forts. Monday had been
the sixth day of the siege and the Belgian army was fighting with
reckless courage to save Antwerp. As a precaution, the boilers of all
the German ships lying in the harbor were exploded on Sunday, in order
to prevent, if possible, use of these ships as transports for German
troops across the North Sea or elsewhere. The detonation of the bursting
boilers, resounding through the city, set the excited Sunday crowd very
near to a panic. This was accelerated by the constant fear of airship
attacks, and most of the population that was not already in active
flight from the city sought safety in cellars.
The entire war has presented no greater picture of desolation than that
of the hosts fleeing from the last Belgian stronghold. For forty-eight
hours before the city fell great crowds of the citizens, dumb with
terror as the huge German shells hurtled over their heads, were fleeing
toward England and Holland in such numbers that the hospitality of those
countries was likely to be taxed to the utmost.
The suburban town of Lierre was bombarded early in the week, the church
was destroyed, and a number of citizens killed and wounded. The next
day; the village of Duffel was bombarded and the population fled into
Antwerp. Many still had confidence in the ability of the Antwerp forts
to withstand the German attack.
Although the Germans succeeded in crossing the Nethe, their repeated
attempts to effect a passage over the Scheldt were repulsed and they
then concentrated their attention on an approach to Antwerp from the
southeast. In their trenches the Belgians resisted gallantly to the
last. "Most wonderful," said an American observer on October 7, "is the
patient, unfaltering courage of the average Belgian soldier, who has
been fighting for nine weeks. Tired, with hollow eyes, unkempt, unwashed
and provided with hasty, though ample, meals, he is spending most of the
time in the trenches.
"King Albert, the equal of any soldier in his devotion to duty, daily
exposes himself to personal danger, while the Queen is devoting her time
to the hospitals."
The effect of the German siege artillery was especially destructive near
Vosburg. Several villages suffered heavily and the barracks at Contich
were wrecked. The forts at Waelhem and Wavre-St. Catherines were totally
destroyed by the terrific shell fire.
Most of the fighting around Antwerp was a battle of Krupps against men.
Every day and night the fighting continued with deadly effect against
the forts, while the shrapnel and shell made many of the trenches
untenable.
As fast as the Belgians were compelled to withdraw from a position the
Germans moved up and occupied it. The Belgians fought stubbornly with
infantry and frequently they repulsed the Germans, but these repulses
always meant a renewal of the artillery attacks by the Germans, with
the eventual retirement of the Belgians until the end of endurance was
reached and the city defenses were evacuated by their brave garrison.
An instance of the tenacity with which the infantry stuck to their
positions was reported from the Berlaere, where the commanding officer
and his aid-de-camp were in one of the most exposed positions. Sandbags
protected them for some time, but at last the aid-de-camp was struck
by shrapnel and had his face virtually blown away. Unperturbed by this
terrible proof of the danger of his position, the commanding officer
stuck to his post, and for further shelter placed the body of his junior
over his body. In this position he lay firing, whenever possible, from
o'clock in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.
FIERCE FIGHT TO CROSS NETHE
The crossing of the River Nethe was attended by great loss to the
Germans. They hurled their infantry recklessly against the Belgian
trenches, and while they lost enormous numbers, eventually succeeded in
crossing the river. One of the unsuccessful attempts was described by an
independent observer as follows:
"The Germans succeeded in getting a pontoon completed and they came
down to the river bank in solid masses to cross it. As they came every
Belgian gun that could be turned on the spot was concentrated on them
and they were blown away, blocks of them at a time, and still the masses
came on.
"The Belgian officers spoke with enthusiasm of the steadiness and
gallantry with which, as each German company was swept away, another
pushed into its place. But it was a dreadful sight, nevertheless.
"At last the bridge went, shattered and blown to bits. The Belgian guns
continued for a while to search the opposite river bank, but the Germans
fell back and no more masses of men came down to where the pontoon had
been. Allowing for all exaggerations, there can be no doubt that the
German loss must have been extremely heavy."
Near Termonde, on Wednesday, the 7th, the fighting was just as fierce.
The Belgians had four batteries of field guns there which succeeded in
destroying the locks of the river (the Scheldt), thus flooding a part
of the river and blocking the Germans. Later they engaged in a hot duel
with the German artillery. Two of the Belgian batteries were completely
destroyed early in the action and all of the men serving them were
killed. Not until the last of the remaining guns were put out of action
did the Belgians withdraw.
Of the casualties in and around Antwerp during the siege it is possible
only to make an estimate. It was said after the Germans entered the city
that their total loss in killed, wounded and missing was near forty-five
thousand men. German officers were credited before the attack with
saying that they would sacrifice 100,000 men, if necessary, to take
Antwerp. It is probable that the German casualties numbered at least
twenty-five thousand, while the Belgian losses in actual killed and
wounded were probably five thousand The latter fought from entrenched
positions, while the heavy German losses were sustained in the open and
at the river crossings. The casualties among the British marines,
who arrived only a day or two before the city capitulated, were
comparatively insignificant. STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS--HARROWING SCENES
ATTENDING THE FALL OF ANTWERP AND THE EXODUS OF ITS PEOPLE
A vivid picture of the pathetic scenes attending the fall of Antwerp was
given by Lucien A. Jones, correspondent of the London Daily Chronicle,
who wrote on October 11th as follows:
"Antwerp has been surrendered at last. The bitterest blow which has
fallen upon Belgium is full of permanent tragedy, but the tragedy is
lightened by the gallantry with which the city was defended. Only at
last to save the historic buildings and precious possessions of the
ancient port was its further defense abandoned. Already much of it had
been shattered by the long-range German guns, and prolonged resistance
against these tremendous engines of war was impossible. Owing to this
the siege was perhaps the shortest in the annals of war that a fortified
city has ever sustained. Heroic efforts were made by the Belgians to
stem the tide of the enemy's advance, but the end could not long be
delayed when the siege guns began the bombardment.
"It was at three minutes past noon on Friday, October 9th, that the
Germans entered the city, which was formally surrendered by Burgomaster
J. De Vos. Antwerp had then been under a devastating and continuous
shell fire for over forty hours.
"It was difficult to ascertain precisely how the German attack was
planned, but the final assault consisted of a continuous bombardment
of two hours' duration, from half past 7 o'clock in the morning to
half-past 9. During that time there was a continuous rain of shells, and
it was extraordinary to notice the precision with which they dropped
where they would do the most damage. The Germans used captive balloons,
whose officers signaled the points in the Belgian defense at which they
should aim.
GERMAN GUNS CONCEALED
"The German guns, too, were concealed with such cleverness that their
position could not be detected by the Belgians. Against such methods
and against the terrible power of the German guns the Belgian artillery
seemed quite ineffective. Firing came to an end at 9.30 on Friday, and
the garrison escaped, leaving only ruins behind them. In order to gain
time for an orderly retreat a heavy fire was maintained against the
Germans up to the last minute and the forts were then blown up by the
defenders as the Germans came in at the gate of Malines.
"I was lucky enough to escape by the river to the north in a motorboat.
The bombardment had then ceased, though many buildings were still
blazing, and while the little boat sped down the Scheldt one could
imagine the procession of the Kaiser's troops already goose-stepping
their way through the well-nigh deserted streets.
MANY HARROWING SCENES
"Those forty hours of shattering noise almost without lull seem to me
now a fantastic nightmare, but the sorrowful sights I witnessed in many
parts of the city cannot be forgotten.
"It was Wednesday night that the shells began to fall into the city.
From then onward they must have averaged about ten a minute, and most
of them came from the largest guns which the Germans possess, 'Black
Marias,' as Tommy Atkins has christened them. Before the bombardment had
been long in operation the civil population, or a large proportion of
it, fell into a panic.
"It is impossible to blame these peaceful, quiet-living burghers of
Antwerp for the fears that possessed them when a merciless rain of
German shells began to fall into the streets and on the roofs of their
houses and public buildings. The Burgomaster had in his proclamation
given them excellent advice, to remain calm for instance, and he
certainly set them an admirable example, but it was impossible to
counsel perfection to the Belgians, who knew what had happened to their
fellow-citizens in other towns which the Germans had passed through.
FOUGHT TO GET ON THE BOATS
"Immense crowds of them--men, women and children--gathered along the
quayside and at the railway stations in an effort to make a hasty exit
from the city. Their condition was pitiable in the extreme. Family
parties made up the biggest proportion of this vast crowd of broken men
and women. There were husbands and wives with their groups of scared
children, unable to understand what was happening, yet dimly conscious
in their childish way that something unusual and terrible and perilous
had come into their lives. "There were fully 40,000 of them assembled
on the long quay, and all of them were inspired by the sure and certain
hope that they would be among the lucky ones who would get on board one
of the few steamers and the fifteen or twenty tugboats available. As
there was no one to arrange their systematic embarkation a wild struggle
followed amongst the frantic people, to secure a place. Men, women and
children fought desperately with each other to get on board, and in that
moment of supreme anguish human nature was seen in one of its worst
moods; but who can blame these stricken people?
APPALLED BY THE HORROR OF WAR
"They were fleeing from _les barbares_,' and shells that were destroying
their homes and giving their beloved town to the flames were screaming
over their heads. Their trade was not war. They were merchants,
shopkeepers, comfortable citizens of middle age or more; there were many
women and children among them, and this horror had come upon them in a
more appalling shape than any in which horror had visited a civilized
community in modern times.
"There was a scarcity of gangways to the boats, and the only means of
boarding them was by narrow planks sloping at dangerous angles. Up these
the fugitives struggled, and the strong elbowed the weak out of their
way in a mad haste to escape.
"By 2 o'clock Thursday most of the tugboats had got away, but there were
still some 15,000 people who had not been able to escape and had to
await whatever fate was in store for them.
A GREAT EXODUS OF INHABITANTS
"At the central railway station incidents of a similar kind were
happening. There, as down by the river, immense throngs of people had
assembled, and they were filled with dismay at the announcement that no
trains were running. In their despair they prepared to leave the city
on foot by crossing the pontoon bridge and marching towards the Dutch
frontier. I should say the exodus of refugees from the city must have
totaled 200,000 men, women and children of all ages, or very nearly that
vast number, out of a population which in normal times is 321,800. "I
now return to the events of Thursday, October 8th. At 12.30 in the
afternoon, when the bombardment had already lasted over twelve hours,
through the courtesy of a Belgian officer I was able to ascend to the
roof of the cathedral, and from that point of vantage I looked down upon
the scene in the city.
"All the southern portion of Antwerp appeared to be desolate ruin. Whole
streets were ablaze, and the flames were rising to a height of twenty
and thirty feet.
"From my elevated position I had an excellent view also of the great oil
tanks on the opposite side of the Scheldt. They had been set on fire by
four bombs from a German Taube aeroplane, and a huge thick volume of
black smoke was ascending two hundred feet into the air. It was like a
bit of Gustave Doré's idea of the infernal regions.
CITY ALMOST DESERTED
"The city by this time was almost deserted, and no attempt was made to
extinguish the fires that had broken out all over the southern district.
Indeed there were no means of dealing with them. For ten days the water
supply from the reservoir ten miles outside the city had been cut off,
and this was the city's main source of supply. The reservoir was just
behind Fort Waelthen, and a German shell had struck it, doing great
mischief. It left Antwerp without any regular inflow of water and the
inhabitants had to do their best with the artesian wells. Great efforts
were made by the Belgians from time to time to repair the reservoir, but
it was always thwarted by the German shell fire.
KILLED BEFORE HIS WIFE'S EYES
"After leaving the cathedral, I made my way to the southern section of
the city, where shells were bursting at the rate of five a minute. With
great difficulty, and not without risk, I got as far as Rue Lamoiere.
There I met a terror-stricken Belgian woman, the only other person in
the streets besides myself. In hysterical gasps she told me that the
Bank Nationale and Palais de Justice had been struck and were in flames,
and that her husband had been killed just five minutes before I came
upon the scene. His mangled remains were lying not one hundred yards
away from where we were standing.
"Except for the lurid glare of burning buildings, which lit up the
streets, the city was in absolute darkness, and near the quay I lost my
way trying to get to the Hotel Wagner. For the second time that day I
narrowly escaped death by shell. One burst with terrific force about
twenty-five yards from me. I heard its warning whirr and rushed into a
neighboring porch. Whether it was from the concussion of the shell or in
my anxiety to escape I caromed against the door and tumbled down, and
as I lay on the ground a house on the opposite side crashed in ruins. I
remained still for several minutes, feeling quite sick and unable to get
up. Then I pulled myself together and ran at full speed until I came to
a street which I recognized.
TAKE REFUGE IN CELLARS
"How many of the inhabitants of Antwerp remained in the city that night
it is impossible to say, but they were all in the cellars of their
houses or shops. The Burgomaster, M. De Vos, had in one of his several
proclamations made many suggestions for safety during the bombardment,
for the benefit of those who took refuge in cellars. Among the most
useful of them, perhaps, was that which recommended means of escape to
an adjoining cellar. The power of modern artillery is so tremendous that
a cellar might very well become a tomb if a shell fell on the building
overhead.
"Sleep was impossible that night, in the noise caused by the explosion
of shells in twenty different quarters of the town. About 6 o'clock I
was told that it was time we got out, as the Germans were entering
the city. We hurried from the hotel and found the streets completely
deserted. I walked down to the quay-side, and there I came across many
wounded soldiers, who had been unable to get away in the hospital boat.
"On the quay piles of equipment had been abandoned. A broken-down
motor-car, kit-bags, helmets, rifles and knapsacks were littered in
heaps. Ammunition had been dumped there and rendered useless. The
Belgians had evidently attempted to set fire to the whole lot. The pile
of stuff was still smoldering. I waited there for half an hour, and
during that time hundreds of Belgian soldiers passed in the retreat.
Just about this time a pontoon bridge which had been the means of the
Belgian retreat was blown up to prevent pursuit by the Germans.
"At 8 o'clock a shell struck the Town Hall, and about 8:15 another shell
shattered the upper story and broke every window in the place.
BURGOMASTER PARLEYS WITH GERMANS
"That was the German way of telling the Burgomaster to hurry up. A
quarter of an hour later M. De Vos went out in his motor-car toward
the German line to discuss the conditions on which the city should be
surrendered.
"At 9:30 o'clock the bombardment of the city suddenly ceased, and we
understood that the Burgomaster had by this time reached the German
headquarters. Still we waited, painfully anxious to learn what would be
the ultimate fate of Antwerp. Belgian soldiers hurried by and at 10:
proclamations were posted on the walls of the Town Hall urging all in
the city to surrender any arms in their possession and begging all to
remain calm in the event of the Germans' occupation. A list was also
posted of several prominent citizens who were appointed to look after
the interests of those Belgians who remained.
"The 'impregnable' city of Antwerp had fallen, but without dishonor to
its gallant defenders."
GERMAN MILITARY GOVERNOR OF ANTWERP APPOINTED--GERMAN OFFICIAL REPORTS
On October 10 Baron von der Schutz was appointed military governor
of Antwerp. It was expected that the city would become the base for
Zeppelin attacks upon England and also for a German naval campaign
in which mines and submarines would play an important part. This was
intimated in dispatches from Berlin following the German occupation of
the city.
The German General Staff, in announcing the capture, added that they
could not estimate the number of prisoners taken. "We took enormous
quantities of supplies of all kinds," said the official statement.