9th October 1914

[Julian Dawson]

Does anyone have any interesting tales to tell of the fall of Antwerp to satisfy my curiousity?

[andigger]

I was curious also if there were any good books about the subject.

Andy

[michaeldr]

Julian & Andy,

If there is a book on Antwerp 1914 then I don’t have it; perhaps it is waiting to be written? What I can however recommend are the following:

‘The Hood Battalion’ by Len Sellers, published by Leo Cooper 1995

See pages 13-24

‘The Royal Naval Division’ by Douglas Jerrold, reprinted by Naval & Military Press

See pages 13-39

‘The Hawke Battalion’ by Douglas Jerrold, -ditto-

See Chapter 1 (appropriately entitled) A False dawn

‘Command in the Royal Naval Division – A military biography of Brigadier General A.M. Asquith DSO**’ by Christopher Page, published by Spellmount Ltd 1999

See pages 27-31

The 24 issues of the ‘RND’ magazine previously published by Len Sellers have about 28 articles and reprints of documents relating to Antwerp and according to ‘Signals’ this valuable source of info may once again be available in the not too distant future, in disc format – watch this space.

Douglas Jerrold summed up the action pretty well with his chapter title ‘False dawn.’ The men were sent to Antwerp as a stop gap measure. They were not fully trained. Their equipment was incomplete. They had no artillery support. And the ‘Staff’ was inexperienced to say the least. The outcome for the Royal Naval Division was as follows; 57 men killed, 138 wounded, 936 captured by the enemy and 37 officers and 1,442 ratings interned in Holland [figs per Capt. Page]

On his return to England, Sub-Lieutenant Arthur ‘Oc’ Asquith briefed his father [the Prime Minister] who in turn told Venetia Stanley the details; “I can’t tell you what I feel of the wicked folly of it all, three-quarters of the Division were a callow crowd of the rawest tyros, most of whom had never fired a rifle, while none of them had ever handled an entrenching tool. Oc’s battalion [Anson] was commanded by George West [Lt Col George Cornwallis West, Scots Guards] an ex (very ex) subaltern in the Guards who was incompetent & overbearing & hated impartially by both officers and men…..It was like sending sheep to the shambles.”

[Col Cornwallis West was returning from leave at the outset of the expedition and had missed the train to Dover so he hired a ‘special’ for himself. Someone else will have to fill in the details of the rest of his war.]

General Rawlinson’s report of 18 Oct 1914 addressed to the First Lord of the Admiralty concludes thus:

“Among those who got away with the British Field Force on October 9th was Flight Lieutenant Marix, Royal Naval Air Service, who made a flight on the 8th to Düsseldorf where he successfully destroyed a Zeppelin and its shed, returning in time to get away with the rest of the Squadron, which was, however, compelled to abandon three machines.

The Trains containing the main body of the British Naval Force were stopped at Bruges on the night of the 9th owing to the congestion of the railway between Bruges and Ostend. They were brought onto Ostend on the 10th and embarked for England on the 11th, the motor omnibuses being sent onto Dunkirk, while I am for the present retaining the services of Commander Sampson and the Naval armoured cars.

The reasons which, in my opinion, made the continued defence of Antwerp impossible were, firstly, the absence of any artillery capable of dealing with the German artillery, and secondly, the complete moral and physical exhaustion of the Belgian troops. Worn out with incessant fighting, and continually short of food and sleep, they had by the beginning of October reached a condition when nothing but a period of rest and recuperation, such as they will now, I hope, secure, could restore their fighting value.

As regards the actual date chosen for the withdrawal, it is I think clear that it could not have been deferred for another day with the slightest chance of success: as it was, if the Germans had realised the situation and pushed boldly forwards from Lokeren after their capture of that place, it is not easy to see how any of the force could have made its way out.

I should like to take this opportunity at this point to acknowledge the courtesy shown by the Belgian Headquarters throughout, and more particularly their chivalrous conduct in placing the railway at our disposal while their own troops marched by road to Selzaete.”

One of the most remarkable features of the Antwerp action concerns its direct aftermath; the internment of so many men in neutral Holland for the duration of the war. This was the subject of a Court of Inquiry held at Chatham and its finding were released on 24th February 1919. The first item of its summary read:

“1. The primary cause of the disaster was the late arrival of the First Brigade [RND] at the rendezvous at Zwyndrecht; this in turn being due to several contributory causes as follows:-

a - The non-delivery of General Paris’ orders to Commodore Henderson by Colonel Seely.

b - The delay due to the conversation between Colonel Olivant and Commodore Henderson when the former went to see whether the orders for the retirement had been received.

c - The fact that Commodore Henderson was not informed of, and consequently did not appreciate, the full extent of the intended retirement, and the importance of its being carried out without delay.

d - The slow rate of marching due to the extreme exhaustion and enfeebled state of the men who had not had a night’s rest or anything approaching it, for five days, and were without food and water, and whose equipment left everything to be desired.”

Len Sellers in ‘The Hood Battalion’ quotes FM Sir John French who made the following summary of the Antwerp action;

“Although the results did not include the actual saving of the fortress, the action of the force under General Paris certainly delayed the enemy for a considerable time, and assisted the Belgian army to be withdrawn in a condition to enable it to reorganize and refit, and regain its value as a fighting force. The destruction of war material and ammunition – which, but for the intervention of this force, would have proved of great value to the enemy – was thus able to be carried out.

The assistance which the Belgian army has rendered throughout the subsequent course of the operations on the canal and the Yeser river has been a valuable asset to the Allied cause, and such help must be regarded as an outcome of the intervention of General Paris’ force. I am further of the opinion that the morale effect produced on the minds of the Belgian army by his necessarily desperate attempt to bring them succour, before it was too late, has been of great value to their use and efficiency as a fighting force.”

Regards

Michael D.R.

Edited 18 October , 2004 by michaeldr

[michaeldr]

Julian,

Re your request for ‘tales’ from Antwerp

Bernard Freyberg VC was wounded nine times during WWI and though I am not sure from where this count began, it is possible to argue that his first was at Antwerp and a somewhat unusual one at that.

From Len Sellers’ “The Hood Battalion”

"Bernard Freyberg had spent the day [7th Oct ‘14] reconnoitring a possible withdrawal route for his company of the Hood. Whilst engaged on this he touched a section of electrified barbed wire: the current glued his right hand to the wire, and it was some time before the switch could be located and the current turned off. His palm and fingers were lacerated, the scars remaining for the rest of his life…”

Regards

Michael D.R.

[Julian Dawson]

Thank you Michael for your very interesting reply.

As coincidence would have it, I have just started reading Lyn Macdonald's 1914, and this looks like it might also cover Antwerp.

I know she wrote some interesting stuff about the internment of the Naval forces in her 1915 epic.

[larneman]

try http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/antwerp.htm

try http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War..._of_Antwerp.htm

try http://www.westernfront.co.uk/thegreatwar/...ine/antwerp.htm

try www.begent.net/james.htm

try www.littlewhitebull.com/worldwar1/tl1914.htm

just some of the many tales over Antwerp

Liam

[andigger]

Wow! Ask and you shall receive... Looks like I have a lot of sources to look through. Thanks, I am sure there is much out there to learn. Andy