“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.