The capture of one of the largest towns in Belgium would be hailed with the greatest enthusiasm in Germany, and would also nip in the bud any scheme for sending British troops and guns to help the besieged Belgian Army. Germany knew that at present we had no guns capable of competing with hers, but if she delayed there was no reason why we should not manufacture them up to any calibre.
But, undeterred by our lack both of men and guns, the British Government had made up its mind to do _something_, at any rate, and the Naval Division, which had been intended as a Reserve for the Fleet, were accordingly despatched to Antwerp. This expedition was a glaring instance of our lack of preparation in the early stages of the war. Totally untrained, the men, many of them, knew nothing of the mechanism of the rifles they were armed with; they had no transport, and were given for their conveyance London motor omnibuses, with the familiar advertisements still on them.
This force was greeted with wild enthusiasm when it arrived in Antwerp on October 4. Major J. A. C. Quilter, Captain A. E. Maxwell, and Lieutenant W. R. C. Murray, all officers of the Grenadiers, were lent to the Naval Division. Captain Maxwell was severely wounded in the subsequent fighting, and afterwards died, but the other two returned safely to England. Major Quilter, who remained attached to the Naval Division, was killed later in the Dardanelles while in command of the Hood Battalion.
With the monster German guns brought up against the town, the fall of Antwerp was a foregone conclusion. The Belgian artillery was quite outranged, and could make no sort of a reply, and the Naval Division had no heavy guns at all. So one-sided was the contest that for the defenders it was merely a matter of looking on while the huge shells fell and gradually devastated the town. On October 8 Antwerp capitulated, and there was a wild, confused rush by the inhabitants to get away. The Belgian Army and the greater part of the Naval Division managed to escape from the town, but about 18,000 Belgian troops and 15,000 British were forced up into Holland and interned.
Suddenly, when it had settled down to a sort of peace-manoeuvre life at Lyndhurst, the Seventh Division received its marching orders. The Government had decided to send it to help the Belgian Army. It was practically the only available unit, except the Third Cavalry Division, which was sent off a few days later.