The Bulletin of the Birmingham Branch of the WFA

Compiled by Bob Butcher

August 2009

ANTWERP 1914

By September 1914 the Belgian field army had made a fighting retreat into the 'National Redoubt' of Antwerp to where the government had also moved. This redoubt was defended by an outer ring of forts and by an inner, older, ring, all manned by fortress troops.

The six field army divisions, numbering about 80,000 men, were still in fairly good shape and in fact made two sorties against the enemy's right flank which helped the Anglo/French armies. Then the Germans brought up their very artillery which had reduced the frontier forts and commenced systematically to pound the outer forts. On 1 October two had fallen and the enemy were pushing through the gap, ^,The British therefore arranged for the Royal Marine Brigade of the Royal Naval Division, followed by the improvised IV Corps to assist the Belgians. The French also promised a Territorial division and a marine brigade.

While this was being arranged, the Belgian Government, on 2 October decided that it had to retire to Ostend and withdraw the field army from Antwerp leaving the fortress troops to hold it as long as they could. However, they agreed to hold on until Mr. Churchill arrived on the 3^rd to assess the situation. The RM Brigade arrived that day and joined the Belgians in manning entrenched positions, the outer forts having already fallen.

Impressed by the importance of Antwerp, Churchill arranged for the two Naval Brigades to embark at once in order to bolster the Belgians. They arrived in Antwerp in the early hours of 6^th October and joined the Marines in the trenches. It cannot be emphasised too strongly that through no fault of their own, the sailors' lack of training and equipment meant that they were far from fit to take the field.

The Marines in poorly constructed trenches and the Belgians on either side of them came under heavy bombardment and eventually had to pull back somewhat. When the two Naval Brigades arrived the RM Major General Paris deployed them so as to protect his right flank. Soon the situation elsewhere deteriorated drastically and as there was no sign of the Anglo/French relief force, the division was ordered back to man the trenches between the inner forts preparatory to the Belgian field army leaving Antwerp to avoid being cut off from the Allies. There the sailors and marines were heavily shelled but appear not to have been otherwise attacked.

With the field army safely redeployed, the division was ordered to retire. The 2nd Naval and Marine Brigades carried out the order successfully as did one battalion of the 1^st Brigade.

Owing to the lack of trained staff and signals, the other three battalions did not receive the order until much too late. After trying to get to a suitable crossing place across the Schelde, through the streets of the city, they were cut off without food, water, ammunition, guns, means of communication or transport, and the brigade commander felt that he had no option but to lead his men into neutral Holland where they were disarmed and interned. One small detached group did manage to reach the Allied forces.

A train taking a marine battalion back to Ostend was ambushed and, handicapped by the presence of many civilian refugees, had to surrender. What was left of the Royal Naval Division then re-embarked for the UK. It had suffered 2610 casualties of whom 1479 had been taken prisoner or interned. The Anglo/French relief force never reached Antwerp but did cover the retirement of the Belgians before taking part in First Ypres. Antwerp fell on 10 October.

Bob Butcher

 

THE LEWIS GUN

 

 

 

The land service Lewis gun was: a .303 calibre, gas-operated, air-cooled, shoulder-controlled machine gun with a rate of fire of 500-600 rounds per minute fed by a flat circular magazine containing forty-seven rounds, sighted up to 2000 yards and weighing with bipod mounting 28 1/2 lb, effective range 800 yards

Invented by Colonel Lewis, US Army, it was rejected for land service by the British Army in 1912 on the grounds that it was already armed with the Maxim/Vickers machine gun. However the following year some experimental guns for air service were ordered from BSA. Shortly after the outbreak of war a large order for it was placed with BSA in order to equip the New Army with the standard two machine guns per battalion.

In February 1915 the number of Vickers machine guns per battalion in the BEF was doubled and in June four Lewis guns were issued to battalions in addition. Later that year the Vickers guns from each of the four battalions in brigades were formed into brigade machine gun companies of the Machine Gun Corps. They were replaced by four Lewis guns which gave each battalion eight. The following year this was increased to sixteen and in early 1918, to thirty-six.

Originally the Lewis guns in a battalion were usually regarded as battalion weapons, but as numbers increased they became company weapons and finally platoon weapons when two of the four sections in a platoon were Lewis gun sections. Thus during the 'Last Hundred Days' when semi-open warfare returned and enemy defences were no longer continuous lines, platoon commanders could mount platoon actions using the Lewis gun sections and rifle grenades to give covering fire while the other sections went in with rifle and hand grenade.

Unlike the Vickers it was not capable of sustained and accurate fire and was prone to a variety of stoppages. Nevertheless it was an extremely valuable weapon both in the defence and the offensive.

When used in aircraft, the weight was reduced by removing the cooling fins and radiator casing allowing the flow of air to cool the barrel. A spade grip was substituted for the stock to make it easier to handle. Changing the magazine in a plane, especially a one-seater, could be very difficult, so a ninety-seven round magazine was introduced. A special lighter 'air service' model was also produced which can be identified in photographs by its much narrower barrel.

Frank Gardner