BRITISH AID AT ANTWERP

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2326, 7 December 1914, Page 5

BRITISH AID AT ANTWERP

GREAT MORAL EFFECT ON BELGIANS (Rec. December G, 10.80 p.m.)' London, December 5. Field-Marshal Sir John Trench's dispatch to the Admiralty on the work of the Naval Brigades assisting at Antwerp declares that General Paris, of tho Royal Marines, handled them with great skill and boldness. The fortress was not saved, but the Marines certainly delayed the enomy for a considerable time, and enabled the Belgian Army to withdraw, and destroyed the war material and ammunition which would have been of groat value to the enemy. The Belgians afterwards were a great asset to the Allies ou tho Yser, and the moral effect on the Belgian Army of this necessarily desperate attempt to succour them was of great value in increasing their use and efficiency. General Paris reportß that when it was evident the Belgians were unable to hold the fort, in order to avoid disaster he retired under' cover of the darkness. The roads were crowded with Belgian, troops, refugees, cattle, and vehicles, and partly owing to this and partly to fatigue and other unexplained causes numbers of the brigade became detached. Meanwhile the main body entrained and effected a retreat. The rearguard entrained later with hundreds of refugees. The engine was derailed, and tho enemy opened fire, causing considerable confusion, and the darkness and agitation of the refugees made the passing of orders difficult. Tho battalion behaved splendidly, and fought its way through, but the lost and missing were upwards of half the numbers.