page_title: Siege of Antwerp (1914)
section_title: Subsequent operations
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Antwerp (1914) / Aftermath / Subsequent operations
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Oorlogschade na de verovering van Antwerpen door de duitsers
context_page_description: The Siege of Antwerp was an engagement between the German and the Belgian, British and French armies around the fortified city of Antwerp during World War I. German troops besieged a garrison of Belgian fortress troops, the Belgian field army and the British Royal Naval Division in the Antwerp area, after the German invasion of Belgium in August 1914. The city, which was ringed by forts known as the National Redoubt, was besieged to the south and east by German forces. The Belgian forces in Antwerp conducted three sorties in late September and early October, which interrupted German plans to send troops to France, where reinforcements were needed to counter the French armies and the British Expeditionary Force.
  A German bombardment of the Belgian fortifications with heavy and super-heavy artillery began on 28 September. The Belgian garrison had no hope of victory without relief and despite the arrival of the Royal Naval Division beginning on 3 October, the Germans penetrated the outer ring of forts.
context_section_description: The Belgian forces which had escaped from Antwerp had been in action for two months and the King planned to withdraw west of a line from St Omer–Calais to rest the army, incorporate recruits and train replacements but was persuaded to assemble the army on a line from Dixmude, north to the port of Nieuport and Furnes 5 miles (8.0 km) to the south-west of the port to maintain occupation of Belgian territory. The Belgian Army continued its retirement on 11 and 12 October, covered by the original Cavalry Division and a second one formed from divisional cavalry, along with cyclists and motor machine-gun sections. On 14 October the Belgian army began to dig in along the Yser, the 6th and 5th Divisions to the north of French territorial divisions from Boesinghe, along the Yser canal to Dixmude, where the Fusiliers Marins had formed a bridgehead, covered by the artillery of the Belgian 3rd Division, with the rest of the division in reserve at Lampernisse to the west. The 4th, 1st and 2nd Divisions prolonged the line north with advanced posts at Beerst, Keyem, Schoore and Mannekensvere, about 1-mile (1.6 km) forward on the east bank. A bridgehead was also held near the coast around Lombartzyde and Westende to cover Nieuport, with the 2nd Cavalry Division in reserve. On 18 October the German III Reserve Corps from Antwerp, began operations against Belgian outposts on the east bank from Dixmude to the sea, in the Battle of the Yser (16–31 October).
  The Allied forces around Ghent withdrew on the approach of German forces on 11 October. The British 7th Division moved to Aeltre 10 miles (16 km) to the west, made rendezvous with British detachments, which had moved inland from Bruges and began to march to Ypres. The southern flank was covered by the 3rd Cavalry Division, which had moved from Thourout to Roulers and the French Fusiliers Marins brigade moved on to Dixmude. At Thielt on the night of 12/13 October, General Capper, the 7th Division commander was informed that German cavalry near Hazebrouck had retired on the approach of the British II Corps, leaving the country west of the 7th Division clear of German forces. The division reached Roulers on 13/14 October, met BEF cavalry near Kemmel and linked with the French 87th Territorial Division around Ypres. The German IV Cavalry Corps had moved south four days previously, except for several Uhlans who were disturbed by a party arranging billets and captured by the 10th Hussars.
  By 18 October the Belgian, British and French troops in northern France and Belgium had formed a line with the BEF II Corps in position with the 5th Division from La Bassée Canal north to Beau Puits, the 3rd Division from Illies to Aubers and three divisions of the French Cavalry Corps of General Conneau in position from Fromelles to Le Maisnil, the BEF III Corps with the 6th Division from Radinghem to Epinette and the 4th Division from Epinette to Pont Rouge, the BEF Cavalry Corps with the 1st and 2nd Cavalry divisions, from Deulemont to Tenbrielen, the BEF IV Corps with the 7th Division and 3rd Cavalry Division from Zandvoorde to Oostnieuwkirke, the French Groupe Bidon and the de Mitry Cavalry Corps from Roulers to Cortemarck, the French 87th and 89th Territorial Divisions from Passchendaele to Boesinghe and then the Belgian Field Army and fortress troops from Boesinghe to Nieuport (including the Fusilier Marin brigade at Dixmude). The Battle of the Yser began on 16 October.
caption: Bomb damage in Antwerp
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image DateTime": "2014:04:07 09:56:35", "Image ExifOffset": "2154", "Image XPKeywords": "[65, 0, 110, 0, 116, 0, 119, 0, 101, 0, 114, 0, 112, 0, 101, 0, 110, 0, 0, 0]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "0", "Thumbnail YResolution": "0", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4348", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "13041", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "CDCB17BA281846F4A3CEBAFD1F64AC28", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}