2nd Lieut. Sir G. Duckworth-King, Bart., No. 4 Company.
Attached—Lieut. J. G. Butt, R.A.M.C.
The crossing was made in the S.S. Armenian, which was fairly comfortable, and the Turcoman, just a cattle-boat, with no accommodation at all. The transports did not move out into the Solent till after dark on the 5th, and reached Zeebrugge at six o'clock on the morning of the 7th. Disembarking was none too easy a task, for the jetty was much too small for ships of that size, and there were no cranes or other appliances for unshipping the horses, which just had to be pushed down gangways.
Oct. 7.
Entreaties were made to General Capper by a Belgian colonel and two Staff officers, who had come as a deputation from Antwerp, that he would bring the whole of the Seventh Division into that city. But Sir Henry Rawlinson had already sent orders for the Division to go to Bruges at once. The 1st Battalion Grenadiers made the journey in two trains, and was billeted in the suburb of St. André. Crowds lined the streets, and cheered each battalion lustily as it arrived. All the billeting was arranged without any difficulty, as the Belgian authorities knew to a man how many troops each village would hold.
That evening there was a "procession of humiliation" through the streets of Bruges, a long train of old men and women following in the wake of the priests, who were headed by acolytes swinging their censers. As they walked slowly through the streets, chanting a litany, they made an odd contrast with the masses of fighting men in khaki, and their array of wagons and guns.
Oct. 8.
Next day the whole Division was ordered to march to Ostend, to cover the landing of the Cavalry Division—a hot, tiring journey it was of fifteen miles, over the usual paving-stones. At Leffinghe, on the outskirts of Ostend, a defensive position was taken up and an attempt made to dig trenches, but the men could not go very deep, as at three feet below the surface they reached water.
Oct. 9.
Fortunately the Battalion was not called upon to hold them. Just before daybreak it left the trenches and marched into Ostend, where it entrained for Ghent. Sir Henry Rawlinson's plan was to operate on the Germans' left flank and divert their attention from the Belgian Army, which might thus, he hoped, be able to escape from Antwerp.