To cover the operations of evacuating from Antwerp all supplies that could be moved, and to ensure the army's retreat towards the coast, the Belgian troops, though exhausted and half-dead with fatigue, fought steadily for eight days under a fire of unprecedented violence.
The order for a general retreat was not given till the night of October 6-7, by which time the limit of resistance had been reached. Only one narrow avenue still lay open—between the Scheldt on the one side and the Dutch frontier and the sea on the other. Protected at first by a flanking guard (a cavalry division and two infantry divisions) and later by a rear-guard of two cavalry divisions, the field army managed by a miracle to reach the Yser, without leaving anything behind in the hands of the enemy during that epic retreat in which the exhausted troops had to cover more than 100 kilometres of congested roads.
The Yser line had not been designedly selected. But at the moment it happened to be the nearest line on which the Belgian Army could link up with the Allied forces now gradually advancing northwards along what has been termed "the sea-board route." Prodigies of valour and endurance were still needed to make the continuous front a fact and to shatter the enemy's efforts in the great battle of Flanders.
It is not my intention to recapitulate here the ensuing changes of fortune. The first act of the drama was, as everybody knows, the desperate fight which the "Belgian Army of ragamuffins"—now reduced to 80,000 men, with but 48,000 rifles and 350 guns—put up on the Yser during the last two weeks of October, against 150,000 Germans—mostly fresh troops—employing at least 500 guns of all calibres. Except for a reinforcement of 6,000 French marines, it was at first unsupported, yet it maintained an heroic resistance for eight days, fired by the passionate appeal and the example of its king. After October 23rd it had the help of the first detachments from the French division under Grossetti, and kept up the fight for another week with almost superhuman energy.
On the 31st the Germans were driven from Ramscapelle, and obliged to give ground before the inundation, whose dark, stealthy waters slowly but surely invaded the low-lying plain between the river and the Nieuport-Dixmude railway.
The battle of the Yser was then practically over. It had ended in victory, and the direct road to Dunkirk and Calais was barred to the enemy. He had suffered huge losses; but those of the Belgian Army also had been heavy enough—they were placed at 11,000 killed and missing and 9,000 wounded, a total of some 25,000 men, including those put out of action by sickness and exhaustion. The cadres had been so depleted that some regiments had only about ten officers left. Material was in a sad condition; half of the guns, rifles and machine-guns were useless, at least for the time being, and reserves of ammunition had given out.
The men looked hardly human in their ragged clothing. There were terrible gaps in their ranks. The infantry—to mention only the arm which had the hardest fighting to do—was reduced to 32,000 rifles. Yet, in spite of its weakness and its destitution—all the more pitiable now that winter was approaching—this army set about mounting guard over the last fragment of Belgian soil which its valour had preserved for the fatherland.
Three years have passed, and it still clings obstinately to its position, though the front originally defended in the battle of the Yser has been gradually lengthened. Circumstances have not hitherto allowed the Belgian Army to undertake operations on a large scale. Except for the considerable part which it played in checking the German attack on Steenstraat (April-May, 1915), when poisonous gas made its first appearance, its activities have been limited to minor operations, carried out chiefly with the object of improving its positions. These last have, however, been held with admirable courage and tenacity. Simultaneously with the tremendous effort which resulted in its glorious resurrection, the Belgian Army has done wonders along this front under peculiarly trying conditions, by dint of hard work and stoical endurance. Amid mud and water its soldiers have raised fortifications which are models of strength and ingenuity. So that the Belgian front, despite the unparalleled difficulties to be overcome, is admittedly among those whose defences have been constructed in the most solid possible manner. It is, in fact, a vast fortress, extending over many square kilometres. The visitor may be astonished when he notes the degree of perfection to which the Belgian Command has brought the organisation, properly so-called, of an army now consisting of robust men, well supplied with all kinds of armament and technical material, self-reliant and confident in its renewed strength; but he is dumbfounded when he realises what infinite labour was needed to build across these wet plains, oozing water everywhere, the impassable barrier which has arisen under the very guns of the enemy.
We propose to notice briefly here the chief features of this last enterprise, which is unknown to the world in general. Perhaps a description of it will lead to fuller appreciation of the part played by the Belgian Army since its front was immobilised on the Yser, and to a better understanding of the energy, goodwill and endurance of which it has given proof.