The entire war has presented no greater picture of desolation than that of the hosts fleeing from the last Belgian stronghold.  For forty-eight hours before the city fell great crowds of the citizens, dumb with terror as the huge German shells hurtled over their heads, were fleeing toward England and Holland in such numbers that the hospitality of those countries was likely to be taxed to the utmost.

The suburban town of Lierre was bombarded early in the week, the church was destroyed, and a number of citizens killed and wounded.  The next day; the village of Duffel was bombarded and the population fled into Antwerp.  Many still had confidence in the ability of the Antwerp forts to withstand the German attack.

Although the Germans succeeded in crossing the Nethe, their repeated attempts to effect a passage over the Scheldt were repulsed and they then concentrated their attention on an approach to Antwerp from the southeast.  In their trenches the Belgians resisted gallantly to the last.  “Most wonderful,” said an American observer on October 7, “is the patient, unfaltering courage of the average Belgian soldier, who has been fighting for nine weeks.  Tired, with hollow eyes, unkempt, unwashed and provided with hasty, though ample, meals, he is spending most of the time in the trenches.

“King Albert, the equal of any soldier in his devotion to duty, daily exposes himself to personal danger, while the Queen is devoting her time to the hospitals.”

The effect of the German siege artillery was especially destructive near Vosburg.  Several villages suffered heavily and the barracks at Contich were wrecked.  The forts at Waelhem and Wavre-St. Catherines were totally destroyed by the terrific shell fire.

Most of the fighting around Antwerp was a battle of Krupps against men.  Every day and night the fighting continued with deadly effect against the forts, while the shrapnel and shell made many of the trenches untenable.

As fast as the Belgians were compelled to withdraw from a position the Germans moved up and occupied it.  The Belgians fought stubbornly with infantry and frequently they repulsed the Germans, but these repulses always meant a renewal of the artillery attacks by the Germans, with the eventual retirement of the Belgians until the end of endurance was reached and the city defenses were evacuated by their brave garrison.

An instance of the tenacity with which the infantry stuck to their positions was reported from the Berlaere, where the commanding officer and his aid-de-camp were in one of the most exposed positions.  Sandbags protected them for some time, but at last the aid-de-camp was struck by shrapnel and had his face virtually blown away.  Unperturbed by this terrible proof of the danger of his position, the commanding officer stuck to his post, and for further shelter placed the body of his junior over his body.  In this position he lay firing, whenever possible, from o’clock in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.