The Daily News. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1914. FALL OF ANTWERP.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 119, 13 October 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1914. FALL OF ANTWERP.

Antwerp lias fallen. This great fortress, which had been regarded as a perfect Gibraltar, impregnable to attack from land or sea, is in the hands of t'h/j Germans. The Belgians fought brav rfy> their big cannon, machine guns an 1 ,, v m M slew thousands of Germans, butj against tho enemy's almost intern)', na bi e numbers, used Unsparingly, r.nd • their famous big siege guns, the great fortified city had to capitulate. There is no blinking the fact that fortresses, modem in armament and defended by great ordKaircc, are no match for the German heavy artillery. This is proved by the comparatively rapid fall of other supposedly "impregnable" fortresses—Liege, Xamur, Maubeuge, and, in a lesser degree, Rheims and Laon. Their fall had in a measure prepared one for the fate of Antwerp, though few anticipated It would have fallen so early. It Sb a

great prize for the Germans. They bad- I ly wanted Antwerp—firstly, to prevent it being made a base for flanking operations in force by tho Allies; secondly, j to use it themselves in their designs by air, land and sea against England, and for obtaining food from overseas. In German hands, it will prove a formidable ' obstacle, and serve to add to the duration of the war. It will be a menace to England and necessitate the diversion of a portion of our fleet to specially deal with it. Whilst tho German fleet is bottled up, Antwerp, of course, will not be formidable from a naval point of view, but it may be part of the German plan to use this point, which is so handy to the coast of England, should the Gc.'man fleets sally forth and give battle at a time regarded a3 favorable. In view of her utter disregard of treaties, the laws of nations, and the conventions of Geneva and The Hague, it is not to be thought for a moment that Germany will respect the neutral waters of Holland. When it suits her to use those waters she will assuredly do so. One more country, and a small one at that, will not deflect Germany one iota from her sinister purpose. That the British Xavy will be equal to such a situation, however, there can be little doubt. The Germans have now occupied practically all of the important towns iifUolgium. There remain Ghent and Ostend, whence thousands of the Antwerp citizens have retired. Neither of these towns can resist a German attack in force, if the Belgian arm)', or what remains of it, is again outnumbered ' and overpowered. Ostend is defenceless, except that it could be assisted by British batleships, which in turn would be menaced by the enemy's submarines. Tho only hope for these centres is for tho Allies to extend their left wing in force and junction with tho Belgians. Meantime, the unfortunate Belgians are being made to suffer greater hardships than ever. They were no party to the War. They wanted nothing more than to be left alone. But tho utterly callous, brutal and arrogant Germans desired to make a convenience of the country in order to cut the throat of France. Because they resisted, tho Belgians have had their country devastated, their ancient and irreplacable towns razed, their manhood decimated and their womanhood ravished. But to their imperishable credit, they aro contesting evoty inch of territory, and inflicting great losses on the remorseless, overpowering enemy, and can be depended upon to maintain their heroic stand to the last. Their attitude is a fine, inspiring l sight, and will go down in history a3 one of the outstanding features of this terrible war. Later reports show that the Germans are pressing onward to Ostend, with a view to capturing tlie Belgian King and army. In the field the Belgians have proved themselves the equal of tho enemy. Here they do not have to meet the terrible German siege guns. Providing they aro in sufficient force, they will not easily bo captured. It is possible that tho special army, about which thcro has been some mystery, is ready to assist tho Belgians and strengthen the Allies' wing. The Britsh should have available an army of a hundred thousand men, plus the Indian irmy of probably seventy thousand and the Canadians of thirty thousand. These, with the British naval force which retired with the Belgians, would be a very ormidable force, even without tho Belgians. In what numbers the latter are is unknown. Probably they have available a quarter of a million men. Directed by Joflre or Kitchener, this army should be able to take the offensive with every chance of success. In France, the Allies are improving their position, slowly but surely. It has already been the longest battle in history. It started on September 8, and has been conducted with tremendous force ever since. The aim of the Allies i 8 to turn the enemy's flank, or drive it in, and a move from Ostend should materially assist the operations. The Allies' leaders can be trusted to do the right thing, and if the Germans do secure an isolated win, like the capture of Antwerp, it does not follow that the plans of the Allies are miscarrying. The fall of Antwerp was foreseen, and no doubt the Allies' strategy has been arranged accordingly.