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The defence of Antwerp
The defence of Antwerp
The Admiralty formed a Royal Marine Brigade (RMB) immediately from reservists and new recruits with each of the three RMLI divisions and the RMA providing a battalion for action.
Marines Landing at Ostend. Belgium 1914. (RMM)
The brigade undertook their first task just three weeks later when they landed in Ostend in August 1914. Commanders pulled them back four days later, however, and the brigade saw no action.
The Brigade, minus the RMA battalion, did go out to Dunkirk on 19 September with the addition of a battalion from Deal.
They arrived the next day with orders to assist the defence of Antwerp. The Marines fought hard alongside the Belgians, but a Belgian defeat on their flank on 6 October led the brigade to fall back to man the inner defences of the city.
The Marines pulled out following the German advance losing many men of Portsmouth Battalion, who were taken prisoner until the end of the war. The Royal Marine Brigade also lost many due a German ambush on their train on 9 October.
Admiralty letter to Brigadier-General Sir George G Aston, 5 September 1914. Defence of Antwerp, 1914. Admiralty letter to the head of the Royal Marines praising the Corps on the way they carried out their operation and acknowledges the pressures that the troops were under due to lack of time for preparation. (RMM).
When the Brigade returned to England they had lost over 400 men. Later, the Admiralty drafted the brigade to the Dardanelles for the amphibious raids on Gallipoli .
