Antwerpen14-18_Antwerp builds bridges ENG

The pontoon bridge as an
escape route
The strategic retreat of the field army
On 6 October, King Albert commands the field army to
retreat to the other side of the River Scheldt. This happens
at night to prevent the Germans from noticing the withdrawal.
Josef Muls writes: “A rumble of thunder seemed
suddenly to come out of the darkness as though out of
nowhere. I stood still and listened attentively to the
strange noise. It became very loud. It was as frightening
as if I were stuck in a maze. Then I was clearly
able to distinguish the sound of countless of horses’
hooves.”At the Central Station Muls notices a procession
of “dark riders” who head for the town centre and who
“rode through the streets with rattling guns and caissons”
He follows the procession towards the Scheldt and
in the faint light of the moon he sees “how the dark, lamentable
flight pushes slowly towards the river bank
opposite, across the long wooden bridge whose beams
and planks clattered...” Back at home Muls hears the
retreating cannons rolling through the city all night. On 7
October, he witnesses King Albert’s car leaving the city via
the pontoon bridge at the Steen...
The population also flees
The threat of German bombing hangs over the city. The
soldiers are defeated, tired and afraid. Fear reigns everywhere
and hundreds of thousands of civilians try to flee.
The sheer mass of people forms “an unbridled crowd,
which rolled on the spot, like a harvest in a storm,
voicing its anger, complaining and cursing.” The roads
to the quays are completely blocked, people have to
queue for hours. The sea of people and carriages often
hinders the army. Yet people try to organise the exodus in
an orderly manner.
The citizens have to wait until the soldiers have crossed
the bridge. A British newspaper reports how gendarmes,
armed with bayonets, keep the surging crowd at bay for
hours on end so as to ensure the army their passage. However,
when the bridge becomes overwhelmed by people
in blind panic, the guards can no longer keep things under
control.
The retreat is chaotic
Fleeing people are stuck for hours without being able to
move either forwards or backwards. They have put on
their best clothes; who knows where they might end up
during their flight? Hurriedly they gather a few personal
belongings, dragging them along in wheelbarrows, prams
or trolleys, often pulled by oxen and donkeys. There is a
feeling of panic; people are shouting, babies crying, dogs
are barking and cows lowing. Cars, ambulances and
buses are stuck in the crowd. 200 people are transferred
to St Anna by ferry every fifteen minutes.
De vluchtelingen (The Refugees),
Eugeen Van Mieghem,
1914
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