Royal Marines operating a machine gun, Antwerp, 1914 (lantern slide)

Royal Marines operating a machine gun, Antwerp, 1914. Lantern slide, World War One, Western Front (1914-1918), 1914. Following the fall of the Liege forts on 16 August 1914, the Belgian Army withdrew to Antwerp, where it re-grouped at the ‘National Redoubt’. This consisted of over 40 forts and several lines of defences around the port. While the main German invasion force elected to bypass Antwerp and advance through Belgium and into France, it was still necessary to detach four divisions towards Antwerp in order to prevent the 145,000 Belgian troops there attacking the main force’s flank. After resisting several sorties from the city, the Germans finally launched an all-out attack on Antwerp in September. As the battle raged, the Belgian government appealed for British aid and units of the Royal Naval Division was despatched to the city, arriving on 3 October. Although their presence boosted Belgian morale the Germans still took Antwerp on 9 October. From a box of 70 lantern slides associated with the attack on Belgium, 1914.