At the fortified city of Antwerp, German troops besieged a garrison of Belgian fortress troops, the Belgian field army and the British Royal Naval Division.
The city was ringed by forts, known as the National Redoubt and was invested to the south and east by German forces, which began a bombardment of the Belgian fortifications with heavy and super-heavy artillery on 28 September.
The Belgian garrison had no hope of victory without relief and despite the arrival of the Royal Naval Division beginning on 3 October the Germans penetrated the outer ring of forts.
The German advance began to compress a corridor from the west of the city along the Dutch border to the coast.
The Belgians at Antwerp had used the strip to maintain contact with the rest of unoccupied Belgium and the Belgian field army commenced a withdrawal westwards towards the coast.

On 9 October, the remaining garrison surrendered, the Germans occupied the city and some British and Belgian troops escaped north to the Netherlands, where they were interned for the duration of the war.
A large amount of ammunition and many of the 2,500 guns at Antwerp were captured intact by the Germans.
The c. 80,000 surviving men of the Belgian field army escaped westwards, with most of the Royal Naval Division.
British casualties were 57 killed, 138 wounded, 1,479 interned and 936 taken prisoner.
The operations to save Antwerp failed but detained German troops when they were needed for operations against Ypres and the coast.
Ostend and Zeebrugge were captured by the Germans unopposed and the troops from Antwerp advanced to positions along the Yser river and fought in the Battle of the Yser, which thwarted the final German attempt to turn the Allied northern flank.
At the fortified city of Antwerp, German troops besieged a garrison of Belgian fortress troops, the Belgian field army and the British Royal Naval Division. The city was ringed by forts, known as the National Redoubt and was invested to the south and east by German forces, which began a bombardment of the Belgian fortifications with heavy and super-heavy artillery on 28 September. The Belgian garrison had no hope of victory without relief and despite the arrival of the Royal Naval Division beginning on 3 October the Germans penetrated the outer ring of forts. The German advance began to compress a corridor from the west of the city along the Dutch border to the coast. The Belgians at Antwerp had used the strip to maintain contact with the rest of unoccupied Belgium and the Belgian field army commenced a withdrawal westwards towards the coast.
On 9 October, the remaining garrison surrendered, the Germans occupied the city and some British and Belgian troops escaped north to the Netherlands, where they were interned for the duration of the war. A large amount of ammunition and many of the 2,500 guns at Antwerp were captured intact by the Germans. The c. 80,000 surviving men of the Belgian field army escaped westwards, with most of the Royal Naval Division. British casualties were 57 killed, 138 wounded, 1,479 interned and 936 taken prisoner. The operations to save Antwerp failed but detained German troops when they were needed for operations against Ypres and the coast. Ostend and Zeebrugge were captured by the Germans unopposed and the troops from Antwerp advanced to positions along the Yser river and fought in the Battle of the Yser, which thwarted the final German attempt to turn the Allied northern flank.
German invasion of Belgium