Fall of the last forts of Antwerp

On 9 October 1914 the defence of Antwerp came to an end. In the morning German soldiers who had been shelling the inner ring of forts discovered that some of them were empty. During the day the first German units entered the city, and in the evening its representatives signed the act of surrender of the fortress at nearby Kontich.

The last night of the defence

For several days the fate of Antwerp had been sealed. The Belgian field army had left the fortress and was withdrawing westwards, and the King and the government had left on 7 October. The inner ring of forts was still defended by the fortress garrison, the Belgian 2nd Division and the British Royal Naval Division, while German shells rained down on the city. Over the port hung smoke from burning oil tanks, set alight by the Belgians so that the fuel would not fall into enemy hands.

On the evening of 8 October the British were ordered to retreat. During the night of 8–9 October the sailors and the last Belgian units crossed the Scheldt to the left bank of the river. The withdrawal was hasty and confused. Some battalions crossed in boats and barges, and early on the morning of 9 October the defenders blew up the pontoon bridge over the Scheldt. Not all units managed to withdraw in time. Most of the British 1st Naval Brigade, cut off by the Germans, headed for the nearby Dutch border.

Empty forts

On the morning of 9 October the Germans found that some of the forts of the inner ring had been abandoned. General Hans von Beseler stopped the bombardment and called on the governor of the fortress, General Victor Deguise, to capitulate. Deguise, however, was already in Fort Sainte-Marie on the left bank of the Scheldt.

During the day the first German units entered Antwerp. According to some accounts this happened at around noon. The soldiers, who had expected street fighting, found the city without defenders and largely without inhabitants, hundreds of thousands of whom had fled to the Netherlands and to the west of the country in the preceding days.

Talks at Kontich

The city authorities wanted at all costs to save Antwerp from further bombardment. The burgomaster, Jan De Vos, the deputy Louis Franck and the senator Alphonse Ryckmans, accompanied by the Spanish consul, went to Kontich, south of the city, where Beseler had his quarters in a villa on the Antwerp road. The German commander threatened to resume the shelling if the forts that were still holding out were not surrendered.

The delegation accepted the German demands. According to the Belgian historian Lode Wils, at 5.40 p.m. the act of surrender of the fortress was signed at Kontich, to take effect at noon the following day, 10 October. The agreement, known as the Convention of Kontich, was concluded by civilians, not by the military command. That same night Franck and De Vos informed the commanders of the forts of its terms. The formal capitulation of Antwerp took place the next day.