Old Ledbury - World War One in Ledbury - Will WILKS

World War One in Ledbury - Will WILKS

World War One in Ledbury - Will WILKS C Company, Royal Navy Volunteers

Ledbury Guardian Newspaper 31-10-1914
LEDBURY MAN IN THE BOMBARDMENT OF ANTWERP
Mr. Will WILKS (son of Mr. R. H. WILKS, of High Street, Ledbury) who whilst in London, joined "C" Company, Royal Naval Volunteers, and was one of the 9,000 who were at the siege of Antwerp, and after retiring, crossed into Dutch territory, writes to his relatives as follows:-
" As you will see, we are still here as prisoners of war only that we are in Dutch hands instead of German. The five days we spent in Antwerp were indescribable - what with the shrapnel shells, which were poured into our trenches and forts, it is no wonder there is a man alive. The Belgian guns were useless at such a range, and had not got any with us, so you may judge for yourselves our predicament, when we manned the forts, after the Belgians had withdrawn only to find that the guns were only 3-inch, against German 10, 11 and even 17-inch; and the Belgians had in many cases rendered their guns useless before retiring, so we had but to lie there to be shelled and repel the infantry attacks - really a very simple matter, for the German infantry was very poor.
It was the heavy, long-range guns that did the damage. How we ever got out of it is a mystery for we were shelled right through Antwerp. The city was terribly treated for the many beautiful buildings and avenues were reduced to ruins, and in flames. We tried to make to Ostend, but the distance was too great, and we had had no food or sleep for three days worth mentioning. When we crossed into Holland we were interned. We are being treated very well by the Dutch authorities, and from to-night we are allowed out for three hours every other evening. We don't get very much to eat, but shall make up for it when we get out. The sights we saw at Antwerp will never be removed from my memory. It was ghastly to see the poor women and children straggling along the road loaded up with their belongings.
" Notepaper in the canteen is very short. I shall very much appreciate letters and newspapers for we cannot read the Dutch papers. Everything we had, of course, was lost in Antwerp, so we have only what we stand up in. I am pleased to say I am as fit as circumstances permit, but of course feel miserable at being a prisoner. "

Sources
1914 - 1919 Ledbury Guardian Newspaper - Herefordshire History

Ledbury Reporter

The Reporter now has Archive photographs for the years 2005 - 2009 which you can view and order. Select a year then make sure Ledbury is the keyword entered before pressing GO. I have spent many an hour in the Ledbury Library looking through the old Reporters which are on microfiche. Support this great local paper.