"Naval Brigade", by the way, is not a very ancient term, though in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and early eighteenth centuries we often find references to the employment of a "regiment" or "battalion" of seamen. This may possibly be because, although embarked as part complement of our men-of-war, the marines, who were in those times organized in regiments and not in one large corps, did not actually belong to the Admiralty, but to the War Office. They were landed together, if possible, in their own regiments, and became for the time being a part of the army, to which, in addition, a battalion of seamen—which, it is rather confusing to find, is sometimes referred to as a "marine regiment"—might often be attached. But seamen and marines were not in those times generally brigaded together, as they so frequently have been in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Though for many a long day the sailor proper "had no use for soldiering", which he contemned as an inferior profession to his own, he was always a pretty useful man with the heavy gun. Naturally, if a man can make decent shooting with a weapon tossing about on an unstable platform, he finds it comparatively easy to hit his target on terra firma. One of the earliest references to the employment of seamen in operations on shore is at the siege of Leith—then held by French troops—in 1560. The town was beleaguered from seaward by the English fleet under Admiral Winter, and on the shore side by a combined English and Scots army; and in the list of troops detailed for an assault—which unfortunately proved unsuccessful—we find that the "Vyce-Admyralle of the Quene's Majestye's Schippes" was to furnish 500 men.

Drake's men in his expeditions to the Spanish coast were formed into regiments and fought on shore, and after the Restoration a battalion of seamen took part in the severe fighting with the Moors at Tangier. It does not seem quite clear whether this included marines or not.[57] Anyway, it was under the command of Admiral Herbert and had been put through a special course of exercise "by an expert old soldier—Captain Barclay", who, after the first engagement, was reproved by the Admiral "for suffering too forward and furious advancement, lest thereby they might fall into the enemy's ambushments". Captain Barclay retorted that "he could lead them on, but the furies could not bring them off"!

At the siege of Cork by the Duke of Marlborough, in 1690, besides the two marine regiments of the Earls of Torrington and Pembroke, a naval brigade of 600 seamen and marines[58] was landed from the fleet, with as many carpenters and gunners as could be spared, to assist in the construction of the siege-batteries and gun-platforms. The brigade was under the command of the Duke of Grafton, then captain of one of the ships, though previously in command of the 1st Foot Guards. The readiness and cheerfulness with which both seamen and marines dragged their heavy guns into position in the face of the enemy's opposition is specially recorded. The capture of the "Cat", an important outwork covering the approaches to the city, is set down to the credit of two of the seamen. These worthies, with or without leave, were cruising about in front of the outposts in the early morning in the neighbourhood of the "Cat", and, seeing no sign of life or movement, crept cautiously up to its formidable ramparts and found that it had been deserted by the Irish garrison. They installed themselves in possession and signalled the state of affairs to their friends, on which 200 men of Colonel Hale's regiment were sent to occupy it.

In the expedition to Flanders in 1694 it is stated that 6000 seamen were "mixed with our land forces, and each of them on landing" was to receive "a guinea a man".[59]

In the capture of Gibraltar in 1704 the seamen played a prominent part. The marines were all landed together[189]
[190] under the Prince of Hesse, to cut off communication with the mainland, while the seamen, under Captains Hicks and Jumper—Jumper's Bastion commemorates his name at the present day—stormed its defences at the southern end. The marine regiments played such a distinguished part in the gallant defence against overwhelming odds which followed that the corps bears the word "Gibraltar"[60] on its colours and accoutrements to the present day; but at one part of the siege a force of seamen and guns was landed from the fleet and did most useful service.

One of them[61] has left a very interesting account of his experiences on this occasion. "On the morning we got thither", he says, "the Spaniards were discovered that came up the back of the hill. Then there was a command for twenty of our men to go ashore with fire-arms.... We were all in high spirits and fit to do execution, not being at all daunted at their numbers, for they were like swarms of bees upon the hill and in great confusion, and we like lions in the valley seeking whom we might devour; as our duty required. At it we went, loading and firing as fast as we could. Our men had a great advantage of the Spaniards in firing uphill, and it was a very great advantage they were not obliged to wade, for the water often overflows that part where we were obliged to engage them. We were happy enough in missing the tide; had it been otherwise, we had been but in a bad situation. The Spaniards rolled pieces of rocks down the hill and wounded a great many of our men, but our advantage in firing was more than all they could do. When they found they could do no good they laid down their fire-arms.... We stayed ashore all night, and in the morning returned to our ship. They found the duty too hard for the soldiers, and then there were orders sent for ten men of a ship to go ashore again.... When we went over we found that the works were very much demolished, for there was not a gun that we could fire one day without its being unfit for service on the next, for the Spaniards would dismount them.... We found the duty extremely hard, for what they beat down by day we were obliged to clear away at night."

After a further description of their work, the writer speaks of the Spanish bombardment and tells how he just escaped a "Jack Johnson" of the period by throwing himself flat on the ground. "Had I been so unwise", he says, "as to have stood up when it fell, I should have been lifted up on its wings. I was hardened in that employment, and a great many of our men ran in a terrible fright, thinking that I was blown up. They said, when they saw me, we are glad to see you alive. I thanked them for their regard for me, and told them I never minded a bomb at all, only to observe its falling and step out of the way and fall with my face to the ground.... We continued making our works by night and in the daytime we were employed in drawing guns from the New Mole to Wills's Battery. We had very indifferent ground some part of the way, therefore we were obliged to draw in gears, in the same manner as horses do. But when we came among the rocks we were obliged to lay deal spars, and parbuckle them up with hawsers, and by these means we haled them up to the Battery."

It is in this kind of work that our seamen have ever proved so invaluable to the sister service on shore. A military officer, writing of the taking of Martinique in 1762, writes: "The cannon and other warlike stores were landed as soon as possible, and dragged by the 'Jacks' to any point thought proper. You may fancy you know the spirit of these fellows; but to see them in action exceeds any idea that can be formed of them. A hundred or two of them, with ropes and pulleys, will do more than all your dray horses in London. Let but their tackle hold and they will draw you a cannon or mortar on its proper carriage up to any height, though the weight be ever so great. It is droll enough to see them tugging along with a good 24-pounder at their heels; on they go huzzaing, hallooing, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill, now sticking fast in the brakes, presently floundering in mud and mire ... and as careless of everything but the matter committed to their charge as if death or danger had nothing to do with them. We had a thousand of these brave fellows sent to our assistance by the Admiral; and the service they did us, both on shore and on the water, is incredible."[62]

Two or three years previously the seamen of the fleet had performed a similar duty at the siege of Quebec, and it is related that after bringing up the guns they met a battalion of soldiers about to go into action and insisted in falling-in alongside them, some armed with cutlasses, some with sticks, and others with no weapons at all. General Wolfe, coming up, thanked them for their spirit, but urged them to continue on their way to their ships, as they were both unarmed and unacquainted with military discipline and manoeuvres. He said that it would be of more service to their country if they did so than for them to lose their lives for no result. To this address some of them called out: "God bless your Honour, pray let us stay and see fair play between the English and the French". Wolfe again urged them to go on board. Some followed his advice, but others, as soon as his back was turned, swore that the soldiers should not have all the fighting to themselves. They contrived to remain with the redcoats, and whenever one of the latter fell a seaman put on his accoutrements, seized his musket, and charged with the battalion. Seamen and marines constantly worked together on shore during the numerous expeditions that were directed against the enemy's possessions in the course of the long series of wars which only terminated with the Battle of Waterloo, not so very often in regular brigades but in landing-parties from their own ships, notably at the defence of Acre by Sir Sidney Smith, Captain of the Tigre, assisted by Colonel Douglas of the Marines and by Colonel Philpoteaux, an engineer officer and a French Royalist refugee. A very usual operation was for one or two of our ships to set about the capture of a number of the enemy's merchantmen and small craft that had sought refuge in some harbour on the Mediterranean coast. If there was a battery defending the entrance the ship would engage it, and after its guns were silenced, it would be stormed by the bluejackets and marines. After this the latter would take up a covering position while the seamen brought out the shipping.

We have a somewhat amusing account of a naval brigade of seamen which was put on shore during the unfortunate Walcheron Expedition of 1808. It was written by a soldier, so perhaps may have been a bit overdrawn, but it must be remembered that there was no attempt to teach seamen infantry drill in those days, and none of them was enlisted for longer than a ship's commission. "These extraordinary fellows", says the writer, "delighted in hunting the 'Munseers', as they called the French, and a more formidable pack was never unkennelled. Armed with a long pole, a pike, a cutlass, and a pistol, they annoyed the French skirmishers in all directions by their irregular and unexpected attacks. They usually went out in parties as if they were going to hunt a wild beast, and no huntsman ever followed the chase with more delight.... They might be seen leaping the dykes by the aid of their poles or swimming across others, like Newfoundland dogs; and if a few French riflemen appeared in sight, they ran at them helter-skelter, and pistol, cutlass, or pike went to work in good earnest. The French soldiers did not at all relish such opponents—and no wonder, for the very appearance of them was terrific, and quite out of the usual order of things. Each man seemed a sort of Paul Jones, tarred, belted, and cutlassed as they were. Had we had occasion to storm Flushing I have no doubt they would have carried the breach themselves."

The writer gives a humorous description of their drill, of which they wisely only attempted enough to assist them in moving from place to place. "'Heads up, you beggar of a corporal, there', a little slang-going Jack would cry out from the rear rank, well knowing that his diminutive size prevented his being seen by his officers. Then, perhaps, the man immediately before the wit, in order to show his sense of decorum, would turn round and remark: 'I say, who made you fugleman,[63] Master Billy? Can't you behave like a sodger afore the commander, eh?'"

Drill was looked upon merely as an amusing interlude in the serious business of war and appreciated accordingly. It was an exhibition of the same spirit of cheerfulness which has made us so proud of our Tommies for "sticking it out" so heroically in the trenches. This spirit never left these gallant seamen till the last, for the account above quoted tells how, when one of them was brought to the ground by a bullet which broke the bones of his leg, while pursuing some of the enemy's riflemen, he "took off his tarpaulin hat and flung it with all his might after them, adding a wish, 'that it was an 18-pounder for their sakes!' The poor fellow was carried off by his comrades and taken to the hospital, where he died. Such were the men who fought our battles."

At the landing in Aboukir Bay in 1801 a body of seamen under Sir Sidney Smith were of great assistance to our army—very badly provided with artillery with which to reply to the numerous French field-pieces. The seamen, however, landed some guns, dragged them to a good position among the sand-hills, and by their fire materially contributed to the victory which ensued. It was in the same part of the world—to be exact, on the coast of Syria—that some years afterwards, in 1840-1, a naval brigade from the Mediterranean fleet, under Sir Charles Napier, assisted by a reinforcement of the Royal Marines sent out from England, carried on a campaign against Mehemet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, who had revolted from the Sultan and forcibly occupied Syria. There were Turkish troops also engaged and a small detachment from one or two Austrian ships, but Sir Charles Napier was in charge of the operations, and no British soldiers, other than the few marines, took part in the campaign.

Sir Charles, though a sailor, always thought that he was a soldier spoiled, and was very proud of the rank of Major-General which had been given him by the Portuguese Government about ten years before. He had seen a little fighting on shore in the Peninsula, and entered into this shore-going campaign with the greatest zest. The marines, who were formed into two battalions, did the greater part of the fighting on land, as the seamen were required to man the guns of their ships, which constantly co-operated with the land forces by bombarding the enemy's towns and positions; but the bluejackets took part in the storming of Tortosa—where they preceded the marines as a pioneer party to remove obstacles—the assault of a castle near Acre, the occupation of Tyre, and the capture of Acre and Sidon. The seamen and marines of the fleet engaged in the Chinese war of 1840-1 also did a considerable amount of shore work of which space precludes any account, the operations they were engaged in being so numerous and so scattered. But we may say that, generally speaking, the seamen acted as gunners, while the marines were employed as infantry.

Naval guns mounted in shore batteries played a most distinguished part in the Crimean War. They were manned both by seamen and by marines, and were employed at the bombardment and capture of Bomarsund in the Baltic and in the trenches before Sebastopol. At the latter place, although a brigade of the Royal Marines had been encamped on the heights above Balaclava, and though they and the Royal Marine Artillery manned the guns in the redoubts built to secure our right flank from a Russian attack, it had not been intended to place naval guns in the siege-batteries. But when our siege-train found that they had all they could do to contend with the unexpected efficiency of the Russian guns, it was hurriedly determined to call on the navy for assistance. Fifty heavy guns were at once landed, with 35 officers and 732 seamen under Captain Stephen Lushington. The reinforcement was most valuable. The guns were powerful and the seamen's fire most accurate. The brigade did "yeoman service", and sustained by the end of the siege the loss of 7 officers and 95 men killed, and 39 officers and 432 men wounded.

Perhaps the most famous naval brigade in history is the Shannon's brigade, under Captain Peel, which made such a glorious record in the strenuous days of the Indian Mutiny. Although nearly all accounts would lead the reader to believe that it was entirely composed of seamen, it consisted, in point of fact, of 450 seamen, 140 marines, and 15 marine artillerymen, drawn from both the Shannon and the Pearl. The guns which they took with them and which did such invaluable service were twelve in number—ten 8-inch guns—pretty heavy pieces to haul along—and a couple of brass field-pieces. The brigade participated in the action at Kajwa, 1st November, 1857, when Peel took charge of the operations on the death of Colonel Powell of the 53rd, and brought them to a victorious conclusion. On the 13th of the same month eight heavy guns and 250 of the brigade, with Peel himself, arrived before Lucknow, where they formed part of the army under Sir Colin Campbell which had advanced to the relief of the Europeans besieged in the Residency. After the capture of the Sikander Bagh, the relieving-force was checked in a narrow way by the desperate resistance offered by the garrison of the Shah Najif, "which was wreathed in volumes of smoke from the burning buildings in front but sparkled all over with the bright flash of small-arms".[64] The guns could make little or no impression on it; retreat was impossible along the narrow crowded lane by which the advance had been made. Desperate measures were necessary. Peel was equal to the occasion. While his marines and the Highlanders did their best to keep down the fire from the rebel loopholes, his seamen man-handled two of their big guns to within a few feet of the walls. But they had to be drawn off again under cover of the fire from a couple of rocket tubes, which were brought into action for the purpose. Still their gunners had made a small breach, which they had not even noticed themselves, and by this breach fifty men of the 93rd Highlanders, under Colonel Adrian Hope and Sergeant Paton—who received the V.C. for this service—later on effected an entry and expelled the garrison. The naval guns were of the greatest service during the withdrawal of the hardly pressed garrison of the Residency, since they kept down the fire from the Kaisar Bagh, the principal stronghold of the rebel sepoys. At Cawnpore and at the battle of Futtygurh, and in the final relief of Lucknow, the Shannon and Pearl brigades distinguished themselves time after time; but we must leave further details, to deal with later naval brigades.

Passing over the operations in China in 1858-9-60, and the attack on Simomosaki in Japan, in all of which both seamen and marines were engaged, we come to the Ashanti War of 1873. The opening operations were entirely carried out by the navy, with the assistance of a few black troops. The invading army of Ashantis was forced back over the River Prah by the marines and seamen of the squadron, reinforced by a small force of the former sent especially from England, Cape Coast Castle and Elmina were saved, and time was gained for the arrival of the expeditionary force from England under Sir Garnet Wolseley. A small naval brigade of 200 seamen, and 60 marines, with a rocket train, accompanied the army on its advance to Kumassi and played a conspicuous part in the battle of Amoaful, suffering a loss of six officers and forty men wounded.

A little naval brigade of 3 officers and 121 men with two rocket-tubes, six 12-pounders, and a Gatling gun participated in the fighting with the Kafirs in South Africa in 1877-8; while in the Zulu War of a year or so later the Shah, Active, Boadicea, and Tenedos landed a brigade of seamen and marines of the strength of 41 officers and 812 men, with several guns. It was employed in somewhat scattered detachments. In 1881 a small naval brigade took part in the inglorious Boer War and suffered heavily at the unfortunate battle on Majuba Hill, where it lost more than half its strength. It is to one of the seamen present that the following terse summary of that disastrous day is attributed. "We took three mortal hours to get up that bloomin' hill," he said, "but we come down in three bloomin' strides."

The navy and marines played a considerable part in the shore operations which followed on the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882. After the fire of Sir "Breach'em" Seymour's fleet had driven Arabi and his soldiers out of the city, the mob gave itself up to murder, looting, and incendiarism. No troops had yet arrived, and the only thing to do was to land the naval brigade to keep order and save the city and its European inhabitants. The bluejackets, with their Gatling guns, supported by the marines with their rifles, lost no time in clearing the streets of the murderous rabble. The work was done in a thorough and effective manner, and as soon as possible a rough-and-ready tribunal was established to deal with special cases. In addition to these duties the naval brigade had to find detachments to hold a line of outposts round the landward side of the city, ready to check a very probable attempt of Arabi to recapture the city. In a day or so the hardly-worked seamen and marines were strengthened by the arrival of a battalion of the Royal Marines which had been specially sent out from England in the Tamar in view of possible hostilities. It could easily have arrived at Alexandria two or three days earlier but for a series of orders and counter-orders from home which delayed it at Gibraltar, Malta, and finally sent it out of the way to Cyprus, where it was greeted with news of the bombardment, and the Tamar steamed straight out of Limasol harbour without letting go her anchor. When the army began to arrive, the naval brigade was gradually withdrawn on board its ships, but shortly afterwards was employed in seizing Port Said, Ismailia, and other points on the canal.

In the advance along the Sweet-water Canal, which culminated in the victory of Tel-el-Kebir, only a very small naval contingent from the ships took part, but a battalion of the Royal Marine Light Infantry and another of Royal Marine Artillery were attached to the army, the latter being told off as a body-guard to Lord Wolseley. But we must not omit to mention Lieutenant Rawson of the Royal Navy, to whom was committed the important task of guiding the night march of the army against the Egyptian lines of Tel-el-Kebir by the aid of the stars, and who fell in the moment of victory. "No man more gallant fell on that occasion," reported Lord Wolseley.

Naval brigades were well to the fore in the fighting which took place in the Sudan in 1884-5. At the Battle of El Teb 13 naval officers and 150 seamen, with six machine-guns, were present, as well as a battalion of 400 marines. It was in this action that Captain A. K. Wilson—now Admiral of the Fleet, Sir A. K. Wilson, V.C., G.C.B., O.M., G.C.V.O.—gained the V.C. for the gallant way in which he, single-handed, engaged no less than six of the enemy who had endeavoured to capture one of his machine-guns. The naval brigade suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Tamaii, which took place not long afterwards. In the Gordon Relief Expedition the naval brigade was naturally of great use on the Nile, and a small detachment of fifty-eight seamen under Lord Charles Beresford accompanied the Camel Corps in its dash across the desert and took part in the fiercely-contested fights of Abu Klea and Abu Kru. The marines formed the fourth company of the Guards Camel Corps on this occasion. In the operations on the upper Nile which preceded the fall of Khartoum there were a few naval and one marine officer in command of the Egyptian gunboats, whose fire proved such a useful auxiliary to the advance of the Anglo-Egyptian Army, while about a dozen non-commissioned officers of the Royal Marine Artillery were responsible for the instruction of their Egyptian gunners and the direction of their fire.

Naval brigades were very much in evidence in the South African War. No special squadron and no battalions of marines were sent out, because it was necessary to keep our main fleet and its personnel ready to hand in case of complications with European powers. The big cruisers Terrible and Powerful, however, appeared on the scene, and their crews assisted in the formation of the naval brigades. In October, 1899, one of these was formed at Simonstown from the Doris, Terrible, Powerful, and Monarch.

It is noteworthy that for the first time on record both seamen and marines were provided with khaki uniform in place of their usual blue-serge service-dress. This brigade was sent to Stormberg, on to Queenstown, and then, to its intense disappointment, back to Simonstown by sea from East London. That is, with the exception of the Terribles, who sailed for Durban. However, the very day the brigade arrived at Simonstown it was ordered off again to join Lord Methuen's force on the Modder River. The khaki-clad bluejackets, with their straw hats covered with the same coloured material, were rather a puzzle to the soldiers. During one of the engagements which took place, some of the Scots Guards, passing them standing by their guns, said to each other: "Blimy, Tommy, there's them Boer guns we've took!"

At the Battle of Graspan the naval brigade particularly distinguished itself. Captain Protheroe was in command, Commander Ethelston commanding the seamen, and Major Plumbe the marines. In the course of the action Captain Protheroe was wounded and both the other officers mentioned were killed, the brigade being brought out of action by Captain Marchant of the Royal Marines.[65] The Boers were strongly posted on a pair of kopjes. The eastern kopje was attacked by a force distributed as follows:—

Firing Line.—One company bluejackets, 50 strong; three companies Royal Marines, 190 strong in all; one company King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

Supports.—Seven companies King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

Reserve.—Half a battalion Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.

The remainder of the seamen belonging to the naval brigade—about 150 in number—helped to cover the attack by bringing their guns into action at about 2800 yards range. The kopje was taken, but a heavy price was paid by the naval brigade. There were 2 naval and 2 marine officers killed and one of each wounded, 2 seamen and 6 marines killed, and 13 seamen and 82 marines wounded. During the farther advance on our western flank the guns of the naval brigade were constantly in action. One of the big 4·7 guns, mounted on the travelling carriage suggested by Captain (now Admiral) Sir Percy Scott of the Terrible, and put into practical form by one of her engineer officers, arrived in time for the naval brigade to use it at Magersfontein with considerable effect. At Paardeberg they had four of these weapons in action, besides smaller guns. Manned either by bluejackets or marines, and hauled along either by teams of oxen or by the men of the brigade themselves, they again and again proved most effective during the operations which followed.

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Meanwhile the Powerfuls had formed a naval brigade of their own, and in response to the appeal made by Sir George White, the defender of Ladysmith, for more guns, Captain the Hon. Hedworth Lambton of that ship rushed up 17 officers and 267 men with two 4·7 guns, four 12-pounders, and four Maxims, just managing to get into the beleaguered town in time. On the very first day the 12-pounders managed to put the Boer "Long Tom", which was lobbing its big projectiles into the place, out of action, and their presence undoubtedly saved the situation. Another naval brigade formed part of the relieving force and fought at Colenso. This force comprised 20 officers and 403 bluejackets and marines, to whom must be added 2 officers and 50 men belonging to the Natal Naval Volunteers. A formidable battery of one 6-inch, five 4·7-inch, and eighteen long 12-pounders accompanied this brigade, which was of the greatest possible assistance to the army.

About this time the Boxer outbreak in China led to the formation of other naval brigades. Though hardly to be termed a naval brigade, it may be noted that the British portion of the small international force which so stoutly defended the Pekin Legations consisted of 79 Royal Marines and 3 officers, together with a leading signalman, an armourer's mate, and a sick-berth steward. But the relief column, under Vice-Admiral Sir E. H. Seymour, was a big naval brigade of various nationalities, of which about half were British—62 officers, 640 seamen, and 218 marines. The British were under the immediate command of Captain J. R. Jellicoe, C.B., C.V.O.,[66] the marines being under Major J. R. Johnstone, R.M.L.I.[67] A determined attempt was made to advance along the railway line to Pekin, but the Chinese troops, who were exceedingly well armed, having thrown in their lot with the Boxers, the brigade was unable to get farther than An-tung, which was occupied by Major Johnstone with sixty men, while preparations were made to fall back on Tien-tsin. The force had come up in a series of trains, but, the railway having been broken behind it in more than one place, a great part of the return journey had to be carried out on foot. Village after village had to be stormed, and not far from Tien-tsin the retreating column had to pass close under the walls of the important Chinese arsenal of Hsi-ku, which stood on the opposite bank of the river. From this big fortified enclosure a heavy fire was poured upon the Europeans at short range. It was a regular death-trap. However, the principal part of the column sought what cover the rather high bank of the river afforded, while Major Johnstone, with the British marines and half a company of bluejackets, contrived to get across in junks a little higher up, and, forming under cover of a small village, fixed bayonets and stormed the enclosure in flank with a tremendous rush, driving out the garrison before him. The column halted for the night and for the next day or two inside the arsenal, where it was attacked again and again till a relief column moved out from Tien-tsin and brought off the harassed naval brigade. In the meanwhile Admiral Seymour's brigade were fighting fiercely in Tien-tsin itself. The Pei-Yang Arsenal held by the Chinese had to be stormed, the European quarter defended, and finally the high-walled native city had to be taken by assault, an operation in which the British seamen and marines suffered very heavily.

This is the last important occasion on which a naval brigade was in action until the European War. So far no naval brigade, in the sense of a force of bluejackets and marines disembarked from their ships, has taken part in the fighting, except perhaps at the Dardanelles. The Naval Division which went to Antwerp was composed of marines and reservists from their head-quarters and of naval reservists and volunteers, but we have so little reliable information of what happened on that occasion that it would be very inadvisable to attempt to give any account of its performances at the present time.

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