8o The Great War British troops arrived on the Continent on August 8, the main body did not arrive in time to defend Brussels against the Germans, the French only got one regiment into Namur the day it capitulated and this general failure of the Allies to take advantage of Belgian resistance brought swift and enduring punishment. Still, it is well to recall that at the close of the first ten days the world believed that the Allied troops were rapidly approaching Belgium and that the de- lay at Liege had been fatal to German plans. The British announcement that their first troops had been sent to Namur, the French declaration on August 14 that French troops had entered Belgium near Charleroi and were proceeding to Gembloux kept this belief alive until the Germans were actu- ally at the gates of Brussels and the brave little Belgian Army, hopelessly outnumbered and defeated, was withdrawing to Antwerp. So far as it is possible to see now, this was the great opportunity of the Allies and the fact that they missed it explains the subsequent German ad- vance to the ver>' walls of Paris. Ten days after war broke out the belief that the opportunity was being put to the best possible use obsessed an audi- ence which did not discover its error until the Ger- mans had overrun Belgium nor recover from its surprise until they had reached the Marne.