The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

MICHELIN ILLUSTRATED GUIDES
TO THE BATTLEFIELDS (1914-1918)
THE
YSER
AND
THE BELGIAN COAST

An illustrated
history
and guide

  • MICHELIN & Cie, CLERMONT-FERRAND, FRANCE.
  • MICHELIN TYRE Co., Ltd., 81, Fulham Road, LONDON, S. W. 3.
  • MICHELIN TIRE Co., MILLTOWN, N. J., U. S. A.

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AN INDISPENSABLE AUXILIARY

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For the present GUIDE take sheet no 1.

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The "Michelin Wheel"

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IN MEMORY
OF THE MICHELIN WORKMEN AND EMPLOYEES WHO DIED GLORIOUSLY
FOR THEIR COUNTRY

THE
YSER
AND THE
BELGIAN COAST

Ce n'est qu'un bout de sol dans l'infini du monde...
Ce n'est qu'un bout de sol étroit,
Mais qui renferme encore et sa reine et son roi,
Et l'amour condensé d'un peuple qui les aime...
Dixmude et ses remparts. Nieuport et ses canaux,
Et Furnes, avec sa tour pareille à un flambeau.
Vivent encore ou sont défunts sous la mitraille.

Émile Verhaeren.

CONTENTS

[THE BATTLE OF THE YSER.]

The Race to the Sea.

King Albert and General Joffre.

In September 1914, after the Battle of the Marne and the German retreat, the centre and right of the French Armies quickly became fixed in front of the lines which the enemy had prepared in the rear, and were then fortifying. While the Allies' right, abutting on the Swiss frontier, was protected against any turning movement on the part of the enemy, their left (the 6th Army) was exposed.

The French 6th Army (General Maunoury) held the right bank of the Oise, north of Compiègne (See map p. [3]). The Germans attacked it in force and attempted their favourite turning movement.

General Joffre parried the manœuvre, and while strengthening the 6th Army, formed a mobile corps on his left wing, strong enough to withstand the enemy's outflanking movement.

The 2nd Army, consisting of corps brought up from the east, was formed and placed under the command of General de Castelnau. Preceded and protected by divisions of cavalry, it gradually extended its front to the south of Arras.

Queen Elizabeth in the Belgian Lines, on the Yser

The Germans carried out a similar movement, and the opposing armies, in their attempt to outflank each other, gradually prolonged their front northwards and approached the sea.

Against the German right wing, which steadily extended itself northwards, General de Maud'huy's Army deployed from the Somme to La Bassée, and gave battle in front of Arras.

The Germans attacked furiously and attempted both to crush the Allied front and continue their turning movement. Six Army Corps and two Cavalry Corps were thrown against General de Maud'huy's Army but the latter, reinforced, held its ground.

The command of the Northern Army Group was entrusted to General Foch.

The new chief promptly co-ordinated the dispositions, in view of a general action.

The Race to the Sea.

The northward movement of the armies became more pronounced. The cavalry divisions of the Corps commanded by Generals de Mitry and Conneau advanced towards the Plains of Flanders.

Simultaneously, the British Army was relieved on the Aisne, and drew nearer to their threatened coast bases, in the region of Saint-Omer. By October 19, they were completely installed in their new positions from La Bassée to Ypres, thus prolonging northwards the Army of General de Maud'huy. Between the British left and the North Sea Coast, there still remained a gap, crossed from west to east by the roads leading to the Channel Ports. It was this gap which the Belgian Army, after its escape from Antwerp, was destined to stop.

The fall of Antwerp and the Belgian retreat.

To capture Antwerp, the Germans adopted their usual tactics. Concentrating their powerful siege artillery—which had previously destroyed the forts of Liége, Namur and Maubeuge—in the sector south of the Nethe, they effected a breach in the outer line of forts, and having crossed the Nethe, with a loss of nearly 50,000 men, they attacked the inner line of forts, so as to be able to bombard and reduce the town.

After consultation with the French General Staff, it was decided to abandon the town, in order to save the Belgian Army.

Leaving a small number of troops in the forts, with orders to mask the evacuation of the town, the Belgian Army, after destroying everything likely to be of use to the enemy, crossed the Escaut by night, together with the British forces, which, as early as September, had been despatched to help in defending the city. These troops withdrew westward, via St. Nicolas and Ecloo. On October 9, Antwerp capitulated.

To protect the flank of the columns retreating towards Bruges, the French Marine Brigade, a detachment of Belgian Cavalry and volunteers, and the British 7th Division took up positions in front of the eastern outskirts of Ghent.

On October 4, Admiral Ronarc'h who had meanwhile concentrated his brigade in the entrenched camp of Paris, received orders to transfer his quarters to Dunkirk. Leaving St. Denis on the 7th, accompanied by his staff, and closely followed by the Brigade, he reached Dunkirk in the evening, proceeding thence to Antwerp. On the evening of the 8th, they were met at the railway station of Ghent by General Pau with orders to defend that town.

The Marines took up positions east of Ghent, and to the north and south of Melle. Belgian volunteers occupied the bend in the Escaut. These troops were supported by a group of Belgian artillery belonging to the 4th Mixed Brigade.

The Germans violently attacked in greatly superior numbers along the Alost-Ghent road, but for forty-eight hours the Marines carried out their mission of flank-guard. On receiving orders to retreat, the Franco-Belgian detachment, covered by units of the British 7th Division, re-crossed the Escaut and fell back towards the Yser, via Thourout, where the Belgian Army was arriving, closely followed by detachments of German cavalry.

Cavalry on the beach at Malo-les-bains.

(Note the barbed-wire entanglements.)

The Battlefield.

The last strip of unconquered Belgian territory, on which the German thrust was destined to be broken, forms part of Maritime Flanders (See map, p. [6]).

This vast plain was formerly a sea-gulf, and as late as the 11th century, was often raided by the "drakkers" of the Scandinavian pirates. In the Middle-Ages, the gulf gradually filled up with sand. This vast polder is almost entirely below sea-level at high tide, and is each day invaded by the waves.

Water is everywhere: in the air, on the ground, under the ground.

It is the land of dampness, the kingdom of water. It rains three days out of four. The north-west winds, breaking off the tops of the stunted trees, making them bend as if with age, carry heavy clouds of cold rain formed in the open sea. As soon as the rain ceases to fall, thick white mists rise from the ground, giving a ghost-like appearance to men and things alike. (Le Goffic's, "Dixmude").

Line of Defence near Noordschote.

The Battlefield.

Water, which oozes up out of the soil, giving a blister-like appearance to the soft clay covering, is found at a depth of less than three feet.

This water was carefully drained off, under the control of the Belgian State, by associations of farmers and land-owners ("gardes wateringues"). Countless ditches and canals ("watergands") skirting the willow hedges and intersecting the entire plain, carried away this surplus water.

All the canals and ditches communicate with numerous water-courses, e.g. the Yperlée, Kemmelbeck, Berteartaart, Vliet and many other nameless ones, which run between embankments into the Yser.

The road from Furnes to Ypres, near Westvleteren, in December 1915.

(See page [127].)

The Yser, a small coastal river, having its source in French Flanders empties itself into the sea between two jetties. Its shallow bed, dredged along the greater part of its course, describes a wide semi-circle. At its mouth, at Nieuport, the Yser and the canals which likewise end there, are closed by a series of locks, which shut out the sea at high tide and prevent it from invading the plain through the streams and canals.

The few roads and the Nieuport-Dixmude railway run along embankments seven to ten feet high.

Formerly, flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, tended by grey-coated shepherds, grazed in this plain. Immense fields of beet and turnips alternated with the meadows. Hedges, willows, clusters of bending poplars, and the roofs of the low farmsteads built on little hillocks, broke the monotony of the landscape. Here, where peace and prosperity reigned, the inundations and war have left a vast expanse of reeds, in which the roads, ruined farmhouses and a few broken trees stand out dismally.

The plain is bounded on the west by a line of wind-formed sand dunes planted with oyats. These dunes extend along the straight unbroken coast. To the east of Dixmude rises a series of heights, which, marking the beginning of the solid ground, are continued further east by the long unbroken crest of Clerken.

South of this crest stretches the Forest of Houthulst, now entirely devastated by shellfire.

The spongy nature of the soil makes it impossible to excavate to any depth, nor was there any high ground to mask the defence-works and batteries of artillery.

Two great embankments: that of the Yser, arc-shaped, and that of the Nieuport-Dixmude railway, connecting up to the two ends of the former, were the framework of the defence lines. However, the dominating element: water, provided the defenders with a supreme and irresistible arm.

The Opposing Forces.

The right wing of the German IVth Army, under the command of the Prince of Württemberg, marched via Bruges towards Dunkirk. This newly formed army was partly composed of young men belonging to the German aristocracy, volunteers and former students, worked up to frenzied patriotism by the German victories.

These admirably equipped troops were supported by at least 500 guns of all calibres, to which was soon added the heavy siege artillery that had just crushed the forts of Antwerp.

This mass of 160,000 men, drunk with the furor teutonicus, pursued its victorious march on the Channel ports, certain of crushing the small Belgian Army which had again escaped them at Antwerp, but which this time was to be annihilated.

Without losing a single gun during their stirring retreat, the Belgian Army reached the Yser line. In its death-grapple with the invader, it had been seriously reduced by more than two months of hard fighting.

Minus the greater part of its officers, and reduced to 43,000 rifles, 300 75's and 23 6in. howitzers, its reserves of munitions were barely sufficient to deliver another battle. There was no hope of new supplies, as the army was deprived of its arsenals.

The men, with their torn and muddy uniforms, seemed to have reached the limits of physical endurance, and to be incapable of further prolonged effort.

It was then that King Albert issued his stirring Order of the Day:

Soldiers,

For two months and more you have been fighting for the most just of causes: your homes and national independence.

You have held the enemy's armies, sustained three sieges, executed several sorties, and successfully carried out a long retreat through a narrow defile.

So far, you have been alone in this tremendous struggle. Now you are at the side of the valiant French and British Armies.

It is your duty to uphold the reputation of our arms with that spirit of tenacity and bravery of which you have given so many proofs. Our national honour is at stake.

Soldiers,

Look on the future with confidence, and fight with courage.

In whatever positions I place you, look ahead, and consider as a traitor to the Motherland whoever speaks of retreat, without the formal order having been given.

The time has come for us, with the aid of our powerful allies, to drive the enemy from our dear country, which they invaded in contempt of their word and of the sacred rights of a free people.

(Signed) Albert.

The supreme battle was about to begin. To hold the enemy's thrust against Dunkirk and Calais, the Belgian Army, supported by the Allies, once again resolutely placed itself across his path and barred the way.

From the sea to Zuydschoote (8 km. North of Ypres), the Belgian Army was at first obliged, with the help of only 6,000 French Marines, to hold a twenty-two mile front.

The unequal strength of the opposing forces seemed to warrant the enemy's expectations of crushing in the Allied front and breaking through to the Channel ports.

To defend this wide front, the whole Army was deployed. From the coast to Dixmude, the 2nd, 1st and 4th Divisions were echeloned, with units beyond the Yser holding the advance-posts of Lombartzyde, Mannekensvere, Schoore, Keyem, Beerst and the two bridgeheads of Nieuport and Schoorbakke.

The bridgehead of Dixmude was held by the brigade of French Marines and a brigade of the Belgian 3rd Division. South of Dixmude, the 5th Division, in positions along the canalised portion of the Yperlée, occupied the region of Boesinghe in liaison, on the right, with divisions of Brittany Territorials.

The 1st Division of Belgian cavalry operated near the woods of Houthulst and Roulers, with French Cavalry divisions of General de Mitry's 2nd Corps, thus protecting the Belgian right.

There remained in reserve only two Brigades of the 3rd Division and 2nd Cavalry Division to the south-west of Nieuport.

THE BATTLE OF THE YSER.

The fighting in the advance-positions.

The Franco-Belgian troops had hardly taken up their defensive positions when, on October 15, the guns began to roar in the direction of Dixmude.

On October 16 and 17, strong German reconnoitering parties, supported by field artillery, came into contact with the Allies' positions.

On the 18th, the enemy hurriedly attempted to crush the defenders, before reinforcements arrived. After a violent bombardment, a powerful attack was launched against the Mannekensvere-Schoore-Keyem-Beerst line, held by units of the Belgian 2nd, 1st and 4th Divisions.

Assault after assault was beaten off, but finally, after very heavy losses, fresh enemy masses carried Mannekensvere and Keyem, where they were held by the volley fire of the Belgian 75's. The defenders of Mannekensvere withdrew behind the Yser, while those of Keyem (units of the 1st Division) held their ground on the right bank of the river. The same night a spirited counter-attack gave them back their lost positions.

On the 19th, the attacks doubled in fury, the enemy's main effort being made against the two wings.

Nieuport and the advanced lines of Lombartzyde were violently bombarded. The Belgian 2nd Division stood firm, and beat off three German assaults.

On the right wing, the Germans, driven out of Keyem on the previous day, attacked this village again and also Beerst, further south. Under a terrific artillery fire, the defenders gave way.

However, the Belgian 5th Division and the French Marines debouching from Dixmude, captured Vladsloo and Beerst, in spite of considerable losses. With their left threatened, the enemy's efforts before Keyem weakened.

This brilliant counter-offensive was held by a new menace. Strong enemy columns were signalled to the south-east, debouching from Roulers and marching on Dixmude.

The 5th Division and the Marines fell back upon their original positions before Dixmude, their retreat bringing about the fall of Beerst and Keyem, whose defenders withdrew beyond the Yser.

On the 20th the Germans threw themselves against the advanced positions of Lombartzyde. The defenders were supported by the artillery of the British monitors, whose guns swept the coastline. To the south-east of Lombartzyde, Groote-Bamburg Farm was first lost, then reoccupied after a spirited counter-attack.

The Germans redoubled their costly efforts, and succeeded in getting a footing in Lombartzyde in the evening, but were unable to debouch.

Only after five days of sanguinary fighting, were the enemy able to reach the Allies' main line of defences, formed by the Yser and the two bridgeheads of Nieuport and Dixmude.

The Battle on the Main Line of Defence.

The situation was none the less critical, and the battle waxed more and more furious. The Yser front was continuously deluged with shells. The Belgian batteries of 75's were unable to engage the German heavy guns. None of the villages could be held; Nieuport and Dixmude were in flames.

Supported by the Brigade of French Marines, the remains of the six Belgian Divisions still defended, single-handed, the twelve-mile front between St. Jacques-Cappelle and the sea. They were reinforced by the 6th Division near Lampernisse and Pervyse, thus strengthening the centre.

Against these depleted, exhausted and ill-revictualled troops, crushed beneath a continuous bombardment, the Germans brought up heavy reinforcements from Roulers.

The Attack on Dixmude and Nieuport.

Nieuport and Dixmude formed the bastions of the Allied defences, and their capture meant the falling of the Yser and the railway lines into the enemy's hands.

The brunt of the German attack was directed against Dixmude.

The French Marine Brigade and the mixed brigade of the Belgian 3rd I. D. under the command of Admiral Ronarc'h, were deployed in a semi-circle, about 500 yards from the outskirts of Dixmude, resting on the Yser. A second line was established along the canalised river.

On October 20, after an artillery preparation which lasted all the morning, the enemy made an unsuccessful attack on Dixmude. A fresh attack the same night was likewise repulsed. Meanwhile the town continued to burn.

On the 21st, at dawn, the bombardment redoubled in violence. The Germans attacked again, only to be mown down and repulsed.

In the afternoon, new enemy reinforcements delivered converging attacks of great violence, combining them with a furious thrust against the Schoorbakke Pass, situated half-way between Dixmude and Nieuport. At both points the German rush was broken.

In exasperation, the enemy threw fresh battalions into the battle. This time the blow was aimed directly at the town itself and the canal to the south, but the defence remained unshaken. Simultaneously, the Germans were threatening the entire front, and in particular, the bridgehead of Nieuport. This town suffered the same fate as Dixmude.

Still the Yser remained impassable. Both Dixmude and Nieuport held out, and the end of the day registered a fresh enemy check.

The Breach in the Centre of the Line.

After their failure before Nieuport and Dixmude, the enemy made a surprise attack against the centre, on the night of the 21st.

Between Nieuport and Dixmude, the easterly loop in the Yser at Tervaete facilitated flank, enfilade and rear firing, and was consequently a weak point in the defences.

Under cover of darkness, the enemy threw a bridge over the river, near Tervaete, and effected a crossing. The situation was critical, as if the front were pierced, the two centres of resistance, Nieuport and Dixmude, which until then had proved impregnable, would be taken in the rear.

In a supreme effort, units of the Belgian 1st Division counter-attacked furiously, and in spite of terrible losses, held the enemy. Reinforcements of Grenadiers and Carabiniers succeeded, in a further attack, in driving back the Germans across the river, and in reoccupying their positions. However, on the night of the 22nd, the enemy recaptured Tervaete, but the Belgians remained masters of the line between the two ends of the loop.

On the 23rd, the situation was still very critical. To fill the gaps in the fighting line and to "hold out to the last, in spite of all", in accordance with the orders of the Belgian General Headquarters, the last reserves were thrown into the battle.

Fortunately, the first French reinforcements,—the famous "Grossetti" (42nd) Division which General Foch, at Fère-Champenoise, in the centre of the battle-line at the Marne, had thrown against the flank of the German columns, thereby turning the scales at the psychological moment (See the Michelin Guide: The Marshes of St. Gond—part 2 of The First Battle of the Marne),—arrived at this juncture.

The first units to arrive relieved the exhausted Belgians before Nieuport. Meanwhile, the bombardment of the town and bridgehead had reached an incredible degree of violence.

In the centre, the situation was still more serious, the exhausted remnants of the Belgian 1st and 4th Divisions having reached the limit of endurance.

The enemy threw ten battalions with machine-guns and artillery into the loop at Tervaete. The bridgehead of Schoorbakke, attacked from the rear was captured.

On the 24th, the 83rd Brigade of Grossetti's Division was moved to the centre, to oppose the German thrust, at the time when the enemy had just carried the Union Bridge.

Encouraged by the advantage which they had just secured, the Germans renewed their efforts against Dixmude, where their left wing was being held in check.

They had already gained a footing on the left bank of the Yser, north of the town, and were threatening to outflank it from the west.

General Grossetti, commanding the 42nd Division.

A supreme effort was made against the bridgehead, no less than fifteen assaults being delivered on the 24th.

The fierceness and horror of the struggle were indescribable, the men grappling with one another in pitch darkness.

However, the German furor spent itself against the heroism of the Belgian Infantry and French Marines who, for more than a week, remained in the breach day and night.

Dixmude remained inviolate.

Pontoon Bridge across the Yser.

The Inundations.

October 25 brought a pause in the German thrust, the enemy being visibly exhausted.

But the Belgian Army also was exhausted; many of their 75's were out of action through intensive firing; scarcely a hundred shells per gun remained. Would they be able to hold out against another desperate assault?

The General Staff were considering a retreat on Dunkirk—which would have spelt disaster—when, informed of this by telephone, Foch hurried to the G. H. Q. where he arrived during a sitting of the War Council. In despair, the last dispositions for the retreat were being discussed, when in his simple unaffected way, Foch indicated a line of resistance and suggested inundating the country. "Inundation formerly saved Holland, and may well save Belgium. The men will hold out as best they can until the country is under water". (Commandant Grasset's, "Foch").

To Staff-Captain Nuyten, assisted by Charles Louis Kogge, a "wateringue" guard of long experience and thoroughly acquainted with the working of the system of canals and locks, was entrusted the task of carrying out the plan.

The plain between Dixmude and Nieuport, being level with the sea, is protected at Nieuport against high water by a system of locks (sketch opposite). The canals and the Yser are dammed by embankments. The railway itself runs along a wide straight dike three to six feet in height.

Under bombardment, Belgian Engineers transformed this railway embankment into a water-tight dike, by stopping up all the openings through which the roads passed and then made wide breaches in the embankments of the drainage-canals, so as to allow the water to spread. The whole plain, between Nieuport and Dixmude was thus transformed into a vast basin closed on the Belgian side by the railway embankment, the latter being at the same time organized as a line of resistance.

Certain locks were secretly opened at high-tide, through which the sea gradually and imperceptibly invaded the basin.

While the sea was thus preparing to play its all important rôle, a fresh enemy attack forced the Franco-Belgian troops, on the 26th, to withdraw behind the railway. Orders were given to hold the latter at all cost.

Nieuport and Dixmude were still holding out. At Dixmude, two battalions of Senegalese relieved the most exhausted units of the defenders.

Behind the railway, units of the 42nd Division and a few battalions of Territorials supported the desperate efforts of the Belgians.

On the 26th and 27th, while the bombardment continued, the water began, little by little, to invade the trenches of the enemy, who, however, did not yet realise the position.

On the 28th, the water began to rise and, on the 29th, spread southwards.

An extremely violent bombardment on the 29th preceded the German attacks of the 30th, against the railway. Thanks to their minenwerfer, the Germans gained a footing on the railway, and advanced as far as the villages of Ramscappelle and Pervyse. It was a critical moment, the main line of resistance being pierced.

Fortified Embankment at Ramscappelle.

The defenders pulled themselves together for a last effort, and after a violent concentration of artillery fire, counter-attacked.

On the 31st, at nightfall, the 42nd Division and Belgian units—remnants of battalions belonging to the 6th, 7th and 14th line regiments—charged furiously with the bayonet, to the sound of the bugles. The enemy was thrown into disorder, Ramscappelle recaptured, and the line re-established.

Imperceptibly but relentlessly the floods invaded the enemy's entrenchments, turning their retreat into a rout; their dead, wounded, heavy guns, arms and munitions were swallowed up in the huge swamp. The Battle of the Yser was over.

The Belgian Army, whose original mission was to hold out for forty-eight hours, had, with the help of 6,000 French Marines, fought first single-handed, and then with the support of a single French Division, continued the struggle until October 31, thus fighting for fifteen days without interruption.

The Allies' Supreme Resource: The Inundations.

Belgian Patrols on rafts.

Throughout these 360 hours of deadly strife, the entire Belgian forces had been in the thick of the battle, without respite. Crouching in their shallow half-formed trenches, or in the muddy ditches, with no shelters, ill-fed, and fully exposed to the inclement weather, the men nevertheless stood firm. In their tattered muddy uniforms, they scarcely looked human. The number of wounded during the last thirteen days was more than 9,000, that of the killed and missing over 11,000. The numbers of sick and exhausted ran into hundreds. The units were reduced to skeletons. The losses in officers were particularly heavy; in one regiment only six were left.

Thanks to the sacrifices stoically borne, the Belgian Army barred the way to Dunkirk and Calais; the Allies' left wing was not turned, and the enemy failed to reach the coast, from which they expected to threaten England in her very vitals.

For the Germans, the battle ended in total and bloody defeat. For Belgium the name "Yser", which their gallant king caused to be embroidered on the flags of his heroic regiments, is that of glorious victory. (Comm. Willy Breton).

Building a temporary bridge.

Temporary Bridges across the inundated Plain.

The fall of Dixmude.

The useless sacrifices on the Yser did not turn the Germans from their plans for taking Calais.

They now attempted to pierce the Allied front in the neighbouring sector, between Dixmude and Ypres, where the 87th Territorials, 42nd Division, (withdrawn from the Yser front), and the 9th Corps strengthened the defences.

On November 9, the bombardment grew more violent. On the 10th, from Dixmude to Bixschoote, along the whole of the canalised Yser and the Yser-Ypres canal, huge masses of enemy troops attacked in deep column formation.

After prolonged sanguinary street fighting, in which the French Marine Brigade again distinguished itself, Dixmude succumbed. The Germans were, however, unable to cross the Yser, and the respective front lines became fixed on the canal embankments. The battle spread eastwards, around the salient of Ypres (See the Michelin Guide: "Ypres and the Battles of Ypres".)

The Cloth Hall at Ypres, in 1919.

See the Michelin Guide: "Ypres, and the Battles of Ypres".

THE PERIOD OF STATIONARY WARFARE.

Photos, pp. [19]-21.

The front-line became fixed in the partially inundated maritime plain of Flanders, in the oozy soil of which it was impossible to make any trenches. The defence-works, boyaux, and battery emplacements consequently took the form of superstructures, strengthened with piled-up sacks of earth (photos, pp. [19]-21).

Being above the ground, these defences were easily marked down by the German gunners and levelled with each bombardment. Thus the fruit of weeks of hard work was wiped out again and again.

The ground, soaked with the frequent rains and churned up by the shells, quickly became a vast quagmire which swallowed up everything.

During the first winter, all the heavy materials used in the construction of the shelters, etc., as well as the food and munitions had to be carried by the men,—combatants, stretcher-bearers and fatigue parties alike wading knee-deep in the slime.

Little by little, the situation improved. Narrow-gauge railways were laid down to bring up supplies and munitions to the front lines. Stronger and more comfortable shelters were built, together with casemates and concrete observation-posts right up to the front lines.

Nieuport-Ville was connected to Nieuport-Bains by two tunnels through the dunes, propped, brick-paved and lighted by electricity. Along the coast were deep lines of barbed wire. Concrete cupolas sheltered naval guns. Further south, in the dunes, stretched lines of carefully camouflaged huts, parks, stores and rest camps. In places, along the Yser, the inundations did not give absolute protection. Isolated farms built on elevated points and the roads along the dikes rose out of the water, like so many islets. These fiercely disputed points formed a line of small posts and advance guards in front of the main line of resistance, being connected with that along the railway embankment by long foot-bridges built on piles. The line of resistance followed the railway, then curved inwards to the left bank of the Yser, finally passing in front of the town.

This line was strengthened by two other lines which took in Ramscappelle, Pervyse, Lampernisse and St. Jacques-Cappelle. A second system of defence-works ran in front of and behind Loo Canal.

General Gillain.

Chief of the General Staff of the Belgian Army.

The sector of the inundated plain was held throughout by the Belgian Army. That of the dunes and Nieuport was held in 1914-1915 by the French Tirailleurs, Zouaves, and dismounted cavalry, grouped under the command of General de Mitry, and the brigade of Marines; in 1916, by a division of the 36th Corps (General Hély d'Oissel); in 1917, by regiments of the British 4th Army (General Rawlinson) which attacked along the coast in co-operation with British warships.

Finally, the Belgian Army, completely reformed and newly equipped, took over the entire sector of the Yser, and extended its lines as far as the outskirts of Ypres.

The enemy front was held by the German Marine Corps and Landwehr units.

For four years, the whole sector in front of the Yser Plain remained relatively quiet, with occasional daring raids or short bombardments.

Before Dixmude and Nieuport, the operations were more active. The "Boyau de la Mort", in front of Dixmude, cost the Belgians some losses, the trench, which ran alongside the Yser, being enfiladed. The enemy's rifle fire came mostly from the Flour Mill (photo, p. [124]), a large concrete building on the banks of the Yser, which it was difficult to destroy with the heavy artillery, on account of its proximity to the Belgian lines (about thirty yards away).

The liveliest part of the sector was that in front of Nieuport.

In 1914-1915, the troops under General de Mitry, and later the French Marines, succeeded in clearing the town, by capturing the great dune north of St. Georges and various redoubts on the east.

In 1917, the Germans attacked units of the British 4th Army, which was then taking up its positions, and recaptured the dunes as far as the Yser Channel.

Line of Defence between Nieuport and Lombartzyde (held by the Territorials.)

At top of page: Two German Blockhouses wrecked by shellfire. Underneath: Line of Defence before Lombartzyde. On the left (inset): Belgian trench along the Yser, with splinter-proof Shelters. On the right (upper): Advance boyau on the coast, near the Grande Dune. On the right (lower): German Temporary Bridge partly captured during a raid, with chevaux-de-frise separating the Allied and enemy lines.

At top of page: Donkeys bringing up supplies.—Machine-gun Dog Teams.

In the middle: Building road on piles.—Making a log road.

At bottom of page: Isolated Post surrounded by water, and raft used for revictualling same.—Front-line Post before the inundated plain.

THE VICTORY OFFENSIVE.

The general situation, when the offensive in Flanders was launched.

In 1918, after the fiasco of the enemy's Spring offensives, the initiative passed into the hands of the Allies. The latter, victorious on the Marne, Vesle, Aisne and before Compiègne, continued to press the enemy without respite. The battle spread northwards. On September 28, the "Liberty" Offensive in Flanders began. The group of armies operating in Flanders under the command of King Albert with General Degoutte as Major-General, comprised the valiant Belgian Army, the British 2nd Army, and the French 6th Army.

On the 28th the first two enemy positions, north and east of the Ypres Salient, were captured. On the 29th, the Belgian 4th Division following up this success and pivoting east of Dixmude, captured Eessen to the north and occupied the banks of the Handzaeme Canal (See p. [120]). Dixmude, outflanked on the north, fell.

All the heights of Flanders were now in the Allies' hands. In danger of being cut off, the Germans began to prepare their withdrawal from the Belgian Coast on September 28.

After an interruption of several days, owing to bad weather, the offensive was continued on October 14.

On October 15, Belgian divisions holding the inundated front, from Dixmude to Nieuport, crossed the Yser in pursuit of the enemy, who hurriedly retreated to the north-east.

The Two Stages in the Flanders Offensive.

On October 17, the Belgian infantry reached Ostend, while their cavalry, before the gates of Bruges, heard the belfry chimes joyfully announce the precipitate departure of the last of the enemy troops. The Allies' advance had been so rapid that the Germans had not time to set fire to the city. On the coast, the port of Zeebrugge, together with huge quantities of stores, fell into the hands of the Belgians.

The whole of the maritime Plain of Flanders was thus liberated. The exhausted, demoralised enemy were in full retreat.

On November 11, beyond Ghent, the Armistice saved them from the utter rout into which their defeat was fast degenerating.

[A Visit to the Battlefield of the YSER]
AND
THE BELGIAN COAST.

The Itinerary starts from Dunkirk and is divided into four days.

  • First day:
  • Dunkirk, Nieuport, Ostend (pp. [24]-66.)
  • Second day:
  • Ostend, Zeebrugge, Bruges (pp. [67]-85.)
  • Third day:
  • Bruges (pp. [86]-111.)
  • Fourth day:
  • Bruges, Dixmude, Poperinghe (pp. [112]-127.)

Poperinghe is the nearest touring centre to Ypres. For the itineraries between Ypres and Lille, see the Michelin Guide: "Ypres, and the Battles of Ypres".

PLAN OF DUNKIRK.

  • A. Church of St-Éloi.
  • B. Belfry.
  • D. Church of John-the-Baptist.
  • E. Chapel of Notre-Dame des Dunes.
  • F. Church of St-Martin.
  • H. Hôtel-de-Ville.
  • T. Theatre.

[DUNKIRK.]

Origin and Chief Historical Events.

The first mention in history of Dunkirk goes back to the 10th century. As early as the 12th century, it proved to be an "Apple of Discord" between the kings of France and the counts of Flanders. Few towns have had such a stirring history. Ten times besieged, it was taken by Condé in 1646. Recaptured at a later period by the Spaniards, it was given back to the French by Turenne, after the battle of the Dunes (1658). Louis XIV ceded it to his ally Cromwell, but redeemed it from Charles II of England in 1662.

The Dunkirkian corsairs—most famous among whom was Jean-Bart (1651-1702)—inflicted such losses on the English, that the Treaties of Utrecht and Paris (1713 and 1763) provided for the destruction of the port. In 1793, the town was besieged for the last time. By holding out for three weeks against 40,000 men under the Duke of York, it enabled General Houchard to reach Hondschoote, where the English were decisively defeated. This feat of arms was commemorated by the device: "Dunkirk deserved well of the country, 1793", which was inscribed on the city's coat-of-arms.

During the Great War of 1914-1918, Dunkirk was an extremely important revictualling centre for the Allied troops. It also played a great part in helping to keep the mastery of the North Sea, and as such, was constantly bombarded by the enemy. It was to reach Dunkirk and Calais, that the Germans made their furious thrusts at Ypres and on the Yser. Of all the towns not directly in the front-line, Dunkirk was probably the one which suffered most. It was bombarded once by Zeppelins, seventy-seven times by aeroplanes and four times by warships. Lastly, a 15in. naval gun posted twenty-three miles away, shelled the town at regular intervals from April 1915 onwards. In all, more than eight thousand shells fell in the town, killing five hundred people and wounding over one thousand others. In spite of all, the town maintained considerable activity throughout the war.

The damaged and destroyed buildings were rapidly cleared away or repaired. Under bombardment, the shipbuilding-yards turned out three vessels of 19,000 tons. Munitions of war were also manufactured in very large quantities. The following citation in the Army Order of October 17, 1917, which is to be incorporated in the city's coat-of-arms, was well deserved:

Quai de la Citadelle struck by a 15in. shell.

Subjected for three years to violent and frequent bombardments, Dunkirk was able, thanks to the admirable coolness and courage of her inhabitants, to maintain and develop its economic life in the interests of National Defence, thereby rendering invaluable service to the Army and Country. This heroic city is an example to the whole nation.

The Croix de la Légion d'Honneur was conferred on Dunkirk by President Poincaré on August 11, 1919.