The Battle of the Yser was a battle which took place between October 16- 31 1914 between the towns on Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide along a 35-kilometre long stretch of the Yser river and Yperlee canal in Belgium. The front line was held by a large Belgian force which succeeded in halting the German advance, though only after heavy losses. After two months of defeats and retreats, the battle of Yser finally halted the invasion that gave Germans control of over 95% of Belgian territory. Victory in the battle allowed Belgium to retain control of a sliver of its territory while making King Albert a Belgian national hero, sustaining national pride, and providing a venue for commemorations of heroic sacrifice for the next century.
The retreat from Antwerp (Anvers in French) to the river Yser (Source: Wikipedia)
The Belgian army retirement continued on 11 and 12 October, covered by cavalry, cyclists and motor machine-gun sections. On 14 October, the Belgian army began to dig in along the Yser. The Allies assembled a naval force under the British Admiral Horace Hood with three monitors, (Severn, Humber and Mersey) and assorted other craft. to provide heavy artillery support to the Allied defenders of the seaward flank.
The German forces comprised the newly organized German Fourth Army, commanded by the Duke of Württemberg, with the III Reserve Corps from Antwerp and four new reserve corps from Germany, along with cavalry and heavy artillery units. It moved southwards from Bruges and Ostend in the direction of the Yser river, to take the line from Nieuwpoort to Ypres.
Diksmuide was attacked on 16 October and defended by Belgian and French troops under Colonel Alphonse Jacques. Despite heavy losses, the Belgians and French held the town. The press, politicians, literary figures and the military channeled public opinion, making out that the defence of the town was both strategic and heroic.
The Western Front at Nieuwpoort, Belgium the “End of the Line” (Source: Wikipedia)
On 18 October the German offensive began and overran Allied troops from Nieuwpoort south to Arras in France. The objective was to defeat the Belgian and French armies and to deprive the British of access to Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk. The III Reserve Corps attacked Belgian defences from Diksmuide to the sea, regardless of loss. The Germans captured advanced posts at Keiem, Schoore and part of Mannekensvere and reached the Yser, despite fire support from the Anglo-French flotilla, which bombarded German troops along the coast as far as Middelkerke. The 4th Ersatz Division was forbidden to cross the Yser at Nieuwpoort because of the shell-fire from the Allied ships.
On 21 October, the Germans were able to establish a small bridgehead on the west bank, despite a counter-attack by the French 42nd Division and the last bridge was blown up on 23 October. Diksmuide bore the brunt of repeated German offensives and bombardments, yet the town was still not taken.
The French high command planned to flood large parts of their territory as a defensive measure. This would have put the Belgian army in the impossible choice of being trapped between the flood and the Germans, or else abandoning the last part of unoccupied Belgium. The plan was postponed, since the Belgian army had started preparations to flood the area between the Yser and its tributary canals. On 25 October, the German pressure on the Belgians was so great, that a decision was taken to inundate the entire Belgian front line. After an earlier failed experiment on 21 October, the Belgians managed to open the sluices at Nieuwpoort during the nights of 26–29 October during high tides, steadily raising the water level until an impassable flooded area was created about 1-mile (1.6 km) wide, stretching as far south as Diksmuide.
The Germans launched another large attack on the Yser on 30 October. The attack punched through the Belgian second line and reached Ramskapelle and Pervijze. The attack was stalled by Belgian and French counter-attacks which recovered Ramskapelle. The final attack, planned for the next day was called off, when the attacking Germans became aware of the flooding of the land in their rear. They withdrew in the night before 31 October. On 10 November, Diksmuide fell and the fighting continued until 22 November further south, in the First Battle of Ypres.
The front line at Ramskapelle 1914 after the Belgians deliberately flood the area, resulting in a German retreat (Source: Wikipedia)
The German army failed to defeat the Belgian army and the retention of the last corner of Belgium ended the Race to the Sea and the period of open warfare. The stabilized front line along the Yser river became known as the Yser Front and continued to be held by Belgian forces until 1918 with little movement.
The struggle of the Belgian army to hold on to its territory during the remainder of the war and the experiences of ordinary Flemish infantrymen, led to an increase in Flemish national sentiment and the foundation of the Frontbeweging, the first party of the Flemish Movement, in 1917.
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