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

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, i

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 grou

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 1

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

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 D

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

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

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 Co

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 troop

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 wipe

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-Genera

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 Engla

Furnes (Veurne) is a small town of about 6,000 inhabitants. Of ancient origin, it was the chief town of the "Veurne Ambacht" castellany, in the Middle-Ages. By the Treaty of 1715, the Dutch were empowered to place a garrison there, as a barrier against France. During the War, Furnes became, after Antwerp and Ostend, the General Head-Quarters of the Belgian Army for a few months (1914-1915), the same being subsequently transferred to La Panne. More fortunate than Dixmude and Nieuport, practically

The small town of Nieuport is of very ancient origin. As early as the 9th century its site was occupied by a castle built by the Counts of Flanders to defend the coast against the Normans. The burgh, first known as Santhoven, took the name of Nieuport (Neoportus) after the inhabitants of Lombaertzyde had migrated there. Situated on the Yser, the town served as a port for Ypres, and was an important business centre. It was besieged by the English in 1383 and by the French in 1489. After a long pe

In the 9th century, Ostend, then a hamlet, was situated at the eastern end (Oostende) of a sand-bar belonging to the powerful St. Bertin Abbey of St. Omer. Incursions by the Normans and the ravages of the sea had almost entirely annihilated it when, in the 9th century, Robert le Frison built a chapel to Our Lady there, around which a new village grew up. Thanks to the herring fisheries on the Flemish coast—a flourishing industry in the Middle-Ages, but since abandoned—Ostend grew and prospered.

At Zeebrugge-Plage (Beach), near the Pilots' House, turn to the left alongside the railway, to the mole which bounds the Port of Zeebrugge on the west (photo below, and sketch-map on page 77 ) . The port is situated about ten kilometers from Bruges, with which it is connected by a ship canal running straight across the littoral plain. This canal, which is about 230 feet wide and 26 feet deep, is accessible to large ships. It cost forty-two million francs to construct. Communication with the road

A burgh and a fortified bridge (whence the name of "Bruges" ("Brugge")) on the Reye, a brook since absorbed by the canals,—such was the origin of the town. In the 9th century Baudouin-Bras-de-fer, first count of Flanders and vassal of the French King replaced the original establishment with a fortified castle, around which, in spite of civil discords, quarrels between the rulers and their turbulent subjects, dissensions between the vassal and his suzerain, and rebellions by those two powerful Fl

Dixmude was a small ancient town of some 4,000 inhabitants, situated in the midst of fields on the right bank of the Yser. It was entirely destroyed. Of the town's monuments and buildings, traces of the parish-church of St. Nicholas only remain (on the left side of the square) . The chevet dated from the 14th century, the rest of the building being early 16th century. The church contained a magnificent rood-loft of finely carved white stone (1540). Above the high altar was a fine Adoration of th

MICHELIN DURING THE WAR THE MICHELIN HOSPITAL When the Great War broke out, Michelin at once converted an immense new four-storied warehouse into an up-to-date Hospital, with Operating Theatre, X-Ray, Bacteriological Laboratory, etc. Seven weeks later (September 22, 1914) Doctors, Dispensers, Nurses, Sisters of Mercy, and auxiliaries were all at their posts. The first wounded arrived the same night. In all, 2,993 wounded were received. All expenses were paid by Michelin. The story of how Micheli