Yser, Battle of the

World War I battle between Allied and German forces 15–31 October 1914; the final engagement of the Allied ‘race to the sea’. This battle saw the successful defence of the River Yser from Nieuport to Dixmude by a mixed Belgian and French force against the 4th German Army.

Allied troops took up positions on a railway embankment and, with support from British ‘monitor’ ships shelling German positions from the sea, managed to stave off successive German attacks. The Germans brought up heavy artillery and the Belgians, running short of ammunition, decided to open the sluices at Nieuport and let the sea flood the area in front of their position, which lay below sea level. Several hundred German troops were drowned, but the Germans managed to capture Dixmude, though without penetrating the rest of the line, which stayed more or less firm for the remainder of the war.