After crossing the English Channel from Dover to Calais as
my grandfather did in 1914, I headed north to De Panne, Belgium, a town in the Flemish
Province of West Flanders—part of Flanders,
one of three Belgian regions. The next morning we went a short distance to the North Sea port, Nieuwpoort. Here we stood on the beaches, close to the northern point on the western front of World War I.
Following the German attack on Belgium, 4 August 1914, Nieuwpoort
was part of the area still under Belgian control after the October Battle of the Yser.
The German “Race to the Sea” had been thwarted by the allies. The Battle of the
Yser is part of the defense of Flanders and the Battles at Ypres
(called “Wipers” by the British). Nearby is the first available Demarcation
Stone. These small stones mark the battle line of the Western Front
from Belgium to Pfetterhouse
on the French-Swiss border. Each of these 119 monuments are one metre high and
topped with a laurel wreath and a soldier’s helmet. The helmets represent the
troops—Belgian, French, or British.
A memorial to King Albert, near the Yser river, recalls national pride in the Belgian resistance. The King had opened the sluices allowing the land to be flooded and ending the German advance.
Nearby is a memorial
remembering the British Expeditionary Force, which landed later in August.
Before leaving the Nieuwpoort area, we stopped at the Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery. Here, 841 Commonwealth soldiers are buried or remembered: UK 830, Canada 2, Australia 8, South Africa 1.
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