Battle of the Yser
The Battle of the Yser (French: Bataille de l'Yser, Dutch: Slag om de IJzer) was a battle of the First World War that took place in October 1914 between the towns of Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, along a 35 km (22 mi) stretch of the Yser River and the Yperlee Canal, in Belgium. The front line was held by a large Belgian force, which halted the German advance in a costly defensive battle.
| Battle of the Yser | |||||||||
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| Part of the Race to the Sea on the Western Front in the First World War | |||||||||
Depiction of the "admirable resistance" of Belgian forces | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Belgium France United Kingdom | German Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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King Albert I Émile Dossin Augustin Michel Jules Jacques Pierre Ronarc'h Paul Grossetti Horace Hood |
Albrecht of Württemberg Hans von Beseler | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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Belgium: 52,000 men France: 6,600 men (1,450 infantry) Britain: 3 monitors auxiliary ships | 60,000–85,000 men | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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Belgium: 3,500 killed 15,000 wounded | |||||||||
The victory at the Yser allowed Belgium to retain a small strip of territory, with Germany in control of 95 per cent of Belgian territory, which made King Albert a Belgian national hero, sustained national pride and provided a venue for commemorations of heroic sacrifice for the next hundred years.
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