| Battle of the Yser | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Race to the Sea on the Western Front in the First World War | |||||||||
 Depiction of the "admirable resistance" of Belgian forces | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Belgium France United Kingdom |
 German Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
King Albert I Émile Dossin Augustin Michel Jules Jacques Pierre Ronarc'h Paul Grossetti Horace Hood |
Albrecht of Württemberg Hans von Beseler | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
Belgium: 52,000 men[1] France: 6,600 men (1,450 infantry)[2] Britain: 3 monitors auxiliary ships | 60,000–85,000 men[1] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
Belgium: 3,500 killed[3] 15,000 wounded[3] | Germany: Heavy | ||||||||
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.[4] The front line was held by a large Belgian force, which halted the German advance in a costly defensive battle.
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.
- ^ a b Amez 2013, p. 53.
- ^ Edmonds 1925, p. 51.
- ^ a b Schaepdrijver 2004, p. 171.
- ^ Barton, Doyle & Vandewalle 2005, p. 17.