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-General, comprised the valiant Belgian Army, the
British 2nd Army, and the French 6th Army.
On the 28th the first two enemy positions, north and east of the Ypres
Salient, were captured. On the 29th, the Belgian 4th Division following
up this success and pivoting east of Dixmude, captured Eessen to the
north and occupied the banks of the Handzaeme Canal _(See p. 120)_.
Dixmude, outflanked on the north, fell.
All the heights of Flanders were now in the Allies' hands. In danger of
being cut off, the Germans began to prepare their withdrawal from the
Belgian Coast on September 28.
[Illustration: +The general situation, when the offensive in Flanders
was launched.+]
After an interruption of several days, owing to bad weather, the
offensive was continued on October 14.
On October 15, Belgian divisions holding the inundated front, from
Dixmude to Nieuport, crossed the Yser in pursuit of the enemy, who
hurriedly retreated to the north-east.
On October 17, the Belgian infantry reached Ostend, while their
cavalry, before the gates of Bruges, heard the belfry chimes joyfully
announce the precipitate departure of the last of the enemy troops. The
Allies' advance had been so rapid that the Germans had not time to set
fire to the city. On the coast, the port of Zeebrugge, together with
huge quantities of stores, fell into the hands of the Belgians.
The whole of the maritime Plain of Flanders was thus liberated. The
exhausted, demoralised enemy were in full retreat.
[Illustration: +The Two Stages in the Flanders Offensive.+]
On November 11, beyond Ghent, the Armistice saved them from the utter
rout into which their defeat was fast degenerating.