_Lunch at Dixmude, but provide luncheon baskets, in case of need._
_Leaving the Grand'Place, =Bruges=, via the Place du Marché-aux Œufs,
take Rue de la Monnaie, on the left, then Rue Nord du Sablon, and
beyond the station and level-crossing, Rue du Maréchal. Go through the
+Porte Maréchale+_ which, like the Ostend Gate, bears traces of its
17th century restoration _(Photo, p. 113)_.
_At the fork, 1 km. further on, take the right-hand road to =St-André=.
Pass through same, then through +Varssenaere+, +Jabbeke+, +Westkerke+
and +Ghistelles+. Beyond Ghistelles (level-crossing), take the
Ostend-Thourout road, on the left. Pass through =Moerdijck= (24½ kms.),
and on reaching the hamlet of +Halve-Barreel+, turn to the right._
_At the first group of houses turn to the right, then to the left at
the first fork. At the first house of the hamlet of +Leugenboom+ (3½
kms.), take the foot-path on the right, from which, 150 yards to the
left, can be seen the =Pommern= or =Leugenboom Battery=_, at the edge
of the wood. This battery comprises a 15in. long range gun, which did
most of the bombarding of Dunkirk. The gun, protected by armour, is
mounted on a steel bridge having a pivot in front, the rear part of the
gun travelling along a circular rail-track in a concrete pit nearly 70
feet in diameter. The gun was manœuvred by means of electric motors.
On either side are large shelters in reinforced concrete. In front of
and below the platform there was an electric generator group. A large
shelter of reinforced concrete, on the right, was probably the Post of
Commandment. There is a dummy gun emplacement further on.
[Illustration: +Maréchale Gate, by which the tourist leaves Bruges.+]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: +"Pommern" or "Leugenboom" Battery, near Leugenboom
Hamlet.+]
_Return by the same road to =Moerdijck=, turn left beyond the bridge,
pass through =Moere= (2 kms.), and after crossing the light railway,
take the road on the right which follows the railway to =Leke= village
(5½ kms.). Beyond the_ ruins of the church, _take the right-hand road
to =St. Pierre-Cappelle= (4 kms.)_, whose church is in ruins. _Continue
straight along the Nieuport road_, noticing the many observation-posts
and concrete shelters. _Throughout the region crossed by the itinerary,
on both sides of the Yser, the ground has been completely devastated by
trenches, shelters and bombardments. The villages have vanished. Today
these places are the resort of pilgrims. =Spermalie= (2 kms.) is next
reached._
[Illustration: +Concrete Shelter at St. Pierre-Cappelle.+]
_Beyond the bridge, at the fork, take the right-hand road (in bad
condition) to =Mannekensvere=._
[Illustration]
A few heaps of stones and _débris_ are all that remains of
Mannekensvere. _To visit +St. Georges+, cross the Yser by a small
wooden foot-bridge, near the place where the Pont de l'Union used to
stand. (It is impossible for vehicles to cross the river). Between
the Yser and St. Georges, follow a "boyau" (by-trench) to_ the first
Belgian and German lines, marked by many concrete shelters pierced with
loop-holes.
[Illustration: +The Site of Mannekensvere village.+]
Mannekensvere was situated on the right bank of the Yser. The Pont de
l'Union, which crossed the Yser 3 kms. from Nieuport, connected it
with St. Georges, situated a little further back, on the left bank,
along the Nieuport-Bruges Road. These two villages and the bridge
were among the principal targets of the Germans. On October 18, 1914,
Mannekensvere, an advance-post of the Belgian 2nd Division, was carried
by the Germans, but recaptured shortly afterwards by the Belgian 7th
Infantry Regiment (Major Evrard). Unfortunately, the German heavy
artillery made the position untenable on the following day, and Major
Evrard was forced to re-cross the Pont de l'Union, which he blew up.
St. Georges, on the contrary, was captured only on October 23, after
the crossing of the Yser by the enemy, and the loss of Groote-Hemme
Farm which covered it from the south.
[Illustration: +The Inundations near Dixmude.+]
_Return to +Spermalie+, where turn to the right._
[Illustration: +Temporary foot-bridge across the inundations.+]
The whole of the region now about to be crossed was flooded throughout
the war. Today, the waters have receded, leaving it covered with reeds.
_=Schoore= (1 km.)_, completely razed, _is next reached_.
Schoore was situated slightly to the right of the Yser, on the road
to Bruges. The Belgian 1st Division had its advance-posts there. The
village was captured on October 18, 1914, by a battalion of the German
IIIrd Corps, after a four hours' bombardment.
[Illustration: +The Pont de l'Union, between St. Georges and
Mannekensvere.+]
[Illustration: +The Yser at Schoorbakke.+]
_Cross the Yser at =Schoorbakke= (2 kms.)_
This village had a bridge across the Yser, at the end and to the west
of the great bend in the river, beginning at Tervaete.
This important strategical point was early threatened by the enemy.
After the furious combats of October 15-22, the grand assault was
launched on the night of the 22nd. A battalion of the Belgian 4th
Infantry Regiment, though practically hemmed in by the enemy, defended
it heroically, and only evacuated the position at dawn on the 23rd
_(see p. 12)_.
_Between the Yser and the shelters bordering its left bank, a foot-path
on the right leads to +Groote-Hemme Farm+ (1 km. 300.)_
[Illustration]
_Keep straight along the road. The first road on the left leads to
=Stuyvekenskerke= (1½ kms.)_ of which only a few broken walls remain.
_To the left of the church there is a temporary footway along the
road_; today the latter is recognizable only by the stumps of the trees
which formerly bordered it. _The footway leads to the site on which
stood_ the Château of Vicogne, _and further on, to =Tervaete= (Photo,
p. 117.)_
From this village, the Yser describes a wide curve towards the west
which ends at Schoorbakke. At Tervaete, a bridge spanned the Yser. From
the right bank the enemy were able to enfilade and even attack the
Allies' defences on the left bank, in the rear, and effect a crossing
of the river at that point. This explains the frequency and fierceness
of the German attacks on Tervaete, which was first lost then recaptured
on October 22, 1914, being finally captured by the Germans the next day
_(See p. 12)_.
_From Stuyvekenskerke, return to the road previously followed, turning
left towards +Pervyse+. Shortly before reaching Pervyse are_ the
remains of an elevated footway, which formerly crossed the inundated
ground. _After crossing what used to be the permanent way of the
Dixmude-Nieuport railway, the village of =Pervyse= is reached (3½
kms.)_ The railway embankment formed the boundary of the inundated
area, and was fortified. Shelters and graves are still to be seen
all the way along. There was an observation-post on the top of the
railway-station, to the left of the road.
[Illustration: +Temporary Bridge at Tervaete, on the impassable road to
Stuyvekenskerke, in 1919.+]
Pervyse, in ruins, was made famous by the heroic resistance of the
French Marines who beat off the enemy's fierce onslaughts of October
and December 1914.
The houses bordering the road at the entrance to the village were
turned into machine-gun blockhouses, thus barring the way.
[Illustration: +Ramscappelle Church.+]
_Beyond the church is a crossing; the road on the right leads to
=Ramscappelle= (4½ kms.)_ which played an important part in 1914. On
October 30, 1914, a fierce German thrust ended in the capture of the
village--already on the point of being inundated--from the Belgian
5th and 6th Infantry Regiments. The loss was one of the greatest
importance, as no lines of resistance had been prepared in the rear.
The recapture of Ramscappelle was therefore an indispensable if very
difficult operation. _(See p. 15.)_
[Illustration: +Caeskerke Church (August 1917).+]
_The left-hand road leads to =Dixmude=. =Caeskerke= (5½ kms.), a
station on the Dixmude-Nieuport railway, is next reached._ The
Headquarters of Admiral Ronarc'h were established there in October
1914, and it was this fact which caused it to be bombarded by the
Germans, whose shells quickly reduced it to ruins.
_Beyond Caeskerke, cross the Yser; before reaching the bridge, on
the left, along the riverside, is_ a trench with numerous shelters,
known as the "Boyau de la Mort" (Death Trench). It was enfiladed by
machine-guns posted in the flour-mill on the opposite bank of the Yser
_(on the right, near the bridge)_, which the Germans had converted into
a fortress. _(Photo p. 124.)_
[Illustration: +The "Boyau de la Mort" (Death Trench).+ _See p. 19. In
the background:_ +Dixmude+.]
_The tourist next reaches =Dixmude= (2½ kms.), arriving at the Grand'
Place._
[Illustration]