When we set foot in Belgium for the World War I centennial at Flanders Field on October 18, we found ourselves walking through the very ground where ten excruciating days unfolded during the Battle of the Yser. From the first shell that shattered the city’s calm to the final hopeful step back into ruined streets, each day tells a story of courage, desperation, and a desperate gamble that altered the course of the war.
Follow our journey as we trace Emiel Vandenabeele’s diary, the rattling of artillery, the smell of burning timber, and the desperate flood‑gate plan that finally halted the German advance.
10 Excruciating Days Inside the Battle of the Yser
10 Sunday, October 18The Battle Begins
The clash officially ignited on this day. The day before, Nieuwpoort’s mayor received a stark notice from the Belgian commander urging an evacuation. The German army had been circling the town since the 16th, and negotiations finally collapsed. The letter warned, “Dear Mayor, I regret to inform you that your city will be shelled by the Germans and possibly also by our own troops if the enemy were to enter your city.”
The mayor acted swiftly, ushering as many residents as possible out of town, but the bombardment had already begun. Emiel Vandenabeele managed to send his wife and children through France to England, yet he stayed behind. As the last few people slipped past city hall on the 18th, a royal decree forced each citizen to leave a mattress and two blankets for the soldiers entrenched below. Those who remained hunkered down, praying for a swift end.
About 160,000 German soldiers hammered at the city’s defenses while a mere 50,000 Belgian troops held the line. As Private Raoul Snoeck of the 2nd Line Regiment grimly noted, “For every enemy we shoot, three others take his place. On top of that, we are told not to shoot too often. ‘These are our last bullets, don’t waste them!’”
9 Tuesday, October 20Buried Like Dogs
By the third day, the Belgian forces were already on the brink. British reinforcements had arrived, but the trenches were choked with bodies and morale was dwindling. The Germans initially deployed observation balloons to scout Belgian positions, yet each ascent turned into a suicide mission—Belgians shot them down, killing every crew member on board.
German troops pressed onward into Nieuwpoort. Emiel witnessed a cyclist‑soldier felled by enemy fire; his corpse was hastily buried in a nearby garden to clear the street. Emiel’s diary recorded, “No one is buried in the church or in the church yard. Anyone who dies is buried the same day, like a dog.” Meanwhile, tiny British warships peppered the German encampments with cannon fire, but the onslaught continued unabated.
8 Wednesday, October 21A City In Flames
Nightfall brought a fiery nightmare. German bombs rained down, igniting churches and homes, turning the city’s skyline into a flickering inferno. Emiel’s diary captures the horror of a church near his home ablaze. His maid screamed for help at midnight, and by the fourth day of fighting, people were forced to sleep with their clothes on, even their shoes, ready to flee at a moment’s notice.
Rushed awake by his maid’s cries, Emiel stepped outside to see the church spewing blazing embers toward the market. The reverend and townsfolk were already dousing the flames with buckets of water, while neighbors gathered additional water to combat the spreading fire. Sparks leapt from the burning roof, igniting nearby yards and even reaching the harbor. Even before the Germans breached the city walls, civilians fought a desperate battle for survival.
7 Thursday, October 22The Smell Of Defeat
“The Germans are everywhere, as if they had crawled out of the ground. They smell victory, but we resist fiercely. Around us churches, farms and villages are burning. We have not eaten or drunk anything for three days. We sleep next to our fallen comrades, but we have neither the courage nor the strength to bury them. No replacement to take over, no provisioning. The rain is pouring down in buckets.”
German forces finally managed to land troops across the River Yser for the first time. Each patrol that touched the Belgian side was either killed or captured, yet the Germans persisted, sending wave after wave. Their superior numbers forced the Belgians to retreat step by step away from the river. Captured German soldiers were paraded through Nieuwpoort’s streets as grim trophies, but the battle’s outcome remained uncertain.
6 Friday, October 23Hunger And Starvation
Starvation tightened its icy grip on Nieuwpoort. Both soldiers and the few remaining civilians were gaunt, exhausted, and facing relentless German pressure. Emiel recorded a chilling encounter: “I met a man who was prepared to kill our dog and two cats. The little animals would die of hunger anyway. I think it’s better not to let them suffer.”
The Belgian and French armies demolished the last bridge across the Yser, contemplating a massive flood to halt the German advance. French planners hesitated, fearing they would trap the Belgian army between the invaders and rising waters. Ultimately, they held back, a decision that later proved decisive in keeping the front line defensible.
5 Saturday, October 24Asleep In The Frozen Mud
World War I’s trench horror was felt across the Western Front, and the Belgian troops endured no less. Every shell trembled the earth, every bullet whistled past, and comrades fell amidst a crimson mist. Soldiers tried to find rest in frozen mud, surrounded by the hard brass of spent shells. Nieuwpoort transformed a warehouse into a makeshift dressing station to tend to the mounting casualties.
By Saturday, many civilians who had not yet fled were scrambling for safety. The mayor abandoned the city, leaving the army to its fate. Three days earlier, the last physician had escaped, leaving only untrained civilians and army nurses to tend to the wounded. Half the town lay in rubble; the other half teetered on the brink of destruction.
4 Monday, October 26Disaster At The Dam
On the 25th, Emiel Vandenabeele fled Nieuwpoort on foot with his maid and his uncle, each carrying only a small bundle of provisions. Meanwhile, officials in nearby Veurne devised a daring scheme: open the floodgates at high tide to inundate the Yser plain and stall the Germans.
That night, Captain Robert Thys led a squad of Belgian soldiers to the city to pull open the Kattesas floodgate. In the cold darkness, fearing any light would betray their plan, they painstakingly forced the gate ajar. The effort backfired—high‑tide pressure slammed the gates shut again, forcing a hasty retreat. German bombs roared overhead as another round of shelling began, and time was slipping away.
3 Tuesday, October 27A Trickle Of Hope
The following night, Captain Thys returned with sturdy ropes to keep the floodgate open. This time the plan succeeded: the ropes held, allowing seawater to rush into the canal, while the ebb doors automatically opened twice daily at high tide. Yet the flow was sluggish— the aging Kattesas sluice was narrow, the canal winding, and floating debris further throttling the surge.
Simultaneously, French troops barred refugees from re‑entering Nieuwpoort, stationing sentries at every road, alley, and forest path, even shooting anyone caught on back routes. Exhausted Belgian soldiers filtered back into France, while civilians handed over mattresses for makeshift beds. Each departure seemed to bring the Germans a step closer to victory.
2 Thursday, October 29The Floodwaters Surge
“The Yser runs red with blood and is full of floating bodies, which are pulled out of the water by boats and hooks in order to bury them. Hundreds, thousands of people perish every day. Killing a man seems almost as simple as killing a fly.”
On the chilly morning of October 29, soldiers were dying not only from enemy fire but also from starvation and the relentless weather. Few were aware of the government’s flooding plan, and even fewer had witnessed any impact. Yet that night, troops again manned the sluices, opening the gates to pour seawater into the city. The effort seemed futile—the Germans appeared poised for victory, and the floodwater moved painfully slow due to the narrow Kattesas gate and recent heavy rains.
In the days that followed, the Belgians succeeded in opening additional floodgates, causing the waters to surge southward. The Yser plain became submerged, halting the German advance. Though the land was devastated, the strategy forced an impasse that held for four more years. Over 76,000 German soldiers and 20,000 Belgian troops perished, but the flood ultimately stopped the German war machine’s march.
1 Wednesday, November 11There And Back Again
“Back to Nieuwpoort.” Those simple words marked the beginning of a new chapter. Emiel Vandenabeele finally returned home with his family, only to find the city reduced to ruins. By mid‑November, the Germans had ceased their advance, limiting their attacks to occasional mortar fire over the roofs of returning refugees. The war continued elsewhere, and many sons, brothers, and fathers remained away, but rebuilding had finally begun.
The Yser plain stayed flooded until 1918. Emiel was fortunate—many could never return because their homes lay crushed beneath the water. Yet the bravery and persistence of the Belgian soldiers, who fought through nights that seemed endless, saved millions of lives. This year marks the centennial of the battle’s start, and Belgium commemorated the sacrifice with the Light Front Celebration on October 17, 2014, where over 8,000 participants carried torches along the 84‑kilometer line that marks the historic floodplain.