Detail of a German postcard map of the Western Front, showing the northwestern end of the line and the Channel coast. German forces occupied Ostend, Belgian and Allied forces Nieuport. The Belgian Government was based in Furnes (Veurne).
Westl. Kriegsschauplatzes3. Dover-Calais-ParisFestungen, Forts, EisenbahnWestern Front3. Dover-Calais-ParisFortresses, Forts, Railroads
"The Germans on July 10th violently bombarded the British lines north of Nieuport, on the Belgian coast, leveling all the British defenses in the dune sector, destroying the bridges over the Yser River and capturing a mile of trenches. The British losses were 3,000 in killed and captured. During this engagement the superiority of the German air forces was apparent. The British airmen retaliated the next day by dropping several tons of bombs on five towns in Flanders occupied by the Germans, setting fire to German ammunition dumps."
After the French army mutinies that peaked in May and June, 1917, French Commander in Chief Henri Philippe Pétain launched limited offensives, and asked for a British offensive while his army recovered. British commander Douglas Haig settled on an offensive in Flanders, where his preparations on the flat terrain were visible to his enemy.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 337, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
1917-07-10, 1917, July, Nieuport, dune, dunes, Belgian dunes, Belgian coast, Belgian dune watch
