YSER

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The breezy Flemish coastal town of Nieuwpoort marks the northern extremity of the Western Front. The trenches ran literally across the sand dunes and into the North Sea. The town came under fierce bombardment during the Battle of the Yser in 1914 but remained under Allied control due to the opening of the canal's sluice gates which succeeding in flooding the countryside, halting the German advance through Flanders towards the channel. 

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The Yser Canal runs southwards for several kilometres across the bleak polder landscape dotted with occasional farms and villages that formed the water-logged front line. The canal passes the Death Passage, a particularly lethal spot near Diksmuide where preserved trenches can be visited. An exploration of the surrounding area reveals British and Belgian cemeteries including the moving Kathe Kallowitz sculpture of the grieving parents at the German Military Cemetery, Vladslo.

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