At the Yser the Belgian Army tries a last effort to stop the Germans. They only succeed when the Belgians open the locks in Nieuwpoort and flood the Yser estuary. The front is now locked down. The living conditions in the trenches are terrible. Diseases like Tyfus and Dysentery are killing almost as many as the German shootings do. In April 1915 the Germans use the first Gas Attack in history. Before the war is over, the battle of the Ypres Salient takes more than 500.000 victims. More than 1.5 million Belgians take refuge in the Netherlands, France and Great-Brittain. In Belgium the population can only survice with support of the National Food- and aidcommittee and the American Committee for Relief.

Sophie de Schaepdrijver
host

favorite_border