Nieuwpoort to Diksmuide

We set off early, about 9.00, even though we only had about 18 km to cover.  We wanted to stop before we reached the moorings in Diksmuide to look at our first WW1 Museum.

The cruise was very pleasant with the river Ijzer meandering through the lovely countryside.

There were many groups of cyclists out training including a couple of serious clubs with support cars, presumably with trainers/coaches in them, all kitted out in team colours, even the old dudes in the cars.

Then we noticed the first evidence of WW1 trenches alongside the canal and soon came to the Trench of Death museum, where we tied up for a couple of hours while we took in the museum and the Trench of Death.

We tied up alongside a jetty in front of the museum.  This photo was taken from the viewing deck of the museum.

I had no knowledge of this piece of WW1 history until a few months ago when I started researching this area.  Now you are going to learn about it too:

When the Germans invaded Belgium in 1914 they expected to force their way very quickly to the sea port on the North Sea coast but the tiny Belgian army put up a stiff defence.  However, they could not withstand the might of the German army and were pushed back until they reached the Ijzer River in the far south western corner of the country.  At Diksmuide they dug trenches on the left hand bank and the Germans dug in on the right hand bank.  However the land was so flat any high vantage point was an advantage and the Germans managed to cross the canal and capture 2 large petrol tanks from which they could watch the Belgian army's movements and snipers could pick off the troops.  Repeated attempts by the Belgians to recapture the tanks proved fruitless and costly so the commanders hit on the plan to dig a trench towards the tanks offering the troops some protection.  They started constructing the trench on 18th May, 1915.  100 years ago today. The tanks were eventually completely destroyed but the Germans had also dug a trench toward the Belgian position and the two armies now faced each other some 50 or 100 metres apart (the accounts I have read differ) and they continued to bombard each till the end of the war in 1918.  This trench, created in marshy land, provided some of the worst conditions of the Western Front and became known as the Trench of Death.  The Belgians never surrendered this corner of their country.

Inside the small museum building there was an excellent depiction of the warefare along the trench and then we went out into the trenches themselves.  Such was the notoriety of the Trench of Death that it became a tourist attraction soon after the war ended and within very few years they started to restore it.  It was never demolished or neglected as so many of the trenches were.  It gives you an inkling or what it must have been like, very cramped, very uncomfortable, very frightening.  Luckily for us it was a sunny day, the marshes have been drained  and there were no bullets and bombs bombarding us.

After spending a couple of hours wandering through the trenches we headed to Diksmuide, less than 2 kms away, and tied up at the Portus Dixmude.  €9 per night and €1 for a shower that goes on forever.  We didn't pay for electricity or water but there is a charge for both, not exhorbitant.

I went for a walk around the town, full of references to the wars, both of them, and found out some interesting facts.  

Diksmuide is on the right hand bank of the river and was occupied by the Germans.

The French army in this area had a brigade of troops from Senegal who held the railway line between Ieper and Nieuwpoort.

The church which dated from the 14th century was almost completely destroyed in the war but it was so beautiful that the Germans packed a lot of the beautifully carved interior into cases and shipped them to Germany for safe keeping.  After the war they were returned to Diksmuide.  The church was rebuilt in the 1920s resembling the old 14th century facade but they could not recreate the interior sculpture, there were not enough pieces remaining. However, some of them are on display inside the church with old photos taken before the church was destroyed.

In 1940, when Diksmuide was again occupied by the Germans, the church was badly damaged again and the Germans started rebuilding it in 1942.

I was very moved by this plaque to the civilians who died in concentration camps.

We are moored right across the canal from the Ijzertoren, an 84m high monument to the the Belgian army's resistance in WW1.

There is an audio visual museum inside and we can hear the whistle and explosion of the "bombs" from our mooring.  Must go take a look tomorrow.