10.—Observation-post at the Pervyse railway station.
From up the 26th of October 1914, date at which our troops were compelled to leave the Beverdijk, the Dixmude railway track outlined in front of Pervyse our first front line.
On the 30th of October meanwhile the foe was rushing for Ramscappelle he hurled detachments against the Pervyse station. That attack miserably failed under the violent rifle firing of the 1st Battalion of the 12th line Regiment which had been swiftly reinforced by few sections of the 2d Bat.
The assailants fled seeking refuge in the houses bordering the Schoore road opposite the railway station, where they were made prisoner in the course of the day. The rest managed to retire back to their former position but had to fight their way through the inundation in order to rally their line.
Pervyse.—The inundation facing the railway station (September 1916).
Oud-Stuyvekenskerke.—The Tower (November 1914).
Oud-Stuyvekenskerke.—The Tower (February 1917).
The above assault was to be the only one the first line of Pervyse ever had to grapple with.
The main-guard of Schilderbrug with its advanced posts, (one outlook post on the road and two sentry posts on the water with the intermediate ones) gave the troops a sufficient security to allow the men, in spite of the rafale fires which from time to time poured upon the line, to say: “It is fine in Pervyse”.
The line was organized since the early days of its occupation, then was gradually improved to become during the last years of war a model of stabilized trench warfare area.
Even the station itself, where an artillery observation-post had been constructed, was wedged in a powerful stronghold whose solid concrete shelters for machine-guns were forming the bastions.
One of the above mentioned machine-gun pits, that of the south eastern angle may still be seen and will give a thorough idea of the organization.
The observation-post of the railway station, one of the main O. P. s. of the Belgian front, had a vast field of view and was provided with visual apparatus of the highest precision.
It was connected in 1917, by means of two telephone wires with alternative courses, to Dunkirk signalling post and that, in order to warn the city of the firing intended for her by the Leugenboom gun.
The report of the monster, perceived at Pervyse was at once communicated to Dunkirk where the receiving station was to alert the town by means of the powerful steam-whistles or other such alarm signals.