"Pommern" or "Leugenboom" Battery, near Leugenboom Hamlet.
Concrete Shelter at St. Pierre-Cappelle.
Return by the same road to Moerdijck, turn left beyond the bridge, pass through Moere (2 kms.), and after crossing the light railway, take the road on the right which follows the railway to Leke village (5½ kms.). Beyond the ruins of the church, take the right-hand road to St. Pierre-Cappelle (4 kms.), whose church is in ruins. Continue straight along the Nieuport road, noticing the many observation-posts and concrete shelters. Throughout the region crossed by the itinerary, on both sides of the Yser, the ground has been completely devastated by trenches, shelters and bombardments. The villages have vanished. Today these places are the resort of pilgrims. Spermalie (2 kms.) is next reached.
Beyond the bridge, at the fork, take the right-hand road (in bad condition) to Mannekensvere.
A few heaps of stones and débris are all that remains of Mannekensvere. To visit St. Georges, cross the Yser by a small wooden foot-bridge, near the place where the Pont de l'Union used to stand. (It is impossible for vehicles to cross the river). Between the Yser and St. Georges, follow a "boyau" (by-trench) to the first Belgian and German lines, marked by many concrete shelters pierced with loop-holes.
The Site of Mannekensvere village.
Mannekensvere was situated on the right bank of the Yser. The Pont de l'Union, which crossed the Yser 3 kms. from Nieuport, connected it with St. Georges, situated a little further back, on the left bank, along the Nieuport-Bruges Road. These two villages and the bridge were among the principal targets of the Germans. On October 18, 1914, Mannekensvere, an advance-post of the Belgian 2nd Division, was carried by the Germans, but recaptured shortly afterwards by the Belgian 7th Infantry Regiment (Major Evrard). Unfortunately, the German heavy artillery made the position untenable on the following day, and Major Evrard was forced to re-cross the Pont de l'Union, which he blew up. St. Georges, on the contrary, was captured only on October 23, after the crossing of the Yser by the enemy, and the loss of Groote-Hemme Farm which covered it from the south.