On November 10 the Germans, infuriated by their repeated checks, attacked again with overwhelming forces. Part of the defences in the southern sector, between the railway and the Eessen road, held by Belgian infantry, gave way beneath the shock, bringing about the fall of the sectors on either side, held by the Senegalese troops. The line was pierced in the centre. The enemy swarmed through the breach, crossing the Handzaeme Canal to the north, while to the south, in the direction of the cemetery, they attacked the companies of Marines who continued to resist desperately. The Germans entered the town, the fight continuing from street to street and house to house, with countless surprises and ambuscades. Unarmed prisoners were made to march in front of the assailants, who proceeded to attack the positions on the Yser. Amongst them was Naval-Lieutenant Sérieyx, who, wounded in the arm, had just fought with his men to the last cartridge.
The Minoterie. (Flour Mill.)
On being ordered by the German Commandant to indicate the fordable places in the river, one of which was only some fifty yards away, the French officer, to gain time, made a complicated sketch of the position, placing himself and his men the while in front of the Germans. Becoming impatient, the German ordered the Frenchmen to call on the defenders of the canal to surrender.
"But how can you expect them to surrender", was the calm rejoinder, "seeing that there are ten thousand of them". In reality, they numbered about two hundred.
At this point, heavy rifle fire to the north drew the attention of the enemy elsewhere, seeing which, the wounded officer, exhorting his men to follow him, jumped into the river and swam over to the other side.
When night fell, the bridges and flour-mill—a powerful blockhouse in reinforced concrete—were blown up, the whole of the Franco-Belgian troops having meanwhile been withdrawn behind the embankment of the Yser Canal, which they held under gunfire. The Germans sought to organise the ruins of the unfortunate town, whose destruction was now being completed by the Allies' artillery.
The inundations reached Dixmude, forming an impassable barrier for the enemy.
On November 26, 1914, the French Naval Brigade, which later further distinguished itself on other fields of battle, and whose flag was eventually decorated with the Légion d'honneur (fourragère), was mentioned in the Army Orders, in the following terms: