Supported by the Brigade of French Marines, the remains of the six Belgian Divisions still defended, single-handed, the twelve-mile front between St. Jacques-Cappelle and the sea. They were reinforced by the 6th Division near Lampernisse and Pervyse, thus strengthening the centre.
Against these depleted, exhausted and ill-revictualled troops, crushed beneath a continuous bombardment, the Germans brought up heavy reinforcements from Roulers.
The Attack on Dixmude and Nieuport.
Nieuport and Dixmude formed the bastions of the Allied defences, and their capture meant the falling of the Yser and the railway lines into the enemy's hands.
The brunt of the German attack was directed against Dixmude.
The French Marine Brigade and the mixed brigade of the Belgian 3rd I. D. under the command of Admiral Ronarc'h, were deployed in a semi-circle, about 500 yards from the outskirts of Dixmude, resting on the Yser. A second line was established along the canalised river.
On October 20, after an artillery preparation which lasted all the morning, the enemy made an unsuccessful attack on Dixmude. A fresh attack the same night was likewise repulsed. Meanwhile the town continued to burn.
On the 21st, at dawn, the bombardment redoubled in violence. The Germans attacked again, only to be mown down and repulsed.
In the afternoon, new enemy reinforcements delivered converging attacks of great violence, combining them with a furious thrust against the Schoorbakke Pass, situated half-way between Dixmude and Nieuport. At both points the German rush was broken.