The attack was stayed, and the French clung to the thin strip of land on the right bank of the Yser.
The bombardment of Nieuport increased in violence. Each morning, the huge 16½in. shells wrecked the houses and public buildings, and crushed in the cellars where the defenders had taken shelter. One after another, the 12th century Church, the Abbey on the Dunes, the "Halles" with their graceful belfry, and the massive Templars' Tower crashed to the ground.
Meanwhile, the battle continued to rage all around the town.
On May 9, a German attack from Lombartzyde to St. Georges was broken, and on the following day the French marines carried "W" and Union Farms, with fine dash, and destroyed the enemy's blockhouses.
Nieuport. Ruins of the Hôtel-de-Ville.
In 1916 (January 24), after a bombardment of more than 20,000 shells, the Germans attempted to debouch from their positions near the mouth of the Yser. Repulsed with heavy loss, they once more deluged the unhappy town with shells.
In 1917, the British prepared their great Spring and Summer offensives, extending from east of Arras to the region of Ypres, and relieved their French comrades in the sector stretching from St. Georges to the sea.
They had hardly taken up their positions, when the Germans attacked (July 10). Thrown back into their trenches before Lombartzyde, the enemy renewed their attacks with increased violence, and forced back the British in the direction of Nieuport. The latter managed, however, to keep a bridgehead at the exit from the town.