On October 4, Admiral Ronarc'h who had meanwhile concentrated his brigade in the entrenched camp of Paris, received orders to transfer his quarters to Dunkirk. Leaving St. Denis on the 7th, accompanied by his staff, and closely followed by the Brigade, he reached Dunkirk in the evening, proceeding thence to Antwerp. On the evening of the 8th, they were met at the railway station of Ghent by General Pau with orders to defend that town.
The Marines took up positions east of Ghent, and to the north and south of Melle. Belgian volunteers occupied the bend in the Escaut. These troops were supported by a group of Belgian artillery belonging to the 4th Mixed Brigade.
The Germans violently attacked in greatly superior numbers along the Alost-Ghent road, but for forty-eight hours the Marines carried out their mission of flank-guard. On receiving orders to retreat, the Franco-Belgian detachment, covered by units of the British 7th Division, re-crossed the Escaut and fell back towards the Yser, via Thourout, where the Belgian Army was arriving, closely followed by detachments of German cavalry.
Cavalry on the beach at Malo-les-bains.
(Note the barbed-wire entanglements.)
The Battlefield.
The last strip of unconquered Belgian territory, on which the German thrust was destined to be broken, forms part of Maritime Flanders (See map, p. [6]).
This vast plain was formerly a sea-gulf, and as late as the 11th century, was often raided by the "drakkers" of the Scandinavian pirates. In the Middle-Ages, the gulf gradually filled up with sand. This vast polder is almost entirely below sea-level at high tide, and is each day invaded by the waves.