ADVANCED POST ON THE RIGHT BANK OF THE YSER
Beyond it is seen "No Man's Land."
Nor was this all. The enemy was, and still is, at liberty to lower the water level by "bleeding" the inundation on his side. To defeat such attempts, it was necessary to put ourselves in a position to turn the requisite volume of water towards his lines.
Finally, provision must be made for draining off the water promptly and carefully, should the need arise, so as to prevent a disaster being caused by the enemy increasing the inundation, or merely by the torrential rain which falls at times with disheartening persistence in this depressing region. A constant struggle between the two opponents was thus always in progress. Let us say at once that the ingenuity and unwearying exertions of our men always triumphed in contests of this kind. They continue to dominate the situation completely, and the Germans have had to own themselves beaten.
The reader will realise that we cannot give a detailed description of the measures taken; the most difficult and complicated of which were unquestionably those designed to protect the Belgian lines from inundations let loose on the enemy's positions.
It has been mentioned more than once that, thanks to their command of Nieuport and its locks, the Belgians held the key of the inundations in their hands. But we must not forget that for three years German shells have been continually directed at the locks and bridges. The works that have had to be undertaken, carried out and maintained in good condition throughout this region will astonish the experts when it is possible to reveal their real character.
What shall be said, then, of the great importance of the many barrages which we have had to raise; of the dykes—some of them more than a kilometre long—of the strengthening of the banks along the canals and water-courses that furrow the country in all directions?
The embankments are of two main kinds: the solid and those with sluices. The second are used in places where the free play of the water must be allowed and regulated. It will easily be believed that the construction of these artificial barriers, able to withstand heavy pressure, needed the piling up of 100,000, 200,000 and even 300,000 sand-bags apiece; that not fewer than a million bags were required for the largest dyke, the contents of which were a trifling 30,000 cubic yards!