The Forgotten Battles n°30 - Dixmude 1914 (in French)

On October 19, the French Navy celebrates Marines Day. This date more or less corresponds to the beginning of the Battle of Diksmuide which raged from mid-October (the first skirmishes took place on October 16) to November 10, 1914. The marine rifle brigade distinguished itself during these particularly bloody battles. These have therefore become the founding test of the marine rifle corps, as Camerone was for the Foreign Legion or Bazeille for the marine infantry. However, the sometimes-desperate defense of the small town in Belgian Flanders against the assaults of the infantry and jägers of the XXII reserve corps of the German army was not the only the fact of the riflemen: Belgian linemen and artillerymen, French foot hunters and Senegalese skirmishers distinguished themselves there under the orders of Rear Admiral Alexis Ronarc'h. This book aims to present the course of the Battle of Diksmuide in the broader strategic context of the Belgian campaign and the Battle of the Yser, of which it constitutes one of the most salient episodes. He tries to do justice to the suffering and the courage of all the fighters without falling into the golden legend that has long surrounded Diksmuide.