Keiem is a small town situated some 7 km north of Diksmuide in
West Flanders
West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. Administratively it forms part of
Diksmuide Municipality.
Lying close to the right bank of the
River Yser, the town suffered extensive flooding when, on 21 October 1914, the sea locks at the mouth of this river were opened as a defensive measure against the advancing
German Army
The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
during the "
Race to the Sea
The Race to the Sea (; , ) took place from 17 September to 19 October 1914 during the First World War, after the Battle of the Frontiers () and the German Empire, German advance into France. The invasion had been stopped at the First Battle of ...
" phase of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
[Charles-Albert de Behault, ''René de Duve, évadé multirécidiviste'', in Bulletin de l’ANRB, July 2018, pp. 96-111.] The operation was successful in halting the advance, with the result, however, that Keiem was to occupy the front line of the war for the next four years. By the end of the conflict, apart from three damaged houses which still stood, the town had been completely flattened.
References
External links
The Belgian military cemetery at Keiem
Populated places in West Flanders
Sub-municipalities of Diksmuide
{{WestFlanders-geo-stub