Keiem is a small town situated some 7 km north of Diksmuide in

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. 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 during the "

Race to the Sea The Race to the Sea (; , ) took place from about 1914 during the First World War, after the Battle of the Frontiers () and the German advance into France. The invasion had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne and was followed by the ...

" phase of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.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