The Yser Medal (french: Médaille de l'Yser, nl, Medaille van de IJzer) was a Belgian campaign medal 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 ...

, established on 18 October 1918 to denote distinguished service during the 1914

Battle of the Yser The Battle of the Yser (french: Bataille de l'Yser, nl, Slag om de IJzer) was a battle of the First World War that took place in October 1914 between the towns of Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, along a stretch of the Yser River and the Yperlee ...

in which the Belgian Army stopped the German advance of the German invasion of Belgium.

Statute

The Yser Medal was awarded to the members of the Belgian Armed Forces who were part of the army fighting along the

Yser The Yser ( , ; nl, IJzer ) is a river that rises in French Flanders (the north of France), enters the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows through the '' Ganzepoot'' and into the North Sea at the town of Nieuwpoort. The source of the Ys ...

river between 17 and 31 October 1914 that proved themselves worthy of the distinction. The medal could also be awarded to foreign nationals, members of allied military forces who took part in the

. The medal could be awarded posthumously. The Yser Medal was worn on the left side of the chest and when in the presence of other awards of Belgium, was placed directly after the Croix de Guerre (War Cross).

Medal description

The Yser medal was a 35 mm in diameter circular medal struck from bronze and surmounted by a smaller diameter green enameled medallion. The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

bore a nude, helmeted man holding a lance (indicating the halting of the advance of the German forces), to his right, the relief inscription on three lines "17-31 OCT 1914". In the enameled medallion, the relief inscription "YSER". The reverse bore the relief image of the left side of a roaring wounded lion lying on the bank of the Yser river, an arrow in his left shoulder, below the lion, the relief inscription "YSER", in the medallion, the Belgian royal crown over the relief letter "A", the monogram of King Albert. The medal was suspended by a ring through the suspension loop to a red silk moiré ribbon with wide black edge stripes. The red denoting the spilled blood, the black denoting the mourning.

Notable recipients (partial list)

The individuals listed below were awarded the Yser medal: *

King Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-S ...

. * Aviator Lieutenant Colonel Baron Willy Coppens *Lieutenant General Alphonse Ferdinand Tromme *Lieutenant General Jules Joseph Pire *Cavalry Lieutenant General Sir Maximilien de Neve de Roden * Cavalry Lieutenant General Baron Victor Van Strijdonck de Burkel *Lieutenant General Georges Deffontaine *Lieutenant General Baron Raoul de Hennin de Boussu-Walcourt *Lieutenant General Joseph Leroy *Lieutenant General Robert Oor *Lieutenant General Libert Elie Thomas *Lieutenant General Léon Bievez *Cavalry Major General Baron Beaudoin de Maere d’Aertrycke *Major General Jean Buysse *Major General Paul Jacques *Police Lieutenant General Louis Joseph Leroy *Police Lieutenant General Oscar-Eugène Dethise *Chaplain General Louis Kerremans *Lieutenant General Harry Jungbluth *Cavalry Lieutenant General Baron Albert du Roy de Blicquy *Lieutenant General Baron Émile Dossin de Saint-Georges *Lieutenant General Baron Honoré Drubbel *Lieutenant General Victor Bertrand * Lieutenant General Baron Jules Jacques de Dixmude *Lieutenant General Georges Guiette * Lieutenant General Albert Lantonnois van Rode * Lieutenant General Baron Armand de Ceuninck *Lieutenant General Aloïs Biebuyck *Cavalry Lieutenant General Baron

Léon de Witte de Haelen Baron Léon Alphonse Ernest Bruno de Witte de Haelen, born Léon de Witte (12 January 1857 – 15 July 1933) was a Belgian army officer and general who served during World War I. He is particularly known for commanding the Belgian Cavalry Divisi ...

*Cavalry Lieutenant General Vicount Victor Buffin de Chosal *Cavalry Lieutenant General Jules De Blauwe * Major General Doctor Antoine Depage *Lieutenant General Baron Ferdinand de Posch *Cavalry Lieutenant General Count André de Jonghe d’Ardoye

Yser Cross

The Yser Medal was replaced by the Yser Cross (french: Croix de l'Yser, nl, Kruis van de IJzer) in 1934. The cross was of similar design to the medal displaying the same obverse and reverse except that it was in the form of a

cross pattée A cross pattée, cross patty or cross paty, also known as a cross formy or cross formée (french: croix pattée, german: Tatzenkreuz), is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight ...

. The Yser Cross was issued as a replacement to the earlier Yser Medal upon application and payment of a fee, consequently relatively few were issued as few veterans wanted to trade in their medal, and even fewer wanted to pay the fee. The Yser Medal and the Yser Cross could not be worn together, it was one or the other. Although issued with the same black and red ribbon as the Yser medal, many

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

recipients opted for an unofficial black and yellow ribbon identifying them as Dutch speaking Belgians.

References

Other sources

* Quinot H., 1950, ''Recueil illustré des décorations belges et congolaises, 4e Edition.'' (Hasselt) * Cornet R., 1982, ''Recueil des dispositions légales et réglementaires régissant les ordres nationaux belges. 2e Ed. N.pl''., (Brussels) * Borné A.C., 1985, ''Distinctions honorifiques de la Belgique, 1830-1985'' (Brussels)

External links

Bibliothèque royale de Belgique
(In French)

(In French)

(In French and Dutch) {{Belgium honours Orders, decorations, and medals of Belgium Awards established in 1918 1918 establishments in Belgium