In the "History of the Great War" (1915–1948), the official British account of World War I, James Edmonds wrote that although the operations to save Antwerp had failed, the resistance of the defenders (after the outer forts were destroyed) detained German troops, when they were needed for operations against Ypres and the coast. Ostend and Zeebrugge were captured unopposed, while further west Nieuwpoort (Nieuport) and Dunkirk were held by the Allies, which thwarted the final German attempt to turn the Allied northern flank. The troops from Antwerp were also needed to cover the approach of four German corps towards Ypres, which caused delays to all the German manoeuvres in the north.