page_title: Operation Hush
section_title: British offensive preparations
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Hush / Prelude / British offensive preparations
caption_attribution_description: English: Mouth of the Yser, at Nieuwpoort, Belgium. Nieuwpoort from the air, taken by myself July 2003.
context_page_description: Operation Hush was a British plan to make amphibious landings on the Belgian coast in 1917 during the First World War, supported by an attack from Nieuwpoort and the Yser bridgehead, positions which were a legacy of the Battle of the Yser in 1914. Several plans were considered in 1915 and 1916, then shelved due to operations elsewhere. Operation Hush was intended to begin when the Third Battle of Ypres, the main offensive at Ypres had advanced to Roulers, Koekelare and Thourout, linked by advances by the French and Belgian armies in between.
  Unternehmen Strandfest was a German spoiling attack, conducted on 10 July by Marine-Korps-Flandern, in anticipation of an Allied coastal operation. The Germans used mustard gas for the first time, supported by a mass of heavy artillery, captured part of the bridgehead over the Yser and annihilated two British infantry battalions. After several postponements, Operation Hush was cancelled on 14 October 1917, as the advance at Ypres did not meet the objectives required to begin the attack.
  In April 1918, the Dover Patrol raided Zeebrugge to sink block ships in the canal entrance to trap U-Boats, which closed the canal for a short time.
context_section_description: The Third (Corps) Wing of IV Brigade RFC, moved north with XV Corps in June and was temporarily made an independent mixed command, responsible for army co-operation and defence, when the line was taken over from the French. By 10 July the Fourteenth (Army) Wing of IV Brigade had arrived, the brigade taking responsibility for reconnaissance in the area Keyem, Ichtergem, Bruges, Blankenberghe, Oost and Dunkirk Bains until 13 July, then Keyem, Oostcamp, Zeebrugge, Oost and Dunkirk Bains, while RNAS units reconnoitred as required. The offensive patrol front was from Stuyvekenskerke to Oost and Dunkirk Bains and by RNAS aircraft north of Nieuport to 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Dunkirk. RNAS aircraft conducted night-bombing in the area Dixmude, Thourout, Ghent, Retranchement and Nieuport Bains. The 9th (Headquarters) Wing acted as a mobile reserve on the Flanders front.
  When the XV Corps took over from the 29th and 133rd divisions of the 36ᵉʳ Corps d'Armée on the coast on 20 June, the British artillery was held back, as the French would only allow their infantry to be covered by French guns. The French position had three areas, St Georges on the right (inland) side, almost surrounded by water, at the junction with the Belgian army (which held the line for 13 miles (21 km) south to Nordschoote), the Lombartzyde area in the centre, with inundations on either side and Nieuport Bains on the left to the coast, either side of the Geleide Brook. The sectors were linked across the inundations by single bridges and isolated from the rear by the Yser and Dunkirk canals, crossed by floating-barrel bridges called Richmond, Kew and Mortlake near Nieuport Bains and Barnes, Putney and Vauxhall near Nieuport. A permanent roadway crossed lock gates east of Nieuport and another bridge named Crowder was built later near Nieuport. In the centre of the front was a 2,000 yd (1,800 m) stretch, with no crossing over the Yser and no man's land was 65–80 yd (59–73 m) wide. There was very little cover for artillery in the area and machine-guns were vulnerable to stoppages from wind-blown sand.
  The 1st Division and the 32nd Division took over and had only limited artillery support for several days, until the British artillery had completed the relief. Du Cane ordered that the positions were to be held at all costs but the main French defences had been built in the south bank and the bridgehead, which was 800 yd (730 m) deep from St Georges to the coast, had been held as an outpost. Three breastworks gave limited protection from artillery-fire and there were no underground shelters for reserves. Tunnellers began work on dugouts in the sand dunes but in early July, few had been completed. A defence plan for the bridgehead was issued on 28 June, relying mainly on artillery but of 583 guns in the Fourth Army, only 176 had arrived by 8 July, the remainder being with the First and Second armies, in support of operations towards Lens and Lille and due to arrive by 15 July. On the night of 6/7 July, German aircraft bombed the main British aerodrome at Bray-Dunes near Dunkirk, caused nine casualties and damaged twelve aircraft. Reconnaissance flights by IV Brigade RFC and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) aircraft were hampered from 7–9 July, by ground mist and clouds down to 900 ft (270 m). Vague reports of increased activity behind the German front had been received but a special flight early on 8 July found nothing, despite the unusual amount of movement, as the Germans prepared to attack; on 9 July all aircraft were grounded by bad weather.
caption: Mouth of the Yser river
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