"2014 - 2018, The Battle for the North Sea" commemoration in Bruges

  • April 24, 2018
Battle for the North Sea exhibition Vliz)

On April 23 the exhibition "2014 - 2018, The Battle for the North Sea" opened at the Provincial Court in Bruges. The exhibition takes the visitor back to April 23, 1918, when the British Royal Navy undertook the biggest maritime action against German submarines in the ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend.

For four years, the occupied ports of Bruges, Ostend and Zeebrugge housed an impressive fleet of German submarines. These submarines were so successful that famine prevailed in Great Britain. On Saint George's Day the British struck back. A fleet of 136 ships simultaneously attacked the ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend. 176 British marines were killed during the Zeebrugge Raid. Eleven "Victoria Crosses" were awarded for courage, the highest British military recognition.

The official commemoration of the Battle for the North Sea took place on 21 April in Zeebrugge in the presence of Minister-president Geert Bourgeois, the British Princess Anne, Minister-president of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet, and Flemish General Representative Nic Van Der Marliere.

Exhibition "Battle for the North Sea"

General Representation of the Government of Flanders in the United Kingdom