In 2001, Strachan recorded German casualties at Ypres, casualties since the beginning of the war, at Ypres) and that percent of the Belgian army had become casualties. Subsequent operations First Battle of Flanders Battle of the Yser, 18 October – 30 November During the Allied retreat from Antwerp, the British IV Corps moved north of Ypres on 14 October, where I Corps arrived on 19 October, with cavalry covering a gap to the south of the town. The Battle of the Yser was fought, along a stretch of the Yser river and Yperlee Canal in Belgium. Falkenhayn created a new 4th Army to capture Dunkirk and Calais to inflict an "annihilating blow". The retreat of the Belgians to the Yser ended the "Race to the Sea", with the Belgians holding a front southwards from the coast and Belgian, French and British troops holding another beyond, the BEF holding and the Tenth Army holding another on the extreme right flank of the northern front. German attacks began on 18 October and on 22 October, German troops gained a foothold over the river at Tervaete. The French 42nd Division at Nieuwpoort was sent as reinforcements on 23 October, when the Belgians were pushed back between Diksmuide and Nieuwpoort. German heavy artillery was countered on the coast by Allied ships under British command, which forced Germans to attack further inland. On 24 October, fifteen German attacks crossed the Yser for and the French sent the rest of the 42nd Division. By 26 October, the Belgian Commander General Félix Wielemans, had decided to retreat but French objections and orders from the King Albert led to a withdrawal being cancelled. Next day sluice gates on the coast at Nieuwpoort were opened and flooded the area between the Yser and the railway embankment. On 30 October, a German attack crossed the embankment at Ramscapelle but was repulsed on the following evening; the inundations reduced the fighting to local operations. First Battle of Ypres, 19 October – 22 November The First Battle of Ypres (part of the First Battle of Flanders) began on 19 October, with attacks by the German 6th and 4th armies, as the BEF attacked towards Menin and Roeselare (Roulers). On 21 October, the 4th Army was repulsed in mutually costly fighting and from the Germans attacked on the Yser with the 4th Army and with the 6th Army to the south. French attacks