Queen Elizabeth of Belgium presents a gift to Cpt. (?) Desmet, possibly prior to or after a flight, as she is wearing flight gear. Behind them flyers and ground crew are in, on, and around an SE5A.
13.+.S.M.La Reine fait un cadeau au C= Desmet.+.The Queen makes a present to C = Desmet.
"[King Albert] agreed to extend our right as far as the outskirts of Ypres. He did not intend to deprive himself of reserves at the moment when the battle was about to break on us.In actual fact, on the 17th, it was launched from Lake Blankaert to Langemarck, following the expected rhythm. Our outposts were lost and our front line was submerged. The preparatory bombardment, however, fell on empty trenches and abandoned gun emplacements. Our artillery, still intact, replied from its withdrawn positions and smashed the assaulting troops. Supported by our fire, our reserves advanced and, with a magnificent burst, recaptured in its entirety the lost terrain, taking 900 prisoners.However brilliant this result, we only learned much later that the Belgian Army had outwitted a pincer movement designed to encircle all the British troops in the Ypres salient."
The War Diaries of Albert, King of the Belgians were assembled by General R. Van Overstraeten from the monarch's diary and other sources. This selection is from what Van Overstraeten refers to as his 'general succinct framework' and describes an action in Operation Georgette, the April 17, 1918 attack on Belgian forces, north of the British forces holding Ypres. In the 1914 Battle of the Yser, the Belgians had inundated part of the flat coastal land to stop the German offensive. They maintained the tidal flooding for the remainder of the war.
The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, pp. 203–204, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber
1918-04-17, 1918, April, Queen Elizabeth SE5A, Ypres
