Hôtel de Ville, Comines

Comines (French pronunciation: [kɔmin]; Dutch: Komen) is a commune of the Nord department in northern France.

Comines-Warneton (French pronunciation: [kɔmin waʁnətɔ̃] (listen); Dutch: Komen-Waasten, Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkoːmə(n) ˈʋɑːstə(n)] (listen); Picard: Comène-Warneuton; West Flemish: Koomn-Woastn; Walloon: Cômene-Varneton) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, it had a total population of 17,562. Its total area is 61.09 km2 (23.59 sq mi) which gives a population density of 287 inhabitants per square kilometre (740/sq mi). The name "Comines" is believed to have a Celtic, or Gaulish, origin. Comines-Warneton is a municipality with language facilities for Dutch-speakers. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bas-Warneton, Comines, Houthem, Ploegsteert, and Warneton (including the hamlet of Gheer). They were all transferred in 1963 from the arrondissement of Ypres in the Dutch-speaking province of West Flanders to the newly created arrondissement of Mouscron in French-speaking Hainaut. The five municipalities (Comines, Houthem, Ploegsteert, Bas-Warneton, Warneton) were merged into a single Comines-Warneton municipality in 1977. Since then, the municipality forms an exclave of both Hainaut and Wallonia, being surrounded by the Flemish province of West Flanders and the French department of Nord and not connected to the rest of the French-speaking area of Belgium. Comines-Warneton is twinned with Hedge End in England and with Argenton-les-Vallées in France.

Wervik (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɛrvɪk]; French: Wervicq, French pronunciation: ​[wɛʁvik]; West Flemish: Wervik; Latin: Viroviacum) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Wervik and the town of Geluwe. On January 1, 2014, Wervik had a total population of 18,435. The total area is 43.61 km2 which gives a population density of 423 inhabitants per km2. The area is famous for its excellent tobacco and has a tobacco museum. The town is separated from its French counterpart Wervicq-Sud by the river Lys.

Wervicq-Sud (French pronunciation: [wɛʁvik syd]; Dutch: Zuid-Wervik) is a commune in the Nord department of northern France, near the border with Belgium. Wervicq-Sud is one of the oldest villages still existent, dating back to Roman times. The town is separated from its Belgian Flemish sister town of Wervik by the river Lys. Located 15 km north of Lille and 20 km south of Ypres.

Quesnoy-sur-Deûle (French pronunciation: [kenwa syʁ døl], literally Quesnoy on Deûle; West Flemish: Kiezenet) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille.

Zantvoorde British Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission burial ground for the dead of the First World War located in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on the Western Front. It also contains the remains of a British airman killed during the Second World War.

Zandvoorde (West Flemish: Zanvôorde) is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders and a part (deelgemeente) of the municipality of Zonnebeke. Zandvoorde is a rural village, in the rolling landscape of the southern part of the province.

Warneton (French pronunciation: [waʁnətɔ̃]; Dutch: Waasten) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille.

Warneton (Dutch: Waasten; Picard: Varnetån/Warneuton) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Comines-Warneton, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It was a municipality of its own until the 1977 merger of Belgian municipalities. It is immediately to the north of the French commune of Warneton, across the river Lys or Leie. The hamlet of Gheer is on its territory.

Deûlémont (French pronunciation: ​[dølemɔ̃]; from Dutch: Deulemonde) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Situated at the confluence of the rivers Deûle and Lys, it is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille.

The Deûle (French pronunciation: ​[døl]; Dutch: Deule) is a river of northern France which is channeled for the main part of its course (from Lens to Lille). The upstream part is still partly free-flowing and is known as the Souchez. The Deûle flows into the Lys (right bank) in Deûlémont. The Souchez is formed from the union, in the village of Souchez, of two smaller brooks, called the Carency and the Saint-Nazaire. The channeled part comprises two branches: the high gauge canal known as Canal de la Deûle which ensures the connection between the channeled Lys and the Scarpe (a tributary of the Scheldt) in Douai, the Canal de Lens, fed by the Souchez, which connects Lens with the Canal de la Deûle at Courrières.Immediately downstream of Lens, the channel is unusually elevated compared to the neighboring banks, as a result of mining depressions. The Deûle flows through the departments of Pas-de-Calais and Nord, and the towns of Lens, Wingles, Loos, Lille, Wambrechies and Quesnoy-sur-Deûle, before it flows into the Lys at Deûlémont. The Deûle does not yet profit from a Schéma d'aménagement et de gestion des eaux.

The Action on the Polderhoek Spur (3 December 1917), was a local operation in the Ypres Salient, by the British Fourth Army (renamed from the Second Army on 8 November) against the German 4th Army during the Third Battle of Ypres in Belgium during the First World War. Two battalions of the 2nd New Zealand Brigade of the New Zealand Division attacked the low ridge from which German observers could view the ground from Cameron Covert to the north and the Menin road to the south-west. A New Zealand advance of 600 yd (550 m) on a 400 yd (370 m) front, would shield the area north of the Reutelbeek stream from German observers on the Gheluvelt spur further south. Heavy artillery bombarded the ruins of Polderhoek Château and the pillboxes in the grounds on 28 and 30 November as howitzers fired a wire cutting bombardment. The attack on 3 December was made in daylight as a ruse, in the hope that the unusual time would surprise the German defenders, who would be under cover sheltering from the bombardments being fired at the same time each day. The British planned smoke and gas bombardments on the Gheluvelt and Becelaere spurs on the flanks and the infantry attack began at the same time as the "routine" bombardment. The ruse failed; some of the British artillery-fire dropped short on the New Zealanders and the Germans engaged the attackers with small-arms fire from Polderhoek Spur and Gheluvelt ridge. A strong west wind ruined the smoke screens and the British artillery failed to suppress the German machine-guns, which forced the attackers under cover. New Zealand machine-gunners then repulsed a counter-attack by German parties advancing along the Becelaere road. The New Zealanders were 150 yd (140 m) short of the first objective but another attempt after dark was cancelled because of the full moon and sight of German reinforcements reaching Polderhoek Château. On 4 December, German troops assembling for another counter-attack were dispersed by British artillery-fire and German artillery bombarded the captured area all day. The New Zealanders consolidated the new trench line during the night and a German counter-attack at dawn on 5 December was repulsed. The New Zealanders handed over to IX Corps and went into reserve as the Germans used an observation balloon accurately to direct the German guns. A German attack later in the day was stopped by artillery-fire but on 14 December, the ground was re-captured by a German counter-attack.