Battle of the Lys

1940 CE.

Shown on the map at 51.055°, 3.734°.

The Battle of the Lys (French: Bataille de la Lys, Dutch: Leieslag) was a major battle between Belgian and German forces during the German invasion of Belgium of 1940 and the final major battle fought by Belgian troops before their surrender on 28 May. The battle was the bloodiest of the 18 Days' Campaign. The battle was named after the Leie (French: Lys), the river at which the battlefield occurred.

Text from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Lys (1940), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Everything else in 1940 CE

HistoryLayer draws the world as it was in any year from 123,000 BCE to 2026. Move the slider and the borders redraw for that year; the map carries 23,890 events, 12,790 people, 837 wars and 13,183 cities, each one readable in place. Signing in is optional and lets you keep what you find.

HistoryLayer
1914CE
World Wars
123,000 BCE2026 CE
54 stops — one per surviving map on file, evenly spaced drag the pin · ←→ steps one stop the same 54 stops by true elapsed time ↑
Map & filters
Show on the map
Filter
Colour by
Polity Empire