During the First World War, Tervate was the scene of heavy fighting at the Battle of the Yser. The advancing Germans wanted to reach the Channel ports and therefore wanted to cross the Yser in mid-October 1914 in Nieuwpoort, Diksmuide or via the three bridges over the Yser between these two cities, namely the Uniebrug, Schoorbakkebrug and the Tervatebrug. The Tervate bend was a weakness in the Belgian defense lines. Here people were vulnerable to fire from different directions and moreover, the border between two Belgian divisions, namely the 1st and 4th Division, fell here. On October 19, 1914, the Tervate Bridge was blown up by the Belgian engineers to make it unusable for the Germans. In the night of 21 to 22 October, the Germans succeeded in crossing the Yser in the Tervatebocht. The following days were hard fought. On October 23, the Germans reached Tervate, which burned down completely. Eventually the Belgians had to withdraw to Stuivekenskerke and later to behind the railway bed. A few days later the German advance was halted by the flooding of the Yser plain.
On May 28, 1940, after blowing up the bridge, French soldiers of the 270th Infantry Regiment defended the position until May 29. The Germans succeeded in crossing the Yser on the day of 29 May.
Source: Wikipedia