The French I Corps, on the northern flank of the Fifth Army, attacked from the army boundary north-west of Weidendreft, south of the hamlet of St Janshoek (Sint Jan), north of Bixschoote and the edge of the floods, to the Noordschoote–Luyghem road, which crossed the Yperlee at Drie Grachten (Three Canals). The German defences were more visible than those opposite the British and being above ground, were easier to destroy. The floods obstructed an attack but made it hard for the Germans to move reserves and the open country made French air observation easier. The I Corps objectives were the Drie Grachten bridgehead and the triangular spit of land between the Lower Steenbeek and the Yperlee ("Ypres–Ijzer") Canal. The division on the right flank was to cross the Steenbeek and assist XIV Corps on the right, north-west of Langemarck. The Steenbeek was broad and deep here and was broader between St Janshoek and the Steenstraat–Dixmude road; from the Martjewaart Reach to the Yperlee Canal it was wide and deep. During the night of the the morning of 16 August, French aircraft bombed the German defences, bivouacs around Houthulst Forest and Lichtervelde railway station away. French and Belgian air crew flew at a very low altitude to bomb and machine-gun German troops, trains and aerodromes and shot down three German aircraft.