The Long, Long Trail

The strategic move of the BEF from the Aisne to an area that placed it once again on the left flank of the French Army and shortened its lines of communication was clearly sensible, necessary and efficiently executed. Placing it to the north of the line that now ran continuously from the Champagne was an entirely logical attempt to outflank the Germans. But German efforts to do exactly the same thing meant that the two armies clashed, and no outflanking was going to be achieved. The planned advance in French Flanders and into Belgium was a part of this movement; but pushing the BEF eastwards towards the River Lys was, unknown to GHQ, decidedly risky. The Germans were assembling a mighty force, and the British units near the Lys found themselves probing forward towards an enemy in overwhelming strength.

During 8 and 9 October 1914, II Corps under General Smith-Dorrien detrained at Abbeville, having been brought up from the Aisne.

On the 9th, the two Cavalry Divisions, also moving up through Picardy, were formed into a Corps, under General Allenby.

Sir John French ordered II Corps forward - by bus - to the line on the left of the French XXI Corps who were in the area Bethune-Fruges. The Cavalry Corps was ordered to extend the line to the left, past Merville and Hazebrouck and on to the high ground of the Monts des Flandres and to the canal near Ypres. The general intention was for the line to advance eastwards.

I Corps was at this time still on the Aisne, and III Corps detraining at St Omer. IV Corps had landed for the Defence of Antwerp, and was now near Ghent. The Indian Corps was disembarking at Marseilles.

A rough outline of the deployment in Flanders

North from Bethune to Armentières, both of which towns had light industries, the land is flat and marshy, intersected by many drainage ditches and canals. The area was farmland except near Bethune and the Aire-La Bassée canal, where there was intensive coal mining and associated havy engineering. There are many villages, hamlets and orchards here. In general the roads were utterly inadequate to support lorry-borne traffic. North of Armentières the ground rises into the Flemish Hills, a drier region that is critical to observation towards Ypres.

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The weather was very poor, with heavy rain and fog.

On the front of II Corps

On 12 October it was reported that the French had lost Vermelles, which left Smith-Dorrien with a problem. He could either move all of his forces north of the La Bassée Canal to attempt a north-easterly advance as ordered, or move south to close the gap left by the French withdrawal, and attempt to advance eastwards. He chose the latter, leaving five infantry Brigades of 3rd and 5th Divisions facing four enemy Cavalry Divisions and more infantry than he had himself; and placed the rest of II Corps to the south of the Canal. The Corps began to advance in long continuous lines. Beating off some enemy counter-attacks the advance this day was successful, reaching the line Noyelles - Givenchy - Lacouture.

The advance continued on 13 October but after heavy fighting there was no concrete result. British losses amounted to around 1,000, many of which were incurred in a heavy German bombardment of Givenchy. On 14th and 15th, there was continuous fighting on both sides of the canal. British losses were again around 1,000, although heavy losses were inflicted on the enemy, particularly near Cuinchy. By the end of this period, the British had advanced the line some 6 miles in 4 days.

The advance continued slowly from 16 to 18 October, with the loss of another 1,000 men, and in the face of stiffening German resistance. Givenchy was recaptured on 16th, and held. On 17th, a foothold was gained on Aubers Ridge. Next day, a bridge over the canal 0.75 miles east of Givenchy was captured: this was the furthest the British would advance in this sector until 1918.

Enemy fire from the positions known as the Brickstacks and Railway Triangle halted further advance on both sides of the canal. On 19th, after a French failure, the 2nd Royal Irish Regiment became surrounded and more than 300 men (nearly all wounded) surrendered after a very stiff fight at Le Pilly on the Aubers Ridge. This battalion was withdrawn to be rebuilt shortly after this affair.

On 21 October, an enemy counter-offensive begun the previous day hit the 3rd Division hard, but after heavy fighting it was repulsed. Losses and an untenable tactical position forced the retirement of the Division, giving up ground on the Aubers Ridge that would be the scene of fierce efforts in Spring 1915. On 22 October, the left of the II Corps line had to wheel back, in view of its exposed position, to form a defensive flank. A German attack near Violaines succeeded in driving the 1st Cheshires out of the village.

On the front of III Corps

The 4th and 6th Divisions of Lt-Gen. Pulteney's III Corps concentrated near Hazebrouck on 12-13 October after their journey from the Aisne. They were given the distant objective of the line Armentières-Wytschaete, with the Cavalry Corps to their North covering the area extending up to Ypres, the objective of units of Rawlinson's IV Corps which were at this time still covering river and canal crossing in Flanders, allowing the continued retreat of the Belgian Army from Antwerp. The area into which III Corps was to advance was crossed by the low ridges of spurs of the line of the Flemish Hills, which were good defensive positions for the German units already in the area. In particular, it was vital for the commanding height of the Mont des Cats to be captured, which was achieved by dismounted 4th Hussars, 5th and 16th Lancers together with D Battery RHA in the dusk of 13 October.

Advanced patrols of the Corps found the Germans well entrenched on the far side of the Meterenbeek stream. Corps ordered both Divisions to make a general attack on the position: this was the first formal attack made by the BEF in the war. Going in at 2pm, the attack was successful but slow and difficult. The weather was poor, being misty and wet. By dusk, Outtersteene, Meteren and Mont Noir had all been captured. III Corps suffered 708 casualties; the Germans fewer, for they executed a skilful withdrawal. On this day, Lille fell to the enemy. RFC observers reported a Division of German infantry moving up from Douai through Lille, heading for Armentieres. Pulteney ordered a vigorous continuation of the advance, aiming to reach the Lys, Armentieres and the Messines ridge before the enemy.

14 October was a day of heavy mist and rain. Air reconnaissance was impossible, and artillery badly hindered. However, there was little fighting as the Germans withdrew. Bailleul was occupied easily, as was Dranoutre, Kemmel, Neuve Eglise, Wulverghem, Messines and Wytschate - all places that would become familiar to hundreds of thousands of British troops in the coming years - and the graves of many too. The German units had come under orders to hold the line La Bassée - Armentières - Menin, awaiting reinforcement and the formation of the new Fourth Army, which would advance on Ypres and the Channel, extending northward in the final attempt to outflank the Allies on the Western Front. On this day, units of the Cavalry Corps met with the 3rd Cavalry Division South of Ypres, completing a tenuous line of BEF from south of the La Bassée canal to Ypres.

The general advance continued next day, with some crossings of the Lys being secured after overcoming German rearguards. Ostende was occupied by the German units advancing along the coast in pursuit of the Belgian troops.

On the rest of the BEF front

On 16 October, John French's GHQ Orders for the first time included Rawlinson's Corps. The forward movement of the III and Cavalary Corps to the Lys would be continued, and 7th Division would fan out of Ypres and take up a line from Zandvoorde, through Gheluvelt, to Zonnebeke. The weather was very poor, with heavy rain and fog. In many places the fields were inundated, with the streams and ditches rising, and little practical progress was made. In the afternoon, the Germans made a heavy attack against the French and Belgian units holding the salient around Dixmude. Next day, the 17th, the advance continued as before, and the small industrial town of Armentieres was occupied, with advance units also capturing Houplines, Le Gheer and Ploegsteert. The 7th Division dug in on their salient around Ypres, although 20th Brigade pushed forward a mile or so to counter nuisance sniping, occupying positions near Kruisecke.