First Battle of the Aisne

The First Battle of the Aisne (1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914.

A counter-attack by six French armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) along the Marne River forced the Imperial German Army to retreat northwest, leading to the First Battle of the Aisne and the Race to the Sea.

In dense fog on the night of 13 September, most of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) crossed the Aisne on pontoons or partially demolished bridges, landing at Bourg-et-Comin on the right and at Venizel on the left.

By the end of 1914—after the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Aisne and Ypres—the old Regular Army had been wiped out, although it managed to help stop the German advance.

Trench warfare was also new for the Germans, whose training and equipment were designed for a mobile war to be won in six weeks, but they quickly adapted their weapons to the new situation.

After the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914, an extended series of attempted flanking moves, and matching extensions to the fortified defensive lines, developed into the "race to the sea", by the end of which German and Allied armies had produced a matched pair of trench lines from the Swiss border in the south to the North Sea coast of Belgium.

The period is called "Race to the Sea".

The Race to the Sea (Course à la mer; Wettlauf zum Meer, Race naar de Zee) took place from about 1914, after the Battle of the Frontiers and the German advance into France, which had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne (5–12 September) and was followed by the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September), a Franco-British counter-offensive.

The French Fifth Army crossed the Aisne at Berry-au-Bac and captured the eastern tip of Chemin des Dames, a steep ridge named after the royal coach road Louis XV had built for his daughters.

The First Battle of the Aisne (1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914.

On 14 September, Sir John French ordered the entire BEF to entrench, but few entrenching tools were available.

Sir John initially thought (14 September) that the enemy was only "making a determined stand" on the Aisne.

There were two later battles on the Aisne; the second (April–May 1917) and the third (May–June 1918).

The Germans held the Chemin des Dames Ridge from the First Battle of the Aisne in September 1914 to 1917, when General Mangin captured it during the Second Battle of the Aisne (in the Nivelle Offensive).

After six days of stubborn fighting, the remaining garrison retired across the Scheldt River to the southern border of the Netherlands, while the rest of the Belgian army retreated to the West, to defend the last piece of Belgian territory in the Battle of the Yser (16–31 October 1914).

During the siege of Antwerp, the German and French armies fought the Battle of the Frontiers (7 August – 13 September) and then the German armies in the north pursued the French and the BEF southwards into France in the Great Retreat, which culminated in the First Battle of the Marne (5–12 September), followed by the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September).

Whilst serving in this capacity during the First Battle of the Aisne Findlay was hit by shrapnel from a German shell and killed.

From 5 to 12 September, the First Battle of the Marne ended the Allied retreat and forced the German armies to retire towards the Aisne river and fight the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September).

Simson was killed in the First Battle of the Aisne, which was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) & Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914.

Many of those killed at the Aisne are buried at Vailly British Cemetery.

Most of the men interred at Vailly were killed in the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914.

The First Battle of the Aisne (1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914.

The First Battle of the Aisne (1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914.

The First Battle of the Aisne (1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914.

The First Battle of the Aisne (1re Bataille de l'Aisne) was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the Marne earlier in September 1914.

When the Germans turned to face the pursuing Allies on 13 September, they held one of the most formidable positions on the Western Front.

Between Compiègne and Berry-au-Bac, the Aisne River winds westward and is about 100 ft wide, ranging from 12 – deep.

Between Compiègne and Berry-au-Bac, the Aisne River winds westward and is about 100 ft wide, ranging from 12 – deep.

Between Compiègne and Berry-au-Bac, the Aisne River winds westward and is about 100 ft wide, ranging from 12 – deep.

Low crops in the unfenced countryside offered no natural concealment to the Allies.

Deep, narrow paths cut into the escarpment at right angles, exposing any infiltrators to extreme hazard.

The forces on the northern plateau commanded a wide field of fire.