Aisne 1914

INTRODUCTION

THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE AISNE as defined by the Battles Nomenclature Committee began on 13 September 1914 and concluded two days later on 15 September. By nightfall on 15 September the front lines of the opposing forces had become more or less established; although the fighting had not stopped at that point, neither side made any further gains. However, as the stalemate situation gradually became established, the two sides did begin to dig in and resort to a war of intense shelling and local attacks – a situation that would become only too familiar over the next three years. Trench warfare had arrived.

Although British involvement in 1914 was a brief one compared to their French allies who fought in the valley for nearly four years, it remains a significant chapter in the history of the regular army of ‘Old Contemptibles’ that first went to war in August 1914. That said, the visitor to the Aisne valley and the Chemin des Dames cannot help but be reminded of the French occupation of the area and in particular the offensives that took place in 1917. For the Frenchman, the Chemin des Dames is almost as hallowed as Verdun and, as such, battlefield visitors will constantly be reminded of this by the legion of monuments and sites closely associated with that period of French military history.

While the main events of the British campaign are recounted in this guide, a lack of space has made it impossible to include the actions of every British unit and battalion that took part in the fighting. The reader wishing for a wider appreciation of the campaign will find that the author’s Battle on the Aisne 1914 – the BEF and the Birth of the Western Front offers a more complete account and analysis of the battle.

For the British, the First Battle of the Aisne occurred a mere seven weeks after war had been declared on 4 August 1914 and much of those initial weeks had been spent on the roads of Belgium and France, either in retreat or – after 5 September – advancing towards the Aisne.

After the official declaration of war on 4 August, four infantry divisions and one cavalry division of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) under the overall command of Sir John French, began its embarkation for France on 11 August, completing the task just nine days later. By 22 August – the eve of the Battle of Mons – the BEF was assembled in Belgium and in position on the left of the French Fifth Army. General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien’s II Corps lined the canal between Mons and Condé facing north while Lieutenant General Sir Douglas Haig’s I Corps was posted along the Beaumont–Mons road facing northeast. To the west Major General Edmund Allenby’s cavalry and units of 19 Brigade guarded the canal crossings as far as Condé. The battle along the canal at Mons on 23 August was the first major clash the BEF had with the German First Army commanded by General Alexander von Kluck, and the outcome was inevitable. Outnumbered and out-manoeuvred and with General Charles Lanrezac’s French Fifth Army already retiring on his right flank, Sir John French had little recourse but to retire. It was a retirement that took the BEF south of the Marne and first drew attention to Sir John’s shortcomings as a commander-in chief.

Sir John French, commander-in-chief of British forces in 1914.

General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, commanding II Corps on the Aisne.

Lieutenant General Sir Douglas Haig, commanding I Corps on the Aisne.

General Alexander von Kluck, commanding the German First Army.

The retreat from Mons, although considered to be a splendid feat of arms, was an episode the BEF emerged from by the skin of its teeth. It was not handled well by the staff at General Headquarters (GHQ), which was often conspicuous by its absence and notorious for the ambiguity of its operational orders. While there were numerous rearguard actions fought by the men of both Douglas Haig’s I Corps and Smith-Dorrien’s II Corps, it was II Corps that bore the brunt of the fighting at Mons and Le Cateau. Even so, during the Battle of the Marne and up until the Aisne valley was reached on 12 September, all units of the BEF were involved to some extent in fighting a series of seemingly unconnected and often frustrating engagements with German rearguard units. Such was the nature of the BEF’s involvement in the Battle of the Marne that many in the BEF had no idea of the wider strategic picture. As Captain John Darling of the 20th Hussars (20/Hussars) remarked afterwards, ‘it seemed curious to note that we never heard of this battle until it was over’.

To the eternal credit of the British soldier, the end of the retreat and the subsequent advance back over the Marne was seen as an opportunity to hit back at the enemy; tired and footsore they turned to pursue what they understood to be a thoroughly demoralized German army. Events on the Marne had seen a substantial gap open up between von Kluck’s left wing and the right wing of von Bülow’s Second Army and it was through this widening gap that the BEF was advancing towards the Aisne.

To the frustration of many, even after it became obvious that the German army was in full retreat, British staff officers – largely through their inexperience – handled the logistics of the advance badly. From GHQ there was little direction given to fighting units in the daily operational orders and even within divisions, staff officers failed to deliver effective movement orders or even prevent instances of friendly fire as divisional boundaries became blurred in the move north. The end result was predictable; the German army escaped and proceeded to withdraw in a relatively orderly fashion to the Aisne while the BEF struggled to pursue them in the torrential rain that made marching a purgatory in itself. But even as late as the morning of 13 September, as German troops reassembled on the Chemin des Dames, the gap between their First and Second Armies still existed between the eastern village of Berry au Bac and Ostel in the west.

General Klaus von Bülow, commanding the German Second Army.

In those early weeks of the war the BEF was fighting very closely alongside its French allies and, given the size of the British force, it was a very minor player in the wider strategic picture that was unfolding across France and Belgium. To place the role of the BEF in perspective, by the time the British arrived on the Aisne the battle line stretched some 150 miles from Noyon in the west to Verdun in the east and it was only along a tiny fifteen mile sector in the middle that the British were engaged. (See Map 2)

But as British units became engaged all along the Aisne front, so the casualties mounted. Expecting to continue their pursuit of a retiring enemy, the British encountered a strongly held German line of defence. German shell fire proved to be remarkably accurate and powerful and it was some time before the British gunners could begin to mount an effective reply. The Aisne was certainly the beginning of the ascendancy of artillery as the major weapon of warfare but initially on the British side it was simply not up to the job in hand. Handicapped by the geography of the Aisne valley, British artillery was unable to provide the infantry with the firepower it required to take the Chemin des Dames or indeed fully support infantry attacks elsewhere along the valley. But with the advent of aerial observation carried out by RFC pilots and the arrival of four batteries of rather ancient 6-inch howitzers of Boer War vintage, the balance began to swing more in favour of the British. The work of Lieutenants Lewis and James in developing the use of wireless transmissions from the air to artillery batteries on the ground was the start of a partnership that continued to develop through the war.

The lack of support from the guns of the artillery had profound effects on the infantry advance, particularly the units that had been engaged at Mons and Le Cateau. At Vailly, for example, the 3rd Division attack was doomed to failure as the much depleted battalions of Hubert Hamilton’s division attempted to storm the heights of the Jouy spur. 8 Brigade, who had fought so doggedly at Mons on 23 August in the Nimy salient, had not a single machine gun between them on 14 September and had to rely solely on rifle fire. Similarly, on the Chivres spur, although the 5th Division were still in possession of some of their machine guns, they had left a significant proportion of their artillery behind at Le Cateau. On the right flank I Corps experienced similar difficulties as their advance ground to a halt on the Chemin des Dames.

In spite of these shortcomings the crossing of the Aisne River itself was a triumph for the men of the Royal Engineers, a feat of arms that is not often given due credit. The bridges the sappers constructed – often under fire from enemy infantry and artillery batteries – were indeed ‘bridges over troubled waters’, particularly as the river itself was swollen with rain and considerably higher than its usual September level.

Lieutenant Baron Trevenen James, 4 Squadron RFC.

Lieutenant Donald Swain Lewis, 4 Squadron RFC

British troops passing over a temporary bridge on the Marne built by 9/Field Company. It was bridges such as this one that were built over the Aisne.

It is a fitting tribute to the bravery and tenacity of the Sappers that one of their number, Captain William Johnston of 59/Field Company, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry on the river.

For the British the prospects of breaking through and taking the Chemin des Dames was never greater than on the morning of 13 September. Thanks to the Royal Engineers and the initiative of some brigade and battalion commanders, the passage of the Aisne had been achieved on both flanks and intelligence passed to Douglas Haig still indicated that the gap between von Kluck and von Bülow was vulnerable. The opportunity was lost owing to the failure of GHQ to fully appreciate the situation ahead of them, a situation which by the evening of 13 September had completely changed. German reinforcements were known to have arrived and were entrenching on the Chemin des Dames, yet there was no further directive from GHQ other than to continue the pursuit. As a result divisions blundered into the battle piecemeal and without adequate artillery support and out of their failure grew the trench lines of the Western Front.

The château at La Fère-en-Tardenois used by Sir John French during the Aisne campaign. GHQ was situated some twenty miles from the Aisne, close to the RFC aerodrome at Saponay.

Despite the lack of progress and the hoped for continuation of the advance, the BEF and its allies did frustrate any intentions the Germans may have had in launching a new offensive from the Aisne in 1914 and precipitated the so-called ‘race to the sea’ as each opposing side attempted to outflank the other. Despite the superiority of German fire power, the BEF were steadfast in defence and were an even match for the German infantryman, but there is no doubt that the Battle of the Aisne in 1914 was an opportunity missed for both the British and the French.

The Chemin des Dames and the Aisne Valley

The Chemin des Dames ridge forms a narrow hog’s back feature between the Aisne and Ailette river valleys. Running along the crest is the D18 that links the N2 in the west to the D1044 in the east, a distance of some nineteen miles.

As to who the ‘dames’ of the Chemin des Dames actually were is still the subject of debate amongst historians. Prevailing opinion suggest the ladies were Victoire and Adelaide, the daughters of Louis XV, who used the road to visit Madame Françoise de Châlus, a former mistress of their father who lived at the Château de Boves, near Vauclair, on the far side of the Ailette. It appears that in 1780 the road along the ridge was paved over in order to make the passage of their carriage a little easier. Remains of the original sandstone blocks can still be seen near Bouconville. However, some historians have suggested that the road that ran along the ridge may have taken its name from the ‘Dames de Proisy’who, like Joan of Arc, accompanied Charles VII on his pilgrimage to the Priory of Saint-Marcoul de Corbeny the day after his consecration as King of France in 1429.

The Chemin des Dames.

Early battles

Whatever the origins of its name, the Chemin des Dames is steeped in the history of conflict. As early as 57 BC Julius Caesar fought the Gaulois on the Chemin des Dames near Berry-au-Bac, where it is said over 100,000 Gaulois fought the legions of Rome in a battle that resulted in Julius Caesar’s first victory in his campaign to defeat the Belgic alliance of tribes. The strategic importance of the ridge was underlined in 1814 when Napoleon Bonaparte fought the Battle of Craonne on the Chemin des Dames on his way to confront the Prussian General Gebhard von Blücher. Following his disastrous retreat from Moscow and defeat in Central Europe, Napoleon’s Grand Army had still not fully recovered from the huge losses sustained in almost continuous campaigning. Taking advantage of a weakened French army, a strong Prussian-led coalition army under Blücher advanced towards Paris, reaching Soissons on 4 March. Napoleon gathered his army, comprising of largely inexperienced recruits – dubbed ‘Marie-Louise’ after Napoleon’s second wife, because so many of them were too young to grow beards, and marched to meet the threat.

At daybreak Napoleon found himself confronting the 24,000 troops led by the Russian General Woronzov. Much of the fighting centred around Hurtebise Farm, one of the key positions on the hillside, situated at the junction with the D886, east of the Musée de la Caverne du Dragon. The farm changed hands several times during the battle and was the scene of some desperate fighting led by the indomitable Marshal Ney. Despite the freezing temperatures the young inexperienced recruits still managed to climb onto the ridge in the face of the Russian guns only to be cut down in their hundreds. With the battle in the balance the day was saved by the arrival of the Garde in the early afternoon and the French managed to push the Russian and Prussian army back to the Soissons road, with both sides claiming a victory. Napoleon spent that night at Braye-en-Laonnois in the very house that von Blücher had occupied the previous evening. A French victory it may have been but it was only a prelude to the Battle of Laon, which two days later resulted in a defeat and the beginning of the end for Napoleon and the First Empire. Today the last battlefield victory that Napoleon would preside over is marked by a statue of the Emperor on a small mound on the south side of the road between Hurtebise and Craonne, a point from which he observed the battle.

The statue of Napoleon Bonaparte on the Chemin des Dames.

Hurtebise Farm still has two cannon balls decorating the gateposts and the monument to the young French infantrymen is close to the car park of the Musée de la Caverne du Dragon. At Pontavert is a half buried Russian cannon used in the battle and which can be seen at the corner of Rue Neuve Saint-Medard and Grand Rue.

The Great War

During the Great War there were three battles on the Aisne and the focus on each occasion was once again the Chemin des Dames ridge. The 1914 Battle of the Aisne came about as a direct result of the German retirement from the Battle of the Marne, which took place further south as the huge conscript armies of France and Germany jostled for position almost within sight of Paris. In September and October 1914 the German army held onto its positions along the Chemin des Dames and although the French gained some ground during the Nivelle Offensive of April 1917 the French lost heavily in both casualties and morale. In the first week’s fighting alone the French army suffered 96,000 casualties, of whom over 15,000 were killed.

General Robert Nivelle.

It was the failure of the Nivelle offensive which precipitated widespread mutinies and acts of disobedience amongst units of the French army over the summer of 1917 and saw General Philippe Pétain – the hero of Verdun – replacing the disgraced Nivelle as commander-in-chief.

It was not until October 1917 – under Pétain’s leadership – that the Chemin des Dames ridge west of Cerny was taken in the Battle of La Malmaison. On 31 October 1917 the Germans abandoned their positions on the Chemin des Dames to fall back on a new line of defence north of the river Ailette.

General Henri Philippe Pétain.

By early 1918 the first men of the American Expeditionary Force had arrived in the form of twelve battalions of the 26th Division and were brigaded with French troops in a mentoring role. Spread across a front of thirty kilometres they held the front line between the ruined towns of Chavignon and Pinon with their reserves based in the St. Blaise Quarry at Nanteuil and the Froidmont quarries west of Braye-en-Laonois.

However, any territorial gains made by the French in 1917 were short-lived when their efforts were reversed in the German Blücher-Yorck Spring Offensive that began on 27 May 1918, when many of the British regiments