BRITAIN'S PART IN FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2286, 21 October 1914, Page 6

BRITAIN'S PART IN FRANCE

AN OFFICIAL NARRATIVE

.HOW THE ENEMY WA S DRIVEN BACK ■TO THE

AISNE

The Prime Minister lias received tho following, cable message from the High Commissioner, dated London, October IS:- , ' '

impossible to decide whether the enemy was' only making a temporary halt, covered by his rearguards, or "whether ho intended to stand and defend his position. With a view to clearing.up tho situation I ordered a ' central advance'. > Tho action of tho Ist Corps on this day,. under the command of Sir Douglas Ilaig, was so skilful, bold, and decisivo that he gained positions which alone'enabled mo to maintain my position for mora than three weeks' severe fighting, on the north bank of the river. About 4 o'clock . the weakening of tho counter-attacks by the enemy and other indications showed that his resistance was decreasing, and a general advance was ordered by tho army corps commander. Although meeting with considerable opposition, and coming under very heavy artillery and rifle fire, the position of the corps at the end of the day's opora'tions extended from Chemin des-Damos, on the right, through Ohivy. to Le Cour Desouiner, with tho Ist Cavalry Brigado extending to the Cha-vonne-Soissons. Road. ' ; Sir Douglas Haig's Work, Throughout .the battle of the Aisne I cannot speak too highly of the valuablo sorvicos rendered by Sir Douglas Haig and the Army Corps under his command. Day after day, night after night, tho enemy's Infantry had been hurled against his violent counter-attack, and never ' on any one occasion succeeded, whilo tho trenches all over his position "were under continuous heavy artillery fire. The casualties wero very severe, one brigado alone losing three of its four colonels. ' The 3rd Division commenced a further advance, and had'nearly reached the plateau of Aigy, when they wero driven back by a powerful counter-at-tack, supported by heavy artillery. The division fell back in tho best order, and finally entrenched. The 4th and sth Divisions were unable to do more than maintain their ground. ■ On tho morning of the loth, after a close examination of the position,, it became clear that the enemy was mak-. ing a determined stand on a stronglyentrenched lino of defence up from North Compiegne eastwards and southeastwards, along the. whole valley of tho Aisne beyond Reims. A few days previously the fortress of Maubeuge follj and a considerable quantity of siege artillery , was brought down from that placo to strengthen tho enemy's position in front of us. On the 17th, 18th, and 19th, the wholo of our line was heavily bombarded, the Ist'Corps being constantly heavily engaged. German Trenches Taken. . On the afternoon of the 17th, the right flank Of the Ist Division was seriously threatened. A-countcr-attack'was mado by the Northamptonshire Regiment, in combination with' tho Quoon's. The

Sir John Fronch forwards two lengthy dispatches, dated September 17 and October 8, giving details of the progress of operations of the British. Following are the main pointsOn August 28 General Chetwode, with tlio sth Cavalry Brigado, encountered the eastern German column near Cerizy, moving 'south. Tlio. brigade attacked and routed the column, the lending Gorman regiment' suffering very severe casualties, and being almost broken up. On the 29th the British retired to a position a. few miles to tho north of tho lino between Compiegne and Soissons. Tlio rigfrt flank ot tho Germans was now reaching a' point that appeared seriously to endanger my lino ot communication with Le Havre. I had alread.y evacuated Amiens, and orders were given to chango the base to St. Nazaire (on the west coast, at tlio mouth of the Loire) and establish ail advance base at Le Mans flialf-way between St. Nazaire and Paris). This operation was well carried out.

' In spite, of the severe defeat inflicted upon the Guards on the 10th and tho Guards Reserve' Corps of tho Germans, it was not part of General Joffre's plan to pursue this advantage. A general retirement to the line'of the-Marno took place on September 1. When retiring from the wooded country to {lio south of Compiegne the Ist Cavalry Brigade was overtaken by German cavalry. They momentarily lost- the Horso Artillery Battery, and several officers and men wero killed or wounded. .

With the help of detachments from the 3rd Corps operating on thoir left, they not only recovered their own guns, but ■ succeeded in capturing twelve of tho enemy's guns. A 'severe'reaiguard action took place at Villers Cotteret (15 miles south-west of Soissons), in.which tho 4th Guards' Brigade suffered considerably. The enemy' had thrown bridges and crossed the Marno in considerable force, and wero .threatening the Allies all along tho line. ' ' . The Offensive Begins. On. September 5, the French pom-mander-in-Chief informed me of his intention to tako tho offensive forthwith, and requested mo to effect a" chango of front to -my right, my left resting on the Marne, my right on tho sth Army. To fill tho gap between that army and tho 6th, I was to advanre against tho enemy in front and join in the general offensive movement. These combined movements commenced on .September G, at sunrise, and concluded on the evening of September 10, by which time tho Germans had been driven back to tlio lino of Soissons-R-eims, with tho loss of thousands of prisoners,' many guns, and enormous masses of transport.

About September' 3 the enemy ap-. peared to have changed his plans and determined to, stop his advance sout.h direct upon Paris. I should conceive that ,it was about noon on. September 6, after the British had changed their front to the right and occupied tho lino Jouy - Lechatel -Farmentiers-Villeneuve-Lc Corte, that it became'apparent tho enemy realised a powerful threat was being made against his flank. His columns woro moving south' and east, and began to boat a retreat, which opened a battle. ,

• On September 7 both the' sth and 6th French, armies were 'heavily engaged on our flank. The Germans on tlio Ourcq vigorously opposed the advance of tho French towards that river. The French threw the enemy back on the line of the Petit Morin lliver after inflicting severe losses, especially about Monceaux, which was carried at tho point of the bayonet. Tlio enemy retreated before our advance, covered by his 2nd,- 9th, and Guard Cavalry division, which suffered severely. Our cavalry acted with great vigour, especially' General Do Lislo's Brigade, with tho 9tli Lancers and 18tb Hussars. Enemy Driven Over the Marne, ' On September 6 the Second Army Corps encountered considerable opposition, but drove back tho enemy at all points with great, loss,'.aiid made considerable captures. Tho Third Army Corps drove bade considerable bodies, of tho enemy's infantry, and,-made captures. : On September 9 the First and Second Army Corps-forded tho passage of tho Marne. During the day's pursuit the enemy suffered heavy loss in killed and wounded. Some hundreds of prisoners fell into our hands,' together with a battery of eight machine guns captured by our Second Division.

The lighting in thd neighbourhood of Montmirail was very severe. Thirteen guns, seven machine guns, 2000 prisoners, and quantities of transport fell into our hands, and 'the enemy left many dead on the field.

Although I deeply regret having to report . heavy losses iu killed and wounded, I do not think they have been cxcessivo in view of the magnitude of tho great fight and' the demoralisation and' the loss in killed and wounded known to have been caused' to the enemy by tho vigour and severity of our pursuit. • ' From August 23 to September 17, from Mons back to the Seine and from the Seine to Aisne, tho army, under my command has been ceaselessly engaged without one single day's 'halt or rest of any, kind.' , On tho afternoon of September 12, from the opposition encountered by tho French to tho west of Soi.ssons and certain indications all along the lino, I formed the opinion that the 'enemy had arrested his retreat, and was preparing to dispute the passage of tho ■ Aisno with vigour. Tho tract" of country north of tho Aisno is well adapted to concealment, and it was impossible to judge tho. real nature of, his opposition to out passage of the river, or to accurately gauge his strength, but I had reasou to conclude that the strong rearguards of three Army Corps wero holding the passage. Passage of the Aisne. On the morning of the 13th I ordered th 6 British to advanco and make good tho Aisne. The 6th Infantry Brigado was onabled to cross in single file, under a considerable shell fire, by means of tho broken girders of tho bridge. A construction pontoon bridgo was completed in the, jifternoon. On the extremo left.tho 4th Guards Brigado met with severe opposition 'at , Chavoime, and only in the afternoon was it ablo to establish a foothold on the northern bank of the river by ferrying tho battalion across in boats to Vendrcsse. Tho 2nd Division bivouacked on tho southern bank of tho' river. Tho second corps found all tho bridgos in front of them destroyed, except that at Condo; which was in the possession of the enemy, and remained so until tho end of tho battle.

During'tho night of tho 13th and on tho 14th and following days field companies wore incessantly at work night and day. F.ight pontoon bridges and olio foot bridgo were thrown pcross tho river, under very heavy artillery fire, which was incessantly kept up on to most of tho men crossing after their completion. Tim operations of the field companies during this most trying time wero worthy of tho best traditions of the Royal Engineers. 1 ' , Qn. tho tiiuiuimz of the 14tli it iyas still

Northamptonshiro Regiment, nijder cover, must nave crept up to witltin a hundred yards of the enemy's. trenches, and 'then .charged with the bayonet, driving them out of the trenches and up the hill. A very strong force of hostile infantry' was then disclosed oil the crest line. This new line was enfiladed by part of. the Queen's and King's Royal Rifles, which wheeled to their loft on tho extreme right of our infantry liue, and tho enemy's attack was ultimately driven back with heavy losses. Oil the 18th, during the night, tho Gloucestershire Regiment advanced from their position near Ohivy, filled in tho enemy's trenches, and capturod two Maxim guns. On the extreme right tho Queen's woro heavily attacked, but tho enemy ,\vero ropulsed with great loss. Shortly after midnight, an attack was made on tho loft of the 2nd Division, by a considerable force, which was also thrown back. , • ■ ' Movement on Enemy's Flank. On tho 18bh, information reouhod mo from General Joffre that ho found it necessary to make a now plan, and to attack and envelop the German right (lank. The cavalry havo rendered must efticient and ready help in the trcnches and havo done. all tihey possibly could to lighten tho arduous task which has of necessity fallen {to infantry. On tho evening of tho 19th and throughout tho 20th the enemy commenced to show considerable activity. On tho former night a se.vcrn «<hihtw.°4tack a» % 3rd Division was re-

pulsed with considerable loss. Tlio enomy suffered another severe 'ropulse in tlio front, tho 2nd Division losing heavily in tho attempts 111 the courso of tho afternoon the enemy made desperate attempts against the trenches all along the front of the First Corps, but with similar results. After dark tho enemy again attacked tho 2nd Division and was again driven back. Our losses on these two days woro considerable, but tho number, as obtained, of tlio enemy's killed and wounded vastly exceeded them. On the night of tho 21st another violent counter-attack was repulsed by tho 3rd Division, the enemy losing heavily. During the nights of tho .27tli and 28th the enemy again made most determined attempts to capture tho trenches of the Ist Division, but without the (slightest success. There were similar attacks during these three days all along the lines of tho Allied front. British Callantry. It is certain that the enemy then made ono last great effort to establish tho ascendency. He was unsuccessful everywhere, and is reported to have suffered heavy losses. Tho samo futile attempts woro made all along our front up to tho evening of tho 28th, when they died away, and have not since been Tftiiowed. Attack and pounter-attafck occurred at all hours of the night and day throughout the wholo position, permitting omy a minimum of rest. From September 12 to October 8 tilie killed, wounded, and missing reached 361 officers and 12,980 men. This proves the severity of the struggle. The Battle of tho Aisne has once more demonstrated tho_ splendid spirit of gallantry and devotion which animates the officers and men of, His Majesty's Force. There a/re about 1500 names mentioned in Sir John French's dispatches, including that of Captain Lucas-Tooth.