Current Information:

Age-27

75, Sutherland Avenue, Maida Vale

Braine Communal Cemetery, France

The Battle of the Aisne  13-28 September, 1914

After the Germans were defeated on the Marne they fell back to the River Aisne, closely pursued by both the British and the French. The new German line was a very formidable defensive position. To attack it meant having to cross the Aisne and then climb up a 500 foot high ridge on top of which was the Chemin des Dames, a road that gave the Germans an easy way to move troops along the top of the hills. On 13th September the Aisne was crossed by both British and French troops but after that progress became slower, until there was no progress at all. Both sides dug in and the fighting settled down into trench warfare. The fighting on the Aisne continued for two weeks at the end of which both sides realised that frontal attacks on entrenched positions were both costly and non-productive, not that this deterred them from continuing with this tactic throughout the war.

The 3rd Coldstream Guards battalion of 4 Brigade, 2nd Division,crossed the River Aisne with the rest of the brigade on 14th September after which further progress came to a halt as trench warfare brought  an end to all movement. Over the next few days 3rd Coldstream Guards came under constant shell fire before they were relieved on 18th September and moved back to Soupir. Christopher Garland died from wounds on 22nd September and it is likely that he was wounded during this period in the trenches.