Current Information:

Age-25

245, Sumner Road, Peckham

Pont-du-Hem Military Cemetery, La Gorgue, France

The Race to the Sea - September-October 1914

By the middle of September 1914, the Aisne battlefield had stagnated into trench warfare and in order to break this impasse, both sides tried to outflank each other in a general movement northwards. Moving up through Picardy, Artois and Flanders the race was over by 19th October when the North Sea was reached. The Western Front, a line of trenches stretching from Belgium to Switzerland, was now a reality. Initially it was the French army that conducted this movement whilst the British Expeditionary Force remained on the Aisne but by 6 October British reinforcements were needed to help beat off German attacks around Lille. They moved north and along with reinforcements from Britain, they took up new positions in Flanders, on the left of the Allied line and much closer to the Channel ports.

The Battle of Armentières  12th October-2nd November 1914

The official History pinpoints the battle of Armentières to a series of battles that took place between the river Douve and a line between Estaires and Foumers. It was part of the Race to the Sea and it determined the line of the Western Front in that sector. It was fought by III Corps which consisted of 4th and 6th Divisions as well as 19 Brigade.

On 22nd October, the 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers of 19 Brigade moved to La Bouteillerie where they took over trenches around La Cordonnerie Farm. With the front line becoming static they remained here for the rest of the month and through into November under constant pressure from the enemy who still had designs on breaking through the allied line. On 30th October, the day on which Frederick Dike was killed, they were heavily attacked from midnight to 5am but they held their ground.