Current Information:

Born-Hammersmith

Vailly British Cemetery, France

The Battle of the Aisne 13th September -28 September

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.

During the night of 12th/14th September, 57th Field Company of the Royal Engineers, part of 3rd Division, were engaged in building a pontoon bridge across the Aisne at Vailly. During the 14th September the enemy heavily shelled the new bridge and four of the engineers were killed. One of these was Herbert Saunders.