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Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres, 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 6th 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 was made up of 4th and 6th Divisions plus 19Brigade)

At 5.15 am on 21st October the Germans made a strong attack in the mist along the front of 12 Brigade, 4th Division, near Le Gheer, not far from Ploegsteert Wood. The 1st Royal Lancaster and 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers battalions held them off but to their left, 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were forced back 400 yards. On 22nd October, 1st Royal Lancaster were relieved and moved back to billets in Le Bizet. They were back in the trenches by 24th October and on 27th October, the day on which James Harwood died, their trenches came under a heavy bombardment at dawn followed by a heavy attack on the battalion to their right. That evening they were relieved.