Current Information:

Born-Hackney

Vailly British 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.

At daybreak on 15th September, the 1st Lincolnshire and 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers battalions of 9 Brigade, 3rd Division, moved out of Vailly to support 4th Royal Fusiliers and 1st Northumberland Fusiliers holding a ridge one mile further north.  They took up a position in a winding sunken road which led from the town and ran up and over the ridge but this was as far as the British advance was to get and it was now trench warfare on the Aisne front. 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers remained in these trenches for the next five days during which time they  were shelled by the enemy on a daily basis. This shelling intensified on 19th -20th September when the enemy infantry launched some attacks as well. But the British line remained intact and that evening1st Royal Scots Fusiliers were relieved and moved back to Braine. Here they enjoyed some rest and had time to record the deaths the battalion had suffered during the fighting which helps to explain why the death of William Laidler and others were recorded on 22nd September whereas  they were more likely to have killed a few days before that.