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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 Messines - 12th October-2nd November 1914

The Battle of Messines was one of the actions that took place during the Race to the Sea and it took place between the Comines-Ypres canal and the River Douvre. It involved the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions and elements of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Divisions as well part of the Indian Division.

On the 26th October the Germans attacked at the junction of 3rd Division and 5th Division and broke through the British line to capture Neuve Chapelle. Counter attacks later on that day and on the following day failed to regain the lost trenches. They tried again on 28th October but once again the attack failed and as the troops fell back they exposed the flank of 1st Royal West Kent and threatened to once again break the British line. A number of units, including 4th Dragoon Guards of 2nd Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division became involved in the ensuing struggle and prevented the pursuing Germans from penetrating the gaps. They were relieved on the following day, 29th October and move back to billets at Richebourg St Vaast but their rest here was very short because at 10am they were ordered to make their way to Neuve Eglise where once again they went into billets. On the morning of 30th October orders arrived for them to move to Wytschaete and on the next day they moved to Messines where the enemy was making a determined attack. There followed a day of heavy fighting which continued into the next day when the Germans captured Messines, forcing the British troops, including 4th Dragoon Guards out of the village to positions south of Wulverghem. On 2nd November the enemy continued their pressure with attacks on La Gheer and when some trenches south of the Wulverghem-Messines roads were captured a squadron from 4th Dragoon Guards helped recapture them. The next day, 3rd November, the day on which Henry Marvin was killed, saw a sustained and heavy artillery attack on the positions held by 4th Dragoon Guards with men being buried alive in collapsed trenches and an infantry attack which they managed to repel. In the evening, French troops arrived to relieve them and they were able to retire to billets in Dranoutre.