Current Information:

Age-28

Born-Nunhead

Enlisted-Leeds

Y Farm Military Cemetery, Bois-Grenier, 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 19^th 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 13th October, 1914, III Corps were ordered to advance against a line running from Armentières to Wytschaete, with 4th Division on the left and 6th Division on the right.  The objective for 6th Division was the line Vieux Berquin to Merrin and at 7.30 am they moved forward in two columns with 18 Brigade making up the right column.  By midday they had reached Vieux Berquin and at 1.30pm they attacked the small settlement of Bleue with the 2nd Durham Light Infantry, 1st West Yorkshire and 1st East Yorkshire battalions. By 4.30pm Bleue had been captured and 18 Brigade were consolidating their new positions. On the following day, 14th October, the advance began again with La Verrier the objective for 18 Brigade. They met opposition throughout the day from an enemy rearguard of cavalry armed with machine-guns and failed to reach La Verrier. Among 1st West Yorkshire’s casualties on this day was Charles Bentley.