Current Information:

Age-19

Born-Stratford

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.

On the morning of 14th September, 3 Brigade of 1st Division were moving up to support the left of 1 Brigade in their attack on the Chemin des Dames when they came across the eastern flank of a German infantry brigade moving  towards Vendresse. The 2nd Welsh and 1st South Wales Borderers battalions attacked them from the south-east. The progress of 1st South Wales Borderers was held up by dense woods but 2nd Welsh pushed on well and established themselves on the slopes of the Beaulne spur by 1pm. From there, 3 Brigade pushed through between 2 and 5 Brigades. 2nd Welsh captured 100 Germans and the line was pushed to within 300 yards of the Chemin des Dames.  There were the inevitable casualties for the battalion however, one of whom was Albert Ager who was killed in action.