Current Information:

Enlisted-Woolwich

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 19 Brigade)

12 Brigade of 4th Division arrived in the north from the Aisne front  on 11th October and two days on 13th October, later they were involved in an eastwards advance. The 1st Royal Lancaster battalion  marched for six miles and then attacked the village of Meteren but were unable to capture it. Nearly forty men from the battalion were killed in the attempt and many morewere wounded, including Robert Pike who died from wounds on the following day, 14th October.