First Name: | Frederick George | Last Name: | BAKER | |
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Date of Death: | 27/09/1914 | Lived/Born In: | Earlsfield | |
Rank: | Private | Unit: | Dragoon Guards4 | |
Memorial Site: | La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial, France | |||
Current Information:Born-Kent Enlisted-Kingston
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 dawn on 20th September, 1914 there was a general attack by the Germans on the Aisne front which drove from their trenches the French troops immediately on the right of the British line and only after some heavy fighting, often hand to hand, were the enemy finally pushed back to their own lines. The 1st West Yorkshire battalion of 18 Brigade, 6th Division, were on the extreme right of the British line next to the French unit that were driven out of their trenches and they too came under considerable pressure. The 4th Dragoon Guards of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade were ordered forward from Paissy to lend their support and succeeded in stopping the German attack and stabilising the line. They were in billets in Paissy on 27th September when Frederick Baker was killed but the unit diary makes no mention of his or any other deaths on this day. |
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