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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 & 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 La Bassée

This was fought by II Corps (3rd and 5th Divisions) between 10th October and 2nd November 1914 and as the name suggests it focused on an area around the town of  La Bassée in northern France. It was part of the Race to the Sea and it determined the line of the Western Front in that sector. There were some initial British successes but La Bassée remained firmly in German hands. German reinforcements arrived and  the village of Neuve Chapelle was captured by them. Towards the end of October, the fighting on this front died down as the attention of both armies switched to Ypres. 

The 1st Northumberland Fusiliers battalion of 9 Brigade, 3rd Division arrived at the front when they reached Vieille Chapelle on 12th October. On the 13th October they were attached to 8 Brigade and took part in an attack on Bout de Ville. Progress was slow and it was not until 14th October that Bout de Ville was captured. Over the next three days they moved forward, in the face of enemy resistance, through Pont du Hem, Fauquissart and Aubers until on 17th October they reached Fromelles where they were relieved. On the following day they marched to Herlies and entrenched on a ridge to the south-west of the village. They were still in these positions on 20th October when they were subjected to some heavy shelling followed up by infantry attacks which resulted in a withdrawal by the battalion back to the Aubers-Herlies road. Among the casualties suffered by 1st Northumberland Fusiliers on this day was Alfred Sparkes.