Current Information:

Born-Southwark

After the opening battles of the war at Mons on 23rd August, 1914 and Le Cateau on 26th August, the British Army (BEF), in conjunction with the French Army, began a retreat that took them all the way back to the River Marne, 200 miles to the south. With the Germans in hot pursuit they were forced to fight a series of rear guard actions as they fell back in extremely hot weather. The Great Retreat, as it became known, came to an end on 5th September, 1914 when the allied forces attacked along the River Marne and drove the Germans back to the River Aisne.

By 12th September, when the BEF were well north of the Marne and close to the Aisne, the 4th Royal Fusiliers battalion of 9 Brigade, 3rd Division  encountered some elements of the enemy rearguard in woods to the south of the village of Brenelle. In the action that followed John Phillips was killed.