Current Information:

Born-Richmond-on-Thames

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 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.

On 1st October, 1914, the 9th Lancers of 2nd Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division began their journey north when they left their  billets at Longueval-Barbonval, just south of the Aisne. By 10th October they had reached Villers-Brulin to the north-west of Arras, and the next day, 11th October, they arrived at Merville and that evening they took up a line of outposts from Caudescure to Vierhouck. Here they were in action all night as they came face to face with enemy troops who themselves were in Vierhouck and it was here that Rupert Sarbach was killed.