Current Information:

Age-21

10, Laurel Grove, Sydenham

City of Paris Cemetery, Bagneux

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.

On 13th September, 1914, the 1st Royal West Kent battalion of 13 Brigade, 5th Division reached the Aisne at Missy where they found the bridge well defended. Moving forward to the river several men were hit by enemy rifle and machine gun fire The bridge, a three span, iron girder structure, had its northern span blown up and the passage strongly held by the Germans and being somewhat exposed the advanced detachments of 1st Royal West Kent were pulled back. The British artillery came into action and in the early afternoon the Germans withdrew. That night 1st Royal West Kent crossed the Aisne by means of the bridge and in five small rafts built by the engineers. On the following day 5th Division attacked at dawn but were stopped by artillery fire and dug themselves in along a line from Buc-le-Long across the mouth of the Chivres valley to the Missy bridge. Here they remained for the rest of the month as trench warfare set in. The casualty list grew steadily and included Frederick Snooks who died from wounds on 2nd October.