Current Information:

Born-Haggerston

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.

The Battle of Messines 12th October-2nd November 1914

The Battle of Messines was fought  in October 1914. It was part of the Race to the Sea and it took place between the Comines-Ypres canal  and  the River Douve. It involved the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions and elements  of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Divisions as well part of the Indian Division. On 17th October, 1914, the 11th Hussars of 1 Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division set off from their over-night billets in Dranoutre, acting as the vanguard of the brigade and advanced through Neuve Eglise to Ploegsteert. Here they took over a line of trenches close to the River Lys running from Le Bizet to Deulemont. On 21st October they moved to Messines and on the following day took over the line north of the River Douve. On 23rd October they were relieved and moved back to billets in Kemmel where they remained throughout the following day. According to records Albert Hutchinson was killed on 24th October when 11th Hussars were in these billets but it is much more likely that he was killed on an earlier date, but his death not recorded until later.