Current Information:

Age-28

102, St Dunstans Road, Fulham

Vendresse British Cemetery, France

The Battle of the Aisne 13th September -28 September

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 20th September there was a general attack by the Germans on the Aisne front. 18 Brigade of 6th Division were on the extreme right of the British line and when the French troops next  to them fell back and the enemy occupied the trenches abandoned by them, the 1st West Yorkshire battalion came under heavy pressure. Under attack from their flank 1st West Yorkshire were driven from their own trenches and two of their companies were captured. 2nd Durham Light Infantry launched a counter-attack and the 1st East Yorkshire battalion left their trenches and advanced in support. However, on crossing a small ridge, they were hit by machine-gun fire and shrapnel, and were  forced back to their trenches where they were shelled for the rest of the day. 1st East Yorkshire  were still in these trenches on the next day, 21st September and still being shelled when George Cole was killed.