Current Information:

Born-Aldgate

Bois-Grenier Communal Cemetery, France

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 19^th 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 Armentières  12th October-2nd November 1914

The official History pinpoints the battle of Armentières to a series of battles that took place between the river Douve and a line between Estaires and Foumers. It was part of the Race to the Sea and it determined the line of the Western Front in that sector. It was fought by III Corps which consisted of 4th and 6th Divisions as well as 19 Brigade.

On 13th October, 1914, the 1st East Kent (Buffs) battalion of 16 Brigade, 6th Division arrived at Cassel, after their journey northward from the Aisne and on 18th October they moved forward from their reserve position near Bois Grenier with orders to capture Radinghem beyond which there was a fairly high ridge or plateau on which stood the Chateau de Flandres with a wood screening the house from the village.  1st Buffs advanced through Radinghem, seized the ridge and after severe hand to hand fighting took the chateau.  This they had to abandon when enemy reinforcements arrived but they clung to the edge of the wood where a company of the 2nd York & Lancaster battalion, also of 16 Brigade, helped enormously by working round and taking the enemy in the flank. A German counter attack was seen off and then orders arrived to hand over Radinghem to some of the French cavalry but as only 130 of them arrived  the 1st Buffs and 2nd York & Lancaster consolidated on the south edge of village for the night. Ernest Bare died from wounds on the following day, 19th October, and it is likely that he was wounded during this operation.