10 September was the last chance the BEF forward units had of catching the retreating Germans and by nightfall it was painfully obvious that this was not going to happen. An RFC reconnaissance report logged by Captains Robert Boger and Robin Grey from 5 Squadron on 9 September, confirmed long columns of von Kluck’s 5th Division moving northeast through Ocquerre but fresh orders from Joffre, which turned the direction of advance of the BEF and the French Fifth and Sixth Armies to the northeast, were too slow in materializing.25 Thus on the morning of Friday, 11 September, British divisions found themselves sharing overburdened roads, not only between themselves but with the French. The new direction had effectively narrowed the BEF frontage and an already overstretched staff now had to face the challenge of squeezing the army into their new positions. Cecil Brereton’s battery of six 18-pounder guns was not the only unit to feel the burden of Operational Order No. 21:

‘Roused at 3.00am but did not move until about 5.30am. How we wished the staff would take the trouble to work out time and space problems. Had a longish halt in the middle of the morning and then continued on our way along evil smelling roads till we were again blocked by the French near Dammard – our division and a French division were apparently allotted the same road.’²⁶

To make matters worse it began to rain heavily in the afternoon and as the long columns of British and French units dragged themselves slowly northeast, the German Army retired practically unhindered to the Aisne. Brereton was not alone in cursing the congestion on the roads, Lieutenant Alexander Johnston and 7 Infantry Brigade soon found themselves sharing the same road as 5 Infantry Brigade and it was not until they passed through Neuilly St Front that they finally got clear. Johnston’s diary continued to reflect the frustration he felt at the pace of the advance:

‘As I have feared, we have let the Germans get clear away with very little loss. Even though we may have got ahead of the other divisions on our right and left, and might have even risked getting an advanced guard knocked about, surely we should have harried the enemy as much as possible. I expect we shall find that the enemy will have been able to retire more or less unmolested on to a strong fortified position somewhere further north which will give us a great deal of trouble.’27

Little did he realize exactly how far his prophetic diary entry would reflect a future reality.

As the rain continued to pour it exacerbated the already poor state of the roads and the growing congestion which caused delay after frustrating delay and misery for the marching infantry. For Captain James Pennyman, the machine-gun officer with 2/KOSB, Saturday 12 September was,’ cold with incessant rain’, during which he spent ‘a wretched day listening to much gunning southeast of Soissons and wondering what was up.’ It was little different for the men of 16 Battery. It was raining when they got up at 3.30am and continued to rain for the remainder of the day. That evening after a difficult day, Reeve and his men managed to find dry billets somewhere near Brenelle:

‘The village square was in a state of chaos. Cavalry riding through on one side, transport held up on the other, and infantry trying to get along in the centre. Officers shouting orders and the answering back in the pitch darkness added to the confusion and to crown it all it was pouring down a deluge … after struggling through this mass and getting boots full of water we found a billet in a farmyard.’²⁸

Accordingly, on the evening of 12 September the only British units to reach the heights above the south bank of the Aisne were the vanguard of III Corps and a few isolated advanced cavalry patrols. North of the Aisne the German Army – having blown most of the bridges – consolidated its defensive positions on the high ground overlooking the river valley. Their geographical positions may have been formidable, but the gap between the German First and Second Armies which had opened up during the battle of the Marne remained and what’s more it was now positioned partly on the British line of advance.