We understand the whole of the BEF is being relieved on the Aisne by the French, but we do not know our destination although rumours point Flanders way.
Captain James Jack, Scottish Rifles – on hearing of the move from the Aisne
As the last British units withdrew from the Aisne they left their legacy in the form of hastily dug trench lines. When the French territorials finally arrived to relieve the Grenadier Guards at Soupir on 12 October, Bernard Gordon Lennox remarked in his diary that the French poilus were too short to see over the parapet of the Guards trenches but felt that it would only be a temporary occupation before the line moved north again. How erroneous his assumption would prove to be.
The BEF had entered the Great War scarcely prepared for a major European conflict and unable to act as more than a subordinate partner to its French Allies. After the retreat from Mons and the reversal of fortune which was epitomized by the Battle of the Marne, the British arrival on the Aisne marked a distinct change in the nature of the fighting experienced in the western theatre up to that point. The sluggish advance of the BEF towards the Aisne impacted on the advance of the French armies to either side and thus allowed the German Army precious time to reinforce and dig in on the Chemin des Dames. Thus the high ground to the north of the Aisne valley witnessed the beginnings of a trench-based encounter which was largely dictated by the tactical nature of the fighting. On the Chemin des Dames the Germans found a position that they could defend effectively and in order to hold that vital ground they resorted to the spade. In response the Anglo-French armies which were attempting unsuccessfully to evict them with frontal assaults and outflanking movements found themselves digging positions which ran parallel to those of their adversaries. As that process replicated itself time and again in many localised actions, so the still embryonic lines of ‘trenches’ gradually snaked their way north and west as both sides attempted to get round the open western flank in the hope of ending the war with a final battle. The trench system which came to characterize and then symbolize the Western Front for generations to come was created by the weeks of flanking attacks which were forced upon both sides by the stultifying stalemate on the Aisne. The picturesque rolling hills and valleys of the Aisne had unwittingly given birth to positional warfare that would eventually create a 400 mile livid scar across a good deal of Western Europe.
Although neither side envisaged a war conducted from fixed positions, it was the Germans who had the advantage of a ready supply of equipment suitable for this troglodyte ‘trench warfare’. Barbed wire, spades, duckboards and trench mortars were readily available, resources which the British and French armies sadly lacked in sufficient quantities. The German artillery was distinctly more powerful and used to much greater effect than the inadequate artillery support offered by the Allied armies to their infantry units. The intensity and accuracy of the German guns, qualities which had taken the BEF’s GHQ by surprise, was undoubtedly another reason behind the issue of Operational Order No. 27 from Sir John French on 16 September, instructing his divisions to dig in and hold their positions against German attacks. Sir John was correct in thinking that trenches enabled both sides to hold ground and protect themselves against shell fire but with no subsequent orders being issued until 1 October – marking the beginning of the BEF’s withdrawal from the Aisne – the British were left without direction from their commander-in-chief. It was in those two vital weeks, when the humble spade became the most sought after weapon in the valley, that trench warfare can be said to have become a reality.
If the Aisne gave birth to the Western Front it also marked the ascendancy of heavy artillery as a major weapon of modern warfare. Faced with the demoralizing and destructive capability of the German heavy batteries, the BEF was forced to re-examine its strategic use of artillery. For the first time in the Great War, fire plans which focussed the fire of British batteries on to a single target or area were used on the Aisne, alongside the all important wireless liaison between aircraft and artillery batteries which would become an essential feature of air/artillery co-operation in the years to come.
The reader will recall General Joffre’s intention of enveloping the German right flank which was bent back near Noyon south of the Oise River in order to break the deadlock on the Aisne and resume the offensive. These plans were hardly a secret and had certainly not gone unnoticed by the German High Command whose purpose was to carry out the same manoeuvre on the French left flank. This was the so called ‘race to the sea’, a race which neither side wished to win as victory would constitute a failure to turn the other’s flank. On 17 September – with orders to outflank the German right – Maunoury’s Sixth Army, which had been reinforced by the French XIII Corps, clashed with the Germans at Carlepont. The attack failed leaving Joffre to try again on the Second Army front north of the River Avre nine days later. This time there was a partial gain as the French left wing reached Péronne but a reinforced German II Corps managed to hold the right of de Castelnau’s forces. The hold on Péronne was short-lived as on the 26th de Castelnau was pushed back across the River Somme.
By 25 September the German High Command was becoming impatient and ordered their First, Second and Third Armies to take the offensive to hold the British and French on the Aisne in order to prevent the movement of reinforcements to the Somme, thus enabling the German offensive in the north to reach Amiens and the channel coast – hence the German attacks of 25 September. The ‘race’ was well and truly on but it is not within the scope of this book to describe the sidestepping scramble of the French and German armies which culminated in the First Battle of Ypres in October and November 1914. Suffice to say that by 9 October the battle lines had been extended from the Aisne to within 30 miles of Dunkirk, by which time the first units of the BEF had already left their positions on the Aisne and were moving towards Flanders where the final battles of 1914 would be fought.
The first units of the BEF to move were from Allenby’s cavalry and Smith-Dorrien’s II Corps. Joffre had agreed to the transfer of the BEF to Flanders – particularly as the 7th Division and the 3rd Cavalry Division were about to be landed at Ostend. It must be said that the move was carried out extremely well with all movements carefully concealed. Battalions were moved under the cover of darkness and their places taken by French troops, by 9 October II Corps was advancing towards Béthune and III Corps was moving on Armentières and Bailleul. The evacuation was completed by 15 October and four days later Douglas Haig and I Corps arrived at Hazebrouck.
The British battle casualties sustained during the Aisne fighting has been put at approximately 560 officers and 12,000 other ranks, an attrition rate of experienced officers and NCOs the BEF could ill afford to lose.301 The high proportion of officer casualties had much to do with the great emphasis that was placed on personal bravery. Officers were expected to lead from the front thus setting an example to the men and the alarming numbers of officers who were killed or wounded bears testament to this mindset. However, the lessons learnt in the South African War – where officers were particularly targeted by the Boer snipers – appear to have been either forgotten or ignored. The practice during the South African war of officers and men being indistinguishable through their battlefield dress and armament was not evident on the Aisne. The Northamptonshire subaltern, Lieutenant Jack Needham’s attire was typical of officers going into battle; he writes of carrying his sword when leading his men, which – together with his distinctive officer’s uniform – would have made him a highly visible target to enemy riflemen. Such practices, combined with undoubted bravery, ultimately led to great swathes being cut through the officer corps and it was a trend which would be maintained after the move north.
As the men who fought on the Aisne moved north with their respective units, very few would have contemplated a future featuring a war that would drag on for another four years. For many of those who were now heading north to Flanders – in the vain hope of finding the open flank – their life expectancy would be measured in days or weeks.
If Sir John French had been concerned by the casualties inflicted on the BEF on the Aisne, what followed at Ypres provided a shocking induction of what was to come as trench warfare became established. Amongst those whose accounts appear in this book and who lost their lives during the savage fighting which has gone down in history as ‘First Ypres’ was Major Lord Bernard Gordon Lennox of 2/Grenadier Guards, along with his regimental colleague Captain Cholmeley Symes Thompson who were both killed within a week of each other near Zillebeke in November and are buried with their comrades in the tiny Zillebeke Churchyard Cemetery. Charles Paterson, the adjutant of 1/ who was mentioned in despatches in September only survived another month. Promoted to captain in October, he was badly wounded at Geluvnelt and died of his wounds on 1 November 1914 and now rests at Ypres Town Cemetery. Two commanding officers who led their battalions on the Aisne are commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial: Malcolm Green of the South Lancashire Regiment was killed on 17 November and Hugh Crispin’s name is also there inscribed. Crispin – killed on 30 October during the heavy fighting south of the Menin Road near Ypres – had taken command of 2/Royal Sussex after Ernest Montresor was killed on the Chemin des Dames. (Six days after Ernest Montresor’s death, his son-in-law, 24-year-old Lieutenant Geoffrey Russell Fenton, was killed in action whilst serving with 2/Connaught Rangers.)
The rate of attrition amongst battalion commanding officers in the first weeks of the Great War was staggeringly high. By the time the BEF arrived on the southern heights above the Aisne Valley in September 1914, six commanding officers had been killed in action or had died of wounds, five had been taken prisoner and one had been wounded. The Aisne campaign saw a further five commanding officers killed in action and six wounded and of the commanding officers who led their battalions to Flanders in October, a further seven would not survive beyond 1914. Lieutenant William Synge’s commanding officer, 45-year-old Lieutenant Colonel William Bannatyne was killed near Polygon Wood at Ypres on 24 October. Also killed at Ypres was Lieutenant Colonel Norman McMahon DSO who commanded 4/Royal Fusiliers. He was killed on 11 November the day before he was due to take command of a brigade. He is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial. Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Alexander, 3/Rifle Brigade, died of wounds on 20 December and is buried at Bailleul Communal Cemetery and Major Edward Daniel, who commanded 2/Royal Irish, was killed in action at Le Pilly on 20 October and has his name on the Le Touret Memorial.
1915 saw the death of 23-year-old Lieutenant Robert Flint DSO, the RE officer who worked with Johnston ferrying men across the river at Missy. Mentioned in despatches he was killed near Kemmel on 12 January and is buried at Dranouter Churchyard Cemetery. Major John Leslie Mowbray DSO the Brigade Major to the 2nd Division CRA was killed on 21 July 1916 whilst in command of a battery of XLI Brigade guns. His headstone can be found at Péronne Road Cemetery, Maricourt. Almost a year later Mowbray’s nephew, 21-year-old Lieutenant Maurice Mowbray MC was killed on 23 August 1917, serving with 89/Field Company. Major Wilfred Ellershaw, the battery commander of 113/Battery attained the rank of brigadier general before his death on 5 June 1916 aboard HMS Hampshire, an occasion which also marked the death of Lord Kitchener. Ellershaw’s name is on the Hollybrook Memorial at Southampton as is that of Horatio Herbert Kitchener.
A particularly tragic story is that of the three boys of the Meautys family. Lieutenant Thomas Meautys was killed with the West Yorkshires on 20 September which must have been heartbreaking for his wife Nora and parents Thomas and Ellen Meautys. His younger brother, 19-year-old Lieutenant Denzil Hatfield Meautys, died of wounds on 7 May 1917 and a month later tragedy struck again in June 1917 when the eldest brother, Captain Paul Dashwood Meautys was killed. Denzil is buries at Etaples Military Cemetery and Paul at London Cemetery, Neuville-Vitasse, near Arras.
Major Charles ‘Bertie’ Prowse DSO who commanded the Somerset Light Infantry rose to command 11 Brigade in 1916 but was killed on 1 July of that year on the Somme. He was mentioned in despatches four times and is buried at Louvencourt Military Cemetery near Doullens. Lieutenant Geoffrey Prideaux who served with Prowse was promoted to captain soon after leaving the Aisne and was killed on 19 January 1917 having been promoted brigade major to 11 Brigade. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 and now rests at Hem Farm Military Cemetery, near Albert on the Somme.
Amongst those who survived the war was George Jeffreys who fought with the 2/Grenadier Guards at Soupir Farm. After realizing his ambition of commanding the battalion he was appointed brigadier general in command of the Guards Brigade in 1917 and by the end of the war he was commanding the 19th Division. After the Armistice he became member of parliament for Petersfield and was created a Baron in 1952. He died, aged 82, in 1960. Captain Guy Ward who fought with the South Wales Borderers ended his war as a lieutenant colonel with a DSO and died in March 1933 aged 58. He is buried at Brookwood Cemetery.
There was an understandable tendency amongst senior officers to promote the careers of those infantry commanders who had demonstrated personal bravery and an offensive spirit. One such commander was Edward Bulfin, the commander of 2 Brigade. Bulfin’s attack on 14 September 1914 was pressed home in his usual determined manner and his performance during the First Battle of Ypres followed a similar pattern. His dogged determination and clear qualities of command resulted in his promotion in October. In 1916 he was commanding the 60th Division on the Vimy sector and in 1917 he was promoted to lieutenant general in command of XXI Corps in Palestine. Bulfin retired in 1926 and died at home in Bournemouth in 1939.
John Ponsonby DSO, who was wounded at Cerny, was initially promoted to command 2 Guards Brigade and then the 5th Division which he led until the end of the war. He retired as Major General Sir John Ponsonby in 1928 and died in 1952. Brigadier Aylmer Haldane went on to command the 3rd Division and in 1916 was appointed to command VI Army Corps. After the war he became General Officer Commanding Mesopotamia and retired in 1925. He died aged 88 in 1950 and is buried at Brookwood Cemetery. Haldane wrote several books, one of which was an account of his escape from captivity during the Boer War in How We Escaped from Pretoria. Brigadier General Gleichen continued to command his brigade until March 1915. Subsequently, as a major general, he commanded the 37th Division until October 1916. He was then appointed Director of the Political Intelligence Bureau of the recently established Department of Information, of which his close friend, the author John Buchan, was a deputy director. Gleichen held this post for the rest of the war. He retired from the army in 1919 and died in December 1937.
Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Wolfe-Murray who commanded 2/Highland Light Infantry became a brigadier general and died at home on 7 December 1918. He is buried at Eddlestone parish churchyard in Scotland. John Longley who commanded 1/East Surrey Regiment so ably on the Chivres Spur was appointed a brigadier general in 1915 and shortly afterwards command of the 10th Irish Division followed. Mentioned in despatches on ten occasions, he retired as Sir John Longley in 1923. During the Second World War he served in the Dover garrison and died in 1953. He is remembered with a stained glass window in the chapel of the Church of All Saints at Kingston-on-Thames. Brigadier General Aylmer Hunter-Weston also went on to greater glory but of all the brigade commanders who fought on the Aisne his subsequent career has probably suffered the most from a bad press. His command of 29th Division at Gallipoli has been rather unfairly described by John Laffin as verging on the wilfully negligent which is slightly less offensive than another remark which accused him of being one of the most brutal and incompetent commanders of the First World War. Hunter-Weston returned from Gallipoli to an October 1916 parliamentary by-election in which he was elected to the House of Commons as the Unionist Member for North Ayshire. He was appointed GOC VIII Corps when it was re-established in France in 1916 and commanded the corps during the Somme offensive. On 1 July 1916 his divisions attacked in the northern sector of the battlefield and failed to capture any of their objectives. Again his leadership and artillery fire plan was called into question. Hunter-Weston continued in politics after the war being elected again for Bute and North Ayrshire in 1918. He resigned from the army in 1919 with a knighthood, and from parliament in 1935. This complex and single-minded individual of whom history has been generous in its criticism, died in 1940 following a fall at his ancestral home in Hunterston.
Edward Northey, the commanding officer of 2/KRRC, had a far less chequered career. He was in command of 15 Brigade by 1915 but was wounded during the Second Battle of Ypres. On his return he was sent to East Africa to command the Nyasa-Rhodesian Field force. He was knighted and promoted to major general in 1918 and two years later became governor of British East Africa – the modern day Kenya. He also died in 1953. Francis Towsey the commanding officer of 1/West Yorkshires who was wounded on 20 September, regained the confidence of Sir Douglas Haig and after two successful temporary appointments to brigade command was appointed to command 122 Brigade which he led during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. He died aged 83 in May 1948. Major Christopher Griffin who led the Lancashire Fusiliers was wounded four times during the Great War and died in 1957 having retired as a brigadier general with the DSO and bar.
For many others surviving the war intact was reward enough. Lieutenant Arthur Griffith, the gunner subaltern who won a DSO with his 71/Battery guns at Cour de Soupir Farm, retired as a major. He was wounded at Cour de Soupir Farm and again on two other occasions. In addition to his DSO he was mentioned in despatches four times. He died aged 46 in hospital after an operation. Lieutenant William Synge who fought with the King’s Liverpool regiment retired as a captain and apart from writing up his experiences of the Great War, he put pen to paper again in 1926 with the publication of The Story of the World at War and in 1952 wrote The Story of the Green Howards 1939–45. He died in 1968 aged 72. Another officer who turned to writing was Lieutenant Arthur Mills. Mills came from a family of authors, his brother George was the author of Meredith and Co and King Willow whilst his father, Arthur, wrote India in 1858 which is still in print! Promoted to captain, Mills was wounded at La Bassée and during his convalescence in 1916 wrote With My Regiment: From the Aisne to La Bassée and Hospital Days. At his wedding to Lady Dorothy Walpole in 1916, her wedding ring was reputed to have been made from a bullet which had been removed from his ankle. Mills eventually became known as an author of cheap crime and adventure novels.
The Eton-educated Lieutenant Evelyn Jack Needham of the Northamptonshire Regiment was mentioned in despatches for his work on the Chemin des Dames on 14 September. He retired with the rank of major having spent the final period of the war in the RFC and wrote The First Three Months – The Impressions of an Amateur Infantry Subaltern in 1936. His brother Robert also served in the same regiment but was taken prisoner later in the war, Evelyn died in 1956 aged 68 and his brother – who remained unmarried – twelve years later in 1968.
Christopher Baker-Carr the volunteer driver with the Royal Automobile Club also recorded his story in print after the war and wrote From Chauffeur to Brigadier in 1930. The former Rifle Brigade officer was soon brought back into service and after establishing the Machine Gun School at St Omer he laid the foundations for the formation of the Machine Gun Corps. By 1916 he was in command of a battalion of tanks and a year later was appointed a brigadier general in command of the first brigade of tanks. Awarded the DSO in 1916 he survived the war and died near Norwich in January 1949. Cranley Onslow’s brief appearance on the Aisne with the Bedfordshires led to a period of recuperation before he was back in France in January 1915 commanding the 2nd Battalion. Awarded the DSO and a CMG in the King’s Birthday Honours list of 1915, he was wounded again at the Battle of Loos. He was back again in January 1916 commanding the 1st Battalion, finally being promoted to full lieutenant colonel in February. At the Battle of Messines he commanded 7 Brigade. Brigadier General Onslow was mentioned in despatches three times and died in December 1940. Tragically his son Captain Geoffrey Onslow was killed on 1 June 1940 at Dunkirk.
The irrepressible Lieutenant James Hyndson who had played cricket for England and Surrey before the war, was promoted to captain in March 1915 and survived the war to write his experiences of serving with the Loyal North Lancs in From Mons to the First Battle of Ypres which was published in 1932. Sadly he died three years later in February 1935 aged only 42. Another cricketer was Lieutenant Hon Lionel Tennyson who was captain of the Hampshire side from 1919–1932. He succeeded his father to the title of Lord Tennyson in 1928 having retired from the army with the rank of major. He was wounded on three occasions and mentioned in despatches twice. In 1933 he published his autobiography From Verse to Worse. He died in 1951 aged 61. The title went to his son Mark Aubrey Tennyson.
Gerald Whittuck of the Somerset Light Infantry rose to become brigade major of 129 Brigade in 1918 and finished the war as a major. He was described as a, ‘capable officer, with a sangfroid that nothing could disturb’, an accolade earned in May 1918 when he once again found himself on the Aisne. He remained in the army and served in the Second World War as a brigadier general.
Lieutenant Gerald Lowry who served with the Royal Irish Rifles was shot in the head and blinded on 25 October 1914. Promoted to captain two days after he was wounded he was taken off the active list and placed on half pay in 1915. In 1925 he qualified as an osteopath and wrote of his experiences in From Mons to 1933. John Lucy who served with Lowry as a corporal in the Irish Rifles was commissioned shortly afterwards and rose to become a lieutenant colonel. Lucy’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Wilkinson Bird was less fortunate, he was badly wounded on the Aisne resulting in the loss of a leg, a misfortune shared by Major Tom Bridges who had a leg amputated in 1917 when commanding the 19th Division at Ypres. Whereas Wilkinson Bird was content to retire, Bridges was clearly not. In 1922 Lieutenant General Sir George Tom Molesworth Bridges was appointed governor of South Australia, a position he held until 1927. Bridges died in November 1939 but not before he had written several books including his autobiography Alarms and Excursions. Young Ben Clouting who followed Bridges up the hill at Paissy on 20 September also survived the war and lived to the ripe old age of 93, finally passing away in August 1990.
Alexander Johnston, the 7 Brigade signalling officer, eventually rose through the ranks to command 10/Cheshires in August 1916, a year later he was promoted again and appointed to command 126 Infantry Brigade but within days of taking up his new post he was badly wounded. He finished his war having been mentioned in despatches five times and with a DSO and bar. A first-class county cricketer before the war, Johnston’s legacy of the Great War was a permanent limp; nevertheless he continued to play cricket after the war until 1933. He died in December 1952. Lieutenant Arthur Acland, the adjutant of 1/DCLI, also rose to battalion command but had to wait until 1934 before he was appointed. Prior to that he was mentioned in despatches seven times and won a Military Cross and the DSO. He was appointed lieutenant general in 1941, retiring from the army a year later. He died in 1980.
Jock Marden after being wounded near Paissy on 20 September, was back with the regiment on 30 October in time to take part in the last attempt by Allenby’s cavalry to hold the Messines Ridge. Wounded again in the head on 19 November he was invalided to England where he remained for the rest of the war. Invalided out of the army at the end of hostilities, Marden turned his attention to skiing, winning the British Championship in 1926. Two years later in 1928 he died attempting to make the first winter ski ascent of Mount Aconcagua in South America which, at 6,962 metres, is the highest mountain beyond the Himalyas. He is buried in the small Climber’s Cemetery at Punte del Inca.
Others were content to forget the war years as much as they could and, barring Second World War service, attempted to settle down to a more normal existence. Lieutenant Cecil Brereton, the gunner subaltern who served with 68 Battery, retired as a major and died on his 65th Birthday in October 1953, whilst Jack Hay continued to serve as a dispatch rider until 1917 when he joined the RFC as an observer. He saw service in the Second World War as a squadron leader, retiring with the rank of wing commander in 1946. Hay died in 1978. Sergeant Reeve ended his war as BQMS in 315 Brigade RFA, Sergeant Bradlaugh Sanderson of the KRRC was wounded at Ypres and after leaving the British Red Cross hospital at Hale near Altrincham he arrived home at Holmfirth on sick leave early in 1915. His diary was first published in the Holmfirth Express. Corporal Cuthbert Avis who fought with the Queen’s on the Chemin des Dames returned to the battalion after recovering from his wounds, was promoted to sergeant and discharged in 1921. Another diarist, Sergeant John McIlwain of the Connaught Rangers ended his war with the rank of colour sergeant having been awarded the French Médaille Militaire which was gazetted in August 1918. He was wounded at Ypres in November 1914 and later served with the 5th Battalion on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915.
Of the seven Victoria Cross winners, three were later killed in action and four went on to survive the war. Apart from Captain Harry Ranken who is buried in Braine Communal Cemetery, Captain William Johnston was killed by a sniper on 8 June 1915 south of Ypres and is buried at Perth Cemetery (China Wall) and Ernest Horlock was drowned on 30 December 1917 when the SS Aragon was sunk 10 miles off Alexandria. Battery Sergeant Major Horlock – as he was then – was one of the 610 on board who were drowned. He is buried at Alexandria War Memorial Cemetery. As for the survivors, if we exclude William Fuller who was discharged in 1915 as unfit for further service and lived until he was 90, the other VC recipients did not fare so well. Ross Tollerton was promoted to sergeant and after the war became the janitor at Bank Street School, Irvine. He died in May 1931 aged 41. The man whose life he saved, James Matheson also died a young man in February 1933. George Wilson died of tuberculosis in Craigleigh Hospital, Edinburgh, in April 1926 aged only 39 and eight years later, William Dobson, the Coldstream guardsman, who won his cross near Cour de Soupir Farm, died aged 49. He is buried at Ryton Cemetery, County Durham.
Lieutenant Cyril Martin, the RE officer who first inspected the bridge at Vailly won the Victoria Cross at Spanbroekmolen in 1915 when he volunteered to lead a bombing party, despite being wounded before he started; he continued the attack and held a section of enemy trench for two and a half hours until ordered to retire. He later achieved the rank of brigadier general serving in the Second World War as Chief Engineer in Iraq. He died in August 1980. Kenneth Godsell the young RE officer who took such delight in watching Brigadier Gleichen’s horse swimming the river won a DSO and MC and survived the war as did Jim Pennyman, the KOSB officer who was badly wounded at Missy. Bernard Young of 9/Field Company, who wrote so descriptively of his experiences and spent most of his time on the Aisne building and repairing bridges, was another survivor and eventually, after an illustrious career spanning two world wars, retired as a major general and died in 1969.
Sadly the two RFC pilots who worked so hard to introduce the use of wireless transmission from the air did not survive. Both men remained with the RFC and continued their work in developing wireless, Captain Baron Trevenen James MC was killed on 13 July 1915 during a solo test flight over enemy lines in an aircraft from 6 Squadron and Lieutenant Colonel Donald Swain Lewis DSO was killed on 10 April 1916 by the very guns which he had been spotting for – a tragic case of ‘friendly fire’. Lewis is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery and James is commemorated on the Arras Flying Service Memorial. Sergeant Major Victor Laws who was attached to the ‘Pom-Pom’ unit at Bucy-le-Long, returned to 3 Squadron and began a long career developing air photography. After serving in both world wars, he retired in 1946 with the rank of group captain and died in 1975. Kenlis Atkinson returned to the RFA and won a Military Cross in September 1918 near Cambrai whilst in command of a battery of CLXXVII Brigade guns. William Read remained in the RFC becoming commanding officer of both 45 and 216 Squadrons. He won an MC in 1916 and the new award of the DFC was made in 1919 and a year later he was awarded the Air Force Cross and bar. James McCudden, the young mechanic who flew with Baron James, became one of the most celebrated air aces of the war. He was killed on 9 July 1918 whilst in command of 60 Squadron. On his death, aged 23, he had accounted for fifty-four enemy aircraft and had been awarded the Military Medal, Military Cross and bar, DSO and bar and in March 1918 was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Captain Henry Jackson returned to the ground in 1915 and a year later was commanding 8/Bedfords, he finished his war as a major general in command of 50th Division where he found himself once again on the Aisne in May 1918, this time facing the German Blücher-Yorck offensive. He was awarded the DSO and mentioned in despatches on eight occasions. Sir Henry Jackson died in 1972 having reached the grand old age of 93. Captain Hubert Rees, a company commander with 2/Welch, was another officer who would return to the Aisne in 1918, this time in command of 150 Brigade and serving under Henry Jackson in the 50th Division. On the opening day of the Blücher-Yorck offensive 150 Brigade was surrounded giving Rees little alternative but to surrender. Before he was transferred to Germany and captivity he was taken to meet the Kaiser on the Craonne plateau, a meeting during which the Kaiser was said to have been amused that Rees was Welsh – the same nationality as Lloyd George. Rees died in 1948.
Captain Arthur Osburn, the medical officer attached to 4/Dragoon Guards, won a DSO and retired from the RAMC as a lieutenant colonel. He wrote of his experiences in Unwilling Passenger and died in 1952 aged 75. Gerard Kempthorne was eventually repatriated in 1915 as was Captain Robert Dolbey who was captured near La Bassée with the KOSB in October 1914. Dolbey also wrote a book describing his time on the Aisne and his subsequent captivity, A Regimental Surgeon in War and Prison was published in 1917. Bertie Ratcliffe the West Yorkshire officer who was captured on 20 September and later escaped from the train near Crefeld, was awarded the Military Cross and apparently had tea with the king who wanted to hear of his escapades. Private John Cooper was not invited to tea neither was Sergeant Edward Facer but both men received the Military Medal in 1920 in recognition of their successful escape.
Sir John French who commanded the BEF on the Aisne continued clinging to command until the failures at Aubers Ridge, Festubert and Loos forced Lord Kitchener to replace him with Sir Douglas Haig in December 1915. Ideally this should have taken place before the BEF moved to Flanders. Sadly for General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien 1915 was not a good year either. The tensions between him and Sir John came to a head after Smith-Dorrien advocated a tactical withdrawal in April 1915 to consolidate the front line at Ypres. Sir John was still bearing a grudge over Le Cateau and used Smith-Dorrien’s suggestion of a withdrawal to remove him, accusing him of having a pessimistic outlook. To add insult to injury, several days later Sir John accepted the advice of General Herbert Plumer – Smith-Dorrien’s replacement – to perform a withdrawal almost identical to the one which Smith-Dorrien had recommended. Smith-Dorrien died in August 1939 following a car accident.
If there is a final line which can be drawn under the Aisne campaign of 1914 it is perhaps contained in the words of Frederick Coleman, the RAC volunteer driver as he headed towards Flanders with 2 Cavalry Brigade: ‘The Aisne we had reached with such sanguine hopes twenty-one days before was still the high water mark of our advance’.