"The Race to the Sea"

The III Corps added to the BEF in time for the First Battle of Ypres included Indian Army units like this Sikh Regiment.

While I have been on holiday the anniversary of the Battle of the Marne, which some regard as a pivotal battle in 20th century history, took place. The Germans who had already swung east of Paris, were over-extended and retreated, but only back the Aisne River. At the same time, the surprisingly fast deployment of Russian armies in East Prussia was stopped at the devastating Battle of Tannenberg. So the Russians were stopped for the time being but the Schlieffen Plan to beat France quickly had failed.

In late September and October a series of battles, later known erroneously as the "Race to the Sea", happened in Northern France as both sides tried to outflank the other. These battles were vast in scale and are only forgotten now because they were fought in places that were to become associated with much vaster battles later in the war—places who's names came to symbolize the horror of the Western Front: the Somme, Arras, Ypres.

The British Expeditionary Force had fought at Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne and the Aisne. The survivors of the original two army Corps had been reorganized and reinforced by a third Corps. A line of opposing trenches was forming. The French held south from Lens and Arras, the Belgians the stretch of their own country near the coast. The BEF was rushed north to fill the gap between, so did the Germans They met in mid-October 1914 in Flanders in the First Battle of Ypres. The main battle lasted from October 20 to November 22 and cost a total of around 200,000 casualties, among which were the heart of the pre-war British regular army.

Stay tuned, I'll look at this battle in more detail when the time comes.