The British leave the Aisne front

On 3 October 1914, according to the British chronology of the war, the British Expeditionary Force began to leave its positions on the Aisne and move north. This date was given as the start of the operation by the force’s commander, Field Marshal John French, in his dispatch. The British official history puts it slightly earlier: the first units withdrew from the front line as early as the night of 1–2 October.

Back to the left wing

Since mid-September the British had been stuck in the trenches on the Aisne, where the battle had ended without a decision. Meanwhile the front was moving further and further north, as both sides tried to outflank each other in the race to the sea. At the end of September French proposed to the commander-in-chief of the French army, General Joseph Joffre, that the British be moved back to the left wing of the front, closer to the coast.

There were many arguments for it. Supply lines from Britain would be greatly shortened, and reinforcements could reach the front quickly and discreetly. More British units were to land in northern France and Belgium, so it made sense for the whole army to operate together. Above all, however, the British cared about defending Antwerp and the Channel ports, such as Calais and Boulogne. From them the Germans could threaten the transport of troops across the Channel.

Joffre had doubts. The transfer would take many days, during which the British army would be split. The British transports would also have to cross the French lines of communication and, for several days, by some estimates as many as ten, block the movement of French troops to the north. Even so, Joffre agreed.

By night and in secret

The first to move was the II Corps of General Horace Smith-Dorrien. Its sector was taken over by the neighbouring British corps: I Corps extended its line to Vailly, and III Corps to Missy. After a day of rest, during which the soldiers at last received blankets and greatcoats, the whole of II Corps marched west during the night of 3–4 October to the railway stations at Compiègne and nearby. Two cavalry divisions set off by road during the nights of 2–3 and 3–4 October.

The move was carefully concealed. Units marched only at night, and by day the soldiers were not allowed to leave their billets, so that German aircraft would not spot them. The ruse worked. As late as 3 October the British intercepted a German wireless report according to which all six British divisions were still on the Aisne.

The other corps

During the night of 6–7 October III Corps handed its trenches over to the French and a day later also set off for Compiègne. The last to remain on the Aisne was the I Corps of General Douglas Haig, which left the front line only during the night of 12–13 October.

II Corps detrained in the Abbeville area on 8 and 9 October. On 8 October French’s headquarters moved from Fère-en-Tardenois to Abbeville, and a few days later to Saint-Omer. III Corps arrived in the Saint-Omer and Hazebrouck area from 10–11 October, and I Corps finished detraining only on 19 October. The British were to go into action to the left of the French Tenth Army, between La Bassée and Flanders, where the race to the sea was approaching its final stage.