British occupy Bailleul
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Western Front
- Date:
- 14 October 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
- Battle:
- Battle of Armentières
On 14 October 1914 British troops entered Bailleul, a town in French Flanders right by the Belgian border. The German cavalry, which had taken it a few days earlier, withdrew without a fight after losing the action at Meteren.
The Germans leave
After a day of fighting on 13 October, General William Pulteney’s British III Corps intended to attack the hills around Bailleul the next morning, where it expected strong resistance. On 14 October it rained from the morning and a thick mist hung over the ground, so aircraft could not take off. Only after some time did patrols establish that during the night the Germans had abandoned not only Meteren but also Bailleul, and had withdrawn behind the river Lys. In the town they left 85 seriously wounded soldiers. According to the doctors who stayed with them, they had taken several hundred other wounded with them.
The British divisions did not move until the afternoon, in pouring rain, held up by German rearguards with machine guns. At about 4 p.m. the 19th Brigade entered Bailleul and took up positions south-east of the town, on the road to Armentières. By evening the 4th Division stood in the town and on the hills east of it. Local sources differ about the time the British entered. Some speak of the morning of 14 October, others give 15 October at 9 a.m. It is possible that the main British forces did not enter the town centre until the following day.
A few days of occupation
The German cavalry had entered Bailleul on the afternoon of 8 October. According to local historians, that same night soldiers looted houses and shops, and inhabitants fell victim to violence. The Germans took the mayor, Frédéric Moeneclaey, his deputy and two councillors as hostages to prevent resistance by the inhabitants, and then demanded a levy from the town. The German command set up its headquarters in the Hôtel du Faucon, and an observation post was installed in the church tower.
A British rear base
After the Germans left, Bailleul became for several years one of the most important centres of the British army behind the front at Ypres. It housed headquarters and depots, and there were airfields nearby. Schools, the hospital and other public buildings were turned into military hospitals, and the town, as one local historian wrote, became one great hospital. The inhabitants grew used to soldiers in khaki, and even to fox hunts organised by British officers. The calm ended in April 1918. During the German offensive on the Lys the town came under heavy shellfire and was then taken by the Germans. Most of the inhabitants fled, and Bailleul was left in ruins.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
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Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 13 October 1914 · Western FrontBattle of Armentières beginsOn 13 October 1914 the British III Corps attacked the Germans at Meteren in Flanders. After a day's fighting in rain it took the village, losing over 700 men.
- 17 October 1914 · Western FrontThe British retake ArmentièresOn 17 October 1914 the British III Corps entered Armentières, hastily abandoned by the Germans. The town remained in Allied hands until 1918.
- 12 October 1914 · Western FrontBattle of Messines beginsOn 12 October 1914 Allenby's British cavalry took the Mont des Cats in Flanders. The battle for the Messines ridge south of Ypres had begun.
- 11 October 1914 · Western FrontThe British retake MervilleThe British chronology records the recapture of Merville on 11 October 1914. The British 1st Cavalry Division took the Lys town, linking up with the French.