The British retake Armentières

On 17 October 1914 British troops entered Armentières, an industrial town on the river Leie (French: Lys), close to the Belgian border. The Germans, who had taken it a week earlier, withdrew in haste, leaving behind only small groups of soldiers who fired from the houses. For the British III Corps of General William Pulteney this was one of the last successes of the advance that had begun four days earlier at Meteren and had brought it through Bailleul to the Lys.

The crossing and the entry into the town

In the previous days III Corps had seized the bridges over the Lys between Sailly and Pont de Nieppe. On 17 October at 7.30 a.m. both its divisions moved on eastwards. The 6th Division, on the right flank, met almost no resistance, as the Germans were falling back before it. At noon it was ordered to take up a position from Rouge de Bout through Bois-Grenier to Chapelle-d’Armentières, south and south-east of the town.

Armentières itself was entered by the 10th Brigade of the 4th Division, commanded by General Aylmer Haldane. It crossed the Lys at Erquinghem and entered the town, which was full of French refugees from Lille. According to local sources, one of the first units was the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers. The British official history describes Armentières as a modern factory town with wide streets, from which the Germans had evidently fled in panic. The British drove out the small groups of riflemen they had left behind without much difficulty. The advance guard passed through the town and moved north-east to Houplines. There the Germans held out in a farmstead until late at night, when it was taken by storm.

In the evening the 10th Brigade stood in Armentières and Houplines, and the 12th Brigade occupied a line on the left bank of the Lys as far as Le Gheer, in front of Ploegsteert Wood. The soldiers dug trenches and machine-gun positions, and the bridge at Houplines was repaired. The headquarters of the 4th Division settled in nearby Nieppe, where it was to remain throughout the winter.

German infantry

The prisoners taken in and around Armentières belonged not only to the German cavalry but also to the infantry of the Saxon XIX Corps and the Württemberg XIII Corps. The British had arrived at the moment when the infantry was taking over the front from the cavalry. For the staff of III Corps this was a sign that the easy progress was coming to an end. On the low Pérenchies ridge, a few kilometres east of the town, the Germans were already beginning to dig in, barring the way to Lille.

A week of occupation

According to local historians, the Germans occupied Armentières on 10 October, although some sources give 9 October. For several days they imposed levies on the town and carried out requisitions, which went on until the very day they left. After the Germans’ departure the inhabitants found themselves on the British side of the front, which settled only a few kilometres from the town. From then on Armentières was constantly shelled, and British units were billeted in the town. British soldiers made it famous with the song “Mademoiselle from Armentières”, sung in the trenches throughout the war. The Germans returned to the town only in April 1918, during the offensive on the Lys.