French retake Soissons and Amiens

The British chronology of the war records that on 13 September 1914 French troops reoccupied Soissons and Amiens. The Germans had taken both cities at the turn of August and September, during their march on Paris, and left them after their defeat on the Marne. Their occupation lasted less than two weeks.

Soissons

The Germans entered Soissons on 1–2 September. After the Battle of the Marne the troops of the German First Army withdrew to the north bank of the Aisne and occupied the heights overlooking the city. On 12 September units of the French Sixth Army, including African troops, entered Soissons, supported by the fire of British artillery. Some sources state that the last German units left the city only on 13 September, and the British chronology adopted that date.

Liberation did not bring the city peace. The Germans dug in on the heights on the other side of the river, only a few kilometres from the centre, and Soissons became a front-line city, shelled by German artillery. In January 1915 the French tried to push the enemy away from the city. The Battle of Crouy, fought on 8–14 January, began with a French success, but a German counter-attack drove the French back across the Aisne. The defeat, called in France “the Soissons affair”, raised fears of a new German march on Paris. The city itself, however, remained in French hands.

Amiens

Units of Kluck’s army entered Amiens without a fight on 31 August, the capital of the Somme department. The Germans took hostages from among the town council and imposed heavy requisitions on the city. The main forces quickly moved on south, leaving a small garrison in the city. After the defeat on the Marne it withdrew on 11 September. The next day French territorial divisions arrived from Rouen, occupied the city and took a few stragglers prisoner. The British chronology records the recovery of Amiens together with Soissons under 13 September.

Amiens never again fell into German hands. In the autumn of 1914 the fighting of the Race to the Sea went on in its vicinity, and later the city became an important base for the British forces. In the spring of 1918 the Germans came within some fifteen kilometres of Amiens, but did not take it.