A Short History of the 6th Division | Page 2

Division would arrive too late.
On the 7th September, however, entrainment for Southampton
commenced, and on the 9th the first troops of the Division disembarked
at St. Nazaire.
From St. Nazaire a long train journey, which the novelty of the
experience robbed of its tediousness, took the Division a short distance
east of Paris, where it concentrated in billets in the area
Coulommiers--Mortcerf--Marles--Chaume by the 12th September.
CHAPTER II
BATTLE OF THE AISNE

1914
The period 13th to 19th September was spent in the march to the Aisne,
where the Division arrived at a time when a certain amount of anxiety
was felt by the Higher Command. The 5th French Army on the right,
the British Army in the centre, and the 6th French Army under General
Maunoury on the left, had pushed the Germans back across the Marne,
and on the 14th September the British troops had crossed the Aisne on
the front Soissons-Bourg--the I Corps at Bourg, the II Corps at Vailly
and Missy, and the III at Venizel. The French right attack from the
direction of Rheims and the British attack by the I Corps had
progressed much faster than the left, and had reached the heights on the
line Craonne-Troyon, astride the famous Chemin des Dames. These
were now the objective of fierce attacks by the Germans, and the 6th
Division, which had been allotted originally to the III Corps, was put
into General Reserve instead, only the artillery joining the III Corps.
The units of the I Corps were very tired and weakened after the big
retreat from Mons and the subsequent hard fighting on the Marne and
Aisne, so immediately on its arrival the 18th Infantry Brigade
(Brig.-Gen. W. N. Congreve, V.C.) was ordered to relieve the 2nd
Infantry Brigade on the right of the British line. The front taken over
ran diagonally from north-east to south-west along the high ground just
south of the Chemin des Dames to the north and north-east of Troyon.
The East Yorks on the left relieved in daylight on the 19th September
the D.L.I., and the West Yorks during the night of the 19/20th
September. The West Yorks had two companies in front trenches, one
company echeloned in right rear and one company in support. The
Sherwood Foresters were in reserve.
At dawn on the 20th September, the enemy delivered a heavy attack on
the I Corps and on the French left, driving in the Tirailleurs d'Afrique
and turning the flank of the West Yorks. The echeloned company
formed front to the flank, and the supporting company followed suit.
The Germans annihilated the right front company, and, using the white
flag ruse, apparently captured some of the next company. Major Ingles,
collecting a proportion of the front companies, withdrew a short
distance and counter-attacked, but was unsuccessful and lost his life in

this gallant endeavour. At about 1 p.m. a counter-attack was delivered
by the Sherwood Foresters, who were in Brigade Reserve, the support
company of the West Yorks, under Lt.-Col. Towsey, and a squadron of
the 18th Hussars from Paissy. These, advancing over the perfectly open
ground, recaptured the trenches and gallantly held them against further
attacks. In this affair the West Yorks suffered casualties amounting
approximately to 15 officers and 600 other ranks, the Sherwood
Foresters also losing 12 officers and 180 other ranks. The temporary
loss of the trenches by the West Yorks exposed the trenches of the
D.L.I, to enfilade machine-gun fire, from which they had considerable
casualties, including Majors Mander and Robb. This was the only
serious fighting in which the Division was engaged, but a certain
amount of trouble was caused by the arrival of guns from Antwerp
which fired "Black Marias," and the enfilade gun and machine-gun fire
to which portions of the main line lent themselves.
On the 21st September the 17th Infantry Brigade (Brig.-Gen. W. R. B.
Doran) relieved the 6th Infantry Brigade and the 4th Guards Brigade on
the front Fort de Metz-La Cour de Soupir, and held the portion without
much incident till 2nd October, when they were withdrawn into Corps
Reserve.
The 16th Infantry Brigade (Brig.-Gen. E. C. Ingouville-Williams)
relieved the 7th and 9th Infantry Brigades to the north-east of Vailly on
the 21st/22nd September, and remained in trenches until 12th October,
some time after the rest of the Division had gone north. They received
the thanks of the II Corps for their soldierly conduct. The divisional
artillery (Brig.-Gen. W. H. L. Paget) was in support of the 5th Division
opposite Missy, but only the 2nd Brigade was engaged. It had already
been re-organized since mobilization by the inclusion, in each of 12th,
24th and 38th Brigades, of a battery of 4.5-in. howitzers.
The Battle of the Aisne marked the commencement of trench warfare,
and the Royal Engineers