With the German retreat from the Marne River in the late fall of 1914, the Allies scrambled to counterattack the Germans and to keep them from regaining momentum to advance back towards Paris. The British and Belgian Forces raced the German Army under Gen. Erich von Falkenhayn northward to keep the German army from advancing through gaps in the allied lines. The race continued until both armies had established massive trenchworks spanning all the way to the English Channel.
On September 26, 1914, the fighting broke out in the Battle of Artois. After a 14 day fight, the British captured the city and the B.E.F. and Belgian Forces began to leap frog from one city to the next. Albert, Arras, Vimy, Loos, Festubert, and Neuve Chapelle were all repeatedly fought over and exchanged by the Germans and Allies.
In the middle of October, the Germans launched an offensive along the Lys River. The Germans almost succeeded in breaking the line. The British put up fierce resistance and drove them back. The Belgians only held their line by blowing up all the dikes in the north to flood over the last 10 miles of the trenchline in the far north.. This action would cause more problems for the Allies as the lines slowed and stabilized. The water flooded parts of the trenchline as well creating large pools of soft mud. This bogged down the Allies movement of men, artillery and supplies to the extreme north of the line.
The British then launched a counterattack that failed miserably. In late October until Novemeber 11, the Germans again attacked the lines. The Allies held but had their forces drained to the last reserves. Only winter had saved the Allied lines from total collapse. The lines remained stabilized until the next year.
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