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La Bassée to Armentières, 19 October – 2 November 1914
On 19 October, Pulteney had ordered III Corps to dig in and collect as many local and divisional reserves as possible. German attacks against the 6th Division, holding a line from Radinghem to Ennetières, Prémesques and Epinette began after a one-hour bombardment from 7:00 a.m. by heavy guns and howitzers. The German attack was part of an offensive either side of Ypres, intended to encircle the British forces. The 6th Army attacked with the XIV, VII, XIII and XIX corps, intending to break through the Allied defences from Arras to La Bassée and Armentières.German infantry advanced in rushes of men in skirmish lines, covered by machine-gun fire. To the south of the 18th Brigade, a battalion of the 16th Brigade had dug in east of Radinghem while the other three dug a reserve line from Bois Blancs to Le Quesne, La Houssoie and Rue du Bois, halfway to Bois Grenier. A German attack by the 51st Infantry Brigade at 1:00 p.m. was repulsed but the battalion fell back to the eastern edge of the village, when the German attack further north at Ennetières succeeded.
The main German attack was towards a salient at Ennetières held by the 18th Brigade, in disconnected positions held by advanced guards, ready for a resumption of the British advance. The brigade held a front of about 3 mi (4.8 km) with three battalions; it was attacked on the right flank where the villages of Ennetières and La Vallée merged. The German attack was repulsed by small-arms fire and little ground was gained by the Germans, who were attacking across open country with little cover. Another attack was made on Ennetières at 1:00 p.m. and repulsed but on the extreme right of the brigade, five platoons were spread across 1,500 yd (1,400 m) to the junction with the 16th Brigade. The platoons had good observation to their fronts but were not in view of each other and in a drizzle of rain, the Germans attacked again at 3:00 p.m.
The German attack was repulsed with reinforcements and German artillery began a bombardment of the Brigade positions from the north-east until dark, then sent about three battalions of the 52nd Infantry Brigade of the 25th Reserve Division forward in the dark, to rush the British positions. The German attack broke through and two companies of Reserve Infantry Regiment 125 entered Ennetières from the west; four companies of Reserve Infantry Regiment 122 and a battalion of Reserve Infantry Regiment 125 broke in from the south and the British platoons were surrounded and captured. Another attack from the east, led to the British infantry east of the village retiring to the west side of the village, where they were surprised and captured by German troops advancing from La Vallée, which had fallen after 6:00 p.m. and who had been thought to be British reinforcements; some of the surrounded troops fought on until 5:15 a.m. next morning. The German infantry did not exploit the success and British troops on the northern flank were able to withdraw to a line 1 mi (1.6 km) west of Prémesques, between La Vallée and Chateau d'Hancardry.
To the north of the 18th Brigade, a battalion of the 17th Brigade held a line from Epinette to Prémesques and Mont des Prémesques, which was bombarded by German artillery from 2:00–8:00 a.m. and then attacked by the 24th Division of XIX Corps, which captured Prémesques and attracted most of the reserves of the 6th Division to the left flank of its front. A defensive flank was formed after the loss of the village, which was able to prolong the defence of Mont des Prémesques, which fell at 4:30 p.m.An 11th Brigade battalion from the 4th Division was sent forward for a counter-attack but this was then over-ruled by Pulteney, since with the loss of Ennetières and Prémesques a much larger attack was needed and there were insufficient troops available. After dark the 6th Division was ordered back to a shorter line from Touquet to Bois Blancs, Le Quesne, La Houssoie, Chateau d'Hancardry to ground about 400 yd (370 m) west of Epinette, the retirement on the right and centre being about 2 mi (3.2 km). The division had suffered c. 2,000 losses, 1,119 in the 18th Brigade but Kier was confident that the division could hold on, when the 19th Brigade and the French I Cavalry Corps arrived on the right flank during the day.
Fleurbaix and vicinity (Map commune FR insee code 62338)
On the 4th Division (Major-General Henry Maitland Wilson) front to the north, a German bombardment by heavy artillery began on Armentières at 8:00 a.m. which led to the III Corps headquarters being moved back to Bailleul. Despite the orders from Pulteney for III Corps to dig in, the 4th Division was allowed to continue the attack towards Frélinghien, to gain better communications across the Lys and the 10th Brigade attacked at dawn. Trenches and houses on the southern fringe of the village were captured and fifty prisoners taken from the 89th Brigade of the 40th Division, XIX Corps but the attack used up the stock of high explosive ammunition and the attack was suspended.
Towards the left of the division, the 12th Brigade, in front of Ploegsteert Wood (Plugstreet Wood to the British) near Le Gheer was attacked from noon and as dark fell a determined German rush got forward to within 300–500 yd (270–460 m) of the British line and dug in. During the afternoon Pulteney had ordered the division to hold its advanced position if possible but not to retire further than the main line and during the evening, Lieutenant-General E. Allenby the Cavalry Corps commander requested support at Messines to the north, which with the news of the retirement of the 6th Division, left Wilson and the 4th Division in some apprehension about both flanks.
TL;DR:
On 20 October, German forces launched a major offensive aimed at encircling the British near Ypres, attacking along a wide front from Arras to Armentières. The British 6th Division faced heavy bombardment and repeated infantry assaults. Despite initial success repelling attacks at Ennetières, Radinghem, and Prémesques, German night assaults broke through, capturing Ennetières and forcing a British withdrawal about 2 miles west. Losses were around 2,000 men, over half from the 18th Brigade.
To the north, the 4th Division attacked near Frélinghien and Ploegsteert Wood, gaining some ground but exhausting ammunition. German counterattacks later pushed close to British lines. By nightfall, the British were retreating to shorter, more defensible positions while awaiting reinforcements from the 19th Brigade and French cavalry.
