The battle of the Aisne 1914

After being defeated on the Marne, German commander in chief Helmuth von Moltke ordered his armies to retreat to the River Aisne.

When they reached the Aisne, the Germans took up position on the hills north of the river. From there they could shoot accurately at any troops trying to cross the river.

British and French pilots flying to scout the German positions found they were often being shot at by soldiers of their own armies. They began painting red, white and blue stripes on the wings of their aircraft so that they could be recognised.

A few weeks later the High Command ordered the pilots to paint standard markings on their aircraft. British planes had a red circle inside a white circle inside a blue circle. French aircraft sported the same circles in reverse.

The German pilots, meanwhile, began painting a black cross on their aircraft.

On 13 September the British together with the French 5th and 6th Armies crossed the Aisne on pontoon bridges under heavy fire and attacked the Germans. They broke the German lines and moved forward.

The following day the British and French found themselves faced by German troops in trenches and machine gun nests. Unable to advance against heavy fire, nor to inflict casualties on the Germans, the allies halted and dug their own trenches.

Joffre ordered a new attack on 18 September, but his men failed to make any advance and suffered heavy casualties. Joffre called off the attack and ordered his artillery to begin shelling the German trenches.

The Battle of the Aisne marked the beginning of trench warfare on the Western Front.

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany sacked von Moltke as commander in chief and replaced him with Erich von Falkenhayn.