Battle of La Bassée 1914
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 10 October 1914 – 2 November 1914 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1914 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Race to the Sea | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.5342, 2.8081 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of La Bassée was fought by German and Franco-British forces in northern France in October 1914, during reciprocal attempts by the contending armies to envelop the northern flank of their opponent, which has been called the Race to the Sea. The 6th Army took Lille before a British force could secure the town and the 4th Army attacked the exposed British flank further north at Ypres. The British were driven back and the German army occupied La Bassée and Neuve Chapelle. Around 15 October, the British recaptured Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée but failed to recover La Bassée.
German reinforcements arrived and regained the initiative, until the arrival of the Lahore Division, part of the Indian Corps. The British repulsed German attacks until early November, after which both sides concentrated their resources on the First Battle of Ypres. The battle at La Bassée was reduced to local operations. In late January and early February 1915, German and British troops conducted raids and local attacks in the Affairs of Cuinchy, which took place at Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée and just south of La Bassée Canal, leaving the front line little changed.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of La Bassée (revision 1370267656), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Winter operations 1914–1915 1914 · 4 km
- Actions of the Hohenzollern Redoubt 1915 · 5 km
- Defence of Festubert 1914 · 5 km
- Battle of Festubert 1915 · 5 km
- Gas attacks at Hulluch 1916 · 5 km
- Second Battle of Artois 1915 · 6 km
Other battles of the Race to the Sea
- Battle of Albert (1914) 1914
- Battle of Armentières 1914
- Battle of Flirey 1914
- Battle of Messines (1914) 1914
- Battle of the Yser 1914
- First Battle of Picardy 1914
- First Battle of Ypres 1914
All 8 battles of the Race to the Sea →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War I era battles