Covington

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Covington
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Strategically located along the roads leading to
the Channel ports in Belgian Flanders, the Belgi
an city of Ypres had been the scene of numerous
battles since the sixteenth century.
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• The First Battle of Ypres, also called the Battle
  of Flanders, was the last major battle of the
  first year of World War I (1914). This battle and
  the Battle of the Yser marked the end of the
  so-called Race to the Sea.

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• The British Expeditionary Force, under the
  command of Field Marshal Sir John French, was
  redeployed north from the mobile fighting of the
  first two months of the war to join two divisions
  of reinforcements recently landed in Belgium.
  They advanced east from Saint-Omer, met and
  halted the German Army at the Passchendaele Ridge
  to the east of the Belgian town of Ypres. The
  Belgians opened the sluice gates of the river
  Yser to let in the sea into the low lying land to
  prevent further German advances1. Both sides
  dug in for trench warfare. The town of Ypres was
  rapidly demolished by artillery and air attack.

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• The Germans called the battle "The Massacre of
  the Innocents" (German "Kindermord"). Eight
  German units consisted of young volunteers, many
  of them enthusiastic students, and these units
  suffered huge casualties during a failed attack
  on a smaller but highly-experienced British
  force, many of them veterans of the Second Boer
  War. The BEF was supported for the first time by
  battalions from the Army of India and the British
  Territorials, whose support was essential in
  holding the Germans at bay. The BEF was severely
  weakened at First Ypres, but the battle allowed
  the Allies time to strengthen their lines.

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• In 1917, the Mons Star was awarded to those
  surviving British troops who had served in France
  or Belgium prior to the end of the First Battle
  of Ypres the last surviving holder of this
  decoration, Alfred Anderson, died in November
  2005.

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With the German failure at the battle of the
Marne in September 1914 and the subsequent Allie
d counter attacks, the Race to the sea" began.
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• After a forced march troops arriving at their
  billets at break of day.

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