6 September

Great War events that took place on 6 September.

1914 (Sunday)

Western Front	▶ Battle of the Marne begins.^[a] General offensive by French and British.	▶ German advance also checked at Beauzec, near Verdun, and at Jezanville, near Pont-à-Mousson.	▶ Germans reach Provins, the most southerly point of their advance.
Eastern Front	▶ Poland: The centre of Dankl's (Austrian) army broken at Krasnostav.	▶ Galicia: Beginning of Battle of Grodek (south-west of Lemberg) (continued until 12 September).
Southern Front	Serbian Invasion of Syrmia begun: the Save crossed at Novoselo: Obres occupied: failure to take Mitrovitsa.
Naval and Overseas Operations	Cameroons: British reverse near Nsanakong.
Political	Great Britain: The Admiralty announce organisation of a Royal Naval Division.

Notes

↑
Battle of the Marne: On 5 September, Joffre decided on counter-offensive, and on following day retirement turned into advance. Order of battle from East to West:-
- Allies: Army of Lorraine and 2nd Army (Castelnau and Dubail) beyond the Meuse; 3rd Army (Sarrail); 4th Army (bangle de Cary); Cavalry; 9th Army (Foch); 5th Army (Fauchet de l'Esperey); Conneau's Cavalry Corps; British Force (French); 6th Army (Maunoury). Total (W. of Meuse) about 47 infantry and 9 cavalry divisions.
- Germans: 6th Army (Cr. Prince Rupprecht) and 7th Army (v. Heeringen) beyond the Meuse; 5th Army (Crown Prince); 4th Army (Duke A. of Wurttem- berg); 3rd Army (v. Hausen); 2nd Army (v. Billow); ist Army (v. Kluck). Total (W. of Meuse) about 46 infantry and 7 cavalry divisions.
The German right was swung back along the Ourcq, and the French 6th Army, which conformed, attacked, as well as some of the Allied Forces, on the 5 September Kluck's plan was to disregard British (who were believed disorganised), to move across their front and attack the left of the 5th Army; but being, during the next two days, tackled on his extreme right by the 6th Army, and the British unexpectedly attacking his forces moving against de l'Esperey's left, he found his right centre driven in, and began to fall back by the 8th. The German retreat was also largely caused by the 5th and 9th French Armies, after magnificent fighting (especially on the part of the latter at Fere Champenoise), penetrating the German centre on the 9th and 10 September. Further east desperate fighting took place, where violent attacks by the 4th and 5th German Armies were repulsed with some difficulty by the French. (East of the Meuse, Castelnau before Nancy, and Dubail, after severe fighting, drove the enemy out of Lunéville and St. Dié.) By 12 September, the Germans (W. of the Meuse) had fallen back, pursued by the Allies, to the strongly fortified line of the Aisne.

Sources: Various material contemporary with the war have been used to compile The Great War On This Day and its associated Compendium.

On This Day pages are styled as timelines and have been transcribed from two out-of-copyright sources: Chronology of the War (1918-1920), and History of the Great War – Principle Events 1914-1918 (1922). The spelling of place-names is a particularly convoluted subject. Some names were spelt differently depending on source, others have changed over time for various political or geographical reasons. In general, spelling of place names are original to British use at the time of, and shortly after, the war. Some typos have been altered or corrected for consistency. Similar events between these sources have been amalgamated; as a result the date and wording may differ to their original texts.

Compendium entries form the central hub of (a) An index-like collection of places, people, ships, battles, political events, etc., and (b) Words and phrases of the Armed Forces of Great Britain during the Great War. The majority of these have been transcribed from Chronology of the War (1918-1920) and Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases (1925) respectively, the later which is reflected in the language used and some may seem derogatory by today's standards.

Images come from scans or photographs of original sources, Wikimedia Commons, and the Imperial War Museum's online collections under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence. Attribution is given separately to the latter and does not come under the general licence of this site. Please be aware that some images, although very few, may depict distressing scenes.

Advisory note: The information in these sources may not accurately represent updated histories, present-day spellings, or geographical borders. It is also written from a British perspective, and words such as "enemy" are used extensively. For further details and a full list of sources, click here.

Browse index by letter: Top – A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[1] Battle of the Marne: On 5 September, Joffre decided on counter-offensive, and on following day retirement turned into advance. Order of battle from East to West:-
Allies: Army of Lorraine and 2nd Army (Castelnau and Dubail) beyond the Meuse; 3rd Army (Sarrail); 4th Army (bangle de Cary); Cavalry; 9th Army (Foch); 5th Army (Fauchet de l'Esperey); Conneau's Cavalry Corps; British Force (French); 6th Army (Maunoury). Total (W. of Meuse) about 47 infantry and 9 cavalry divisions.

Germans: 6th Army (Cr. Prince Rupprecht) and 7th Army (v. Heeringen) beyond the Meuse; 5th Army (Crown Prince); 4th Army (Duke A. of Wurttem- berg); 3rd Army (v. Hausen); 2nd Army (v. Billow); ist Army (v. Kluck). Total (W. of Meuse) about 46 infantry and 7 cavalry divisions.
The German right was swung back along the Ourcq, and the French 6th Army, which conformed, attacked, as well as some of the Allied Forces, on the 5 September Kluck's plan was to disregard British (who were believed disorganised), to move across their front and attack the left of the 5th Army; but being, during the next two days, tackled on his extreme right by the 6th Army, and the British unexpectedly attacking his forces moving against de l'Esperey's left, he found his right centre driven in, and began to fall back by the 8th. The German retreat was also largely caused by the 5th and 9th French Armies, after magnificent fighting (especially on the part of the latter at Fere Champenoise), penetrating the German centre on the 9th and 10 September. Further east desperate fighting took place, where violent attacks by the 4th and 5th German Armies were repulsed with some difficulty by the French. (East of the Meuse, Castelnau before Nancy, and Dubail, after severe fighting, drove the enemy out of Lunéville and St. Dié.) By 12 September, the Germans (W. of the Meuse) had fallen back, pursued by the Allies, to the strongly fortified line of the Aisne.

[2] Allies: Army of Lorraine and 2nd Army (Castelnau and Dubail) beyond the Meuse; 3rd Army (Sarrail); 4th Army (bangle de Cary); Cavalry; 9th Army (Foch); 5th Army (Fauchet de l'Esperey); Conneau's Cavalry Corps; British Force (French); 6th Army (Maunoury). Total (W. of Meuse) about 47 infantry and 9 cavalry divisions.

[3] Germans: 6th Army (Cr. Prince Rupprecht) and 7th Army (v. Heeringen) beyond the Meuse; 5th Army (Crown Prince); 4th Army (Duke A. of Wurttem- berg); 3rd Army (v. Hausen); 2nd Army (v. Billow); ist Army (v. Kluck). Total (W. of Meuse) about 46 infantry and 7 cavalry divisions.

[a]