The character of the advance may be illustrated by an incident on the 14th October, when a platoon of the 1st R.F.

(of the Reserve Brigade) was detailed to rescue General Keir's car, which had run into snipers near Merris.

Fortunately the G.O.C.was not in it.
The reinforcement by the enemy occurred on the 20th October, on which date began the Battle of Ypres-Armentieres, generally called the First Battle of Ypres.

As far as the Division was concerned this took place on the western portion of the ridge between Armentieres and Lille, and resulted in the Division being forced back from the line Preniesques-Radinghem (almost on top of the ridge) to the low ground Rue du Bois-La Boutillerie after very fierce continuous fighting from 20th to 31st October, in which the Division suffered nearly 4,000 casualties.

To revert, on 13th October the III Corps advanced with the 4th Division on the left and the 6th Division on the right.