In September the 1st Battalion took part in its second major engagement, at the First Battle of the Marne, which saw the Germans advance halted after much bitter fighting, with the Germans eventually going into retreat. The sides soon dug-in, the trenches that would be made would become one of the defining symbols of the First World War. The battalion subsequently took part in the Battle of the Aisne where the battalion saw heavy fighting, including at the Aisne Heights and Chivy. In November, the 2nd Battalion landed in France as part of the 20th Guards Brigade of the 7th Division. Both battalions as part of their respective divisions, took part in the First Battle of Ypres which took place between September and November. Both battalions saw very heavy fighting at Ypres and in the surrounding area, which eventually saw over 50,000 British soldiers of the Regular army become casualties, though the British Army held the line against seemingly overwhelming German attacks, stopping the final German attempt to break the Allied line in 1914.