British Army During World War I - British Expeditionary Force

British Expeditionary Force

Under the terms of the Entente Cordiale, the British Army's role in a European war was to embark soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), which consisted of six infantry divisions and five cavalry brigades that were arranged into two Army corps: I Corps, under the command of Douglas Haig, and II Corps, under the command of Horace Smith-Dorrien. At the outset of the conflict, the British Indian Army was called upon for assistance; in August 1914, 20 percent of the 9,610 British officers initially sent to France were from the Indian army, while 16 percent of the 76,450 other ranks came from the British Indian Army.

German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm—who was famously dismissive of the BEF—issued an order on 19 August 1914 to "exterminate...the treacherous English and walk over General French's contemptible little army". Hence, in later years, the survivors of the regular army dubbed themselves "The Old Contemptibles". By the end of 1914 (after the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Aisne and Ypres), the old regular British Army had been virtually wiped out; although it managed to stop the German advance.

In October 1914, the 7th Division arrived in France, forming the basis of the British III Corps; the cavalry had grown into its own corps of three divisions. By December 1914, the BEF had expanded, fielding five army corps divided between the First and the Second Armies. As the Regular Army's strength declined, the numbers were made up— first by the Territorial Force, then by the volunteers of Field Marshal Kitchener's, New Army. By the end of August 1914, he had raised six new divisions; by March 1915, the number of divisions had increased to 29. The Territorial Force was also expanded, raising second and third battalions and forming eight new divisions, which supplemented its peacetime strength of 14 divisions. The Third Army was formed in July 1915 and with the influx of troops from Kitchener's volunteers and further reorganisation, the Fourth Army and the Reserve Army, which became the Fifth Army were formed in 1916.