Tag Archives: WW1
WW1 War Memorials
War Memorials very rarely say what they are popularly thought to say: “They died for King and Empire”.
Given that most War Memorials were paid for by public subscription, and that the inscription would have as a result have been carefully considered and debated, they are a unique window into what people thought about the War and why it was fought.
The Course of the War in the West during August 1914
When Sir Henry Wilson when he was head of the Army Staff College at Camberley asked Marshal Foch, who at that time very influentially ran the French Ecole Superieure de la Guerre (where he pushed the suicidal doctrine of all attack by infantry) “What would you say is the smallest British military force that would be of practical assistance to you?”, Foch replied, “One single private soldier – and we would take good care that he was killed”. It was Britain’s commitment, the Royal Navy and her wealth, that mattered to France, not the 6 divisions of the BEF that mattered to France.
Did the BEF make the difference in France in September 1914?
“In the case of our remaining neutral, Germany will fight France single handed. The armies of Germany and the fleets of Germany are much stronger than those of France, and the results of such a war can scarcely be doubted… In a single handed war France in all probability will be defeated…
The speedy dispatch of a force consisting of the entire regular army six divisions and one of cavalry could turn the tables… The actual disparity in numbers becomes less… and the numbers of the opposing forces at the decisive point would be so nearly equal during the opening and early actions of the war that it is possible for the allies to win some initial successes which might prove invaluable
Did the BEF save France in August and September 1914?
Introduction to my series of Blogs on the Battle of the Marne Before launching this Centenary Blog, I thought I knew quite a lot about the First World War. I had certainly read a great deal about it, starting with the part-works published during the War, which I found in my grandfather’s house on visits […]
First World War Memorials 
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