Tag Archives: Sir John French

The War

Im Westen nichts Neues is the title of Erich Maria Remarque’s famous novel, usually rendered in English as All Quiet on the Western Front. Its literal translation, however, is In the West Nothing New. The deadly sniping, sapping, night raids, shelling … Continue reading

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19 February 1915: The die is caught…

At a meeting of the War Council on this day, Kitchener withdrew his agreement to send the crack 29th Division to the Dardanelles. Before the die could hit the cloth, he had caught it and pocketed it again. His action … Continue reading

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‘Stellenbosched’

For those who know only of Stellenbosch’s fine wines or distinguished university, I should explain that after the Second Boer War the British Army turned it into a verb meaning to park someone military in a job where their incompetence … Continue reading

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26 October 1914

Calderon found Brigadier-General ‘Black Jack’ Kavanagh last night about three miles from the front and presented his letter of recommendation from Kavanagh’s brigade major in Dunkirk. This afternoon he told Kittie the result: It is not certain that General K. … Continue reading

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21 October 1914

At four o’clock this morning the hospital train arrived in Dunkirk. George could not name the town in his letter to Kittie of 23 October, but we know from his letter of 15th that this was his destination. He heads … Continue reading

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4 September 1914

This evening Joffre was brought a message from Sir John French that the B.E.F. was ‘prepared to assume the offensive’, i.e. at least five days earlier than he had told Joffre on 30 August.  So what had put some fire … Continue reading

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A correction?

It was perhaps a bit glib to say in the blog for 30 August that the B.E.F. ‘simply had to regroup’ etc.  However, Arthur Moore in The Times was certainly wrong to describe the B.E.F. as a ‘broken army’, and Sir John … Continue reading

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30 August 1914

On this day Sir John French, Commander-in-Chief of the B.E.F., telegraphed Joffre, his French counterpart, that he could not contemplate putting the B.E.F. back in the front line ‘for at least ten days’ and was intending to withdraw beyond the … Continue reading

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