The British Expeditionary Force was the formation of the British Army on the Western Front during the First World War. In its original form it comprised six divisions, sent by Britain to France in 191
Tommies of the 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) resting in the square at Mons 22 August 1914, the day before the Battle of Mons.
Men and horses of the Cavalry Division, British Expeditionary Force, retreat from Mons in August 1914.
A British trench near the Albert-Bapaume road at Ovillers-la-Boisselle, July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. The men are from A Company, 11th Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment
The front line in 1916, British gains during the battle of the Somme are shaded blue.
Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior British Army officer.
British Expeditionary Force (World War I)
…dismissive of the BEF, was widely said in Britain to have 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 1914 army dubbed themselves "The Old Contemptibles". No evidence of any such…
Field Marshal Sir John French 2
Colonel French in full dress uniform, 1892. This is one of the few photographs of French taken before his appearance aged dramatically, and hinting at his success as a womaniser.
French caricatured by GDG for Vanity Fair, July 1900
The funeral of King Edward VII. General French, Sir Evelyn Wood, Lord Roberts, Lord Kitchner.