August 7

The British Expeditionary Force, comprising 120,000 men, lands in France under the command of Sir John French.

As German troops advance, the "Battle of the Frontiers" begins in southern Belgium and eastern France.

The BEF arriving in Boulogne

£1 banknotes are issued and postal-orders made legal tender, as it was feared that people might hoard gold sovereigns (then the general currency). Paper notes could still be changed into gold. One consequence of the war was that the circulation of banknotes increased from £34 million (pre-war) to £299 million (by 1918).

£1 banknote, issued from 7 August 1914