December 20

The Battle of Champagne opens with the French attacking German positions. This is the first major Allied offensive since the onset of trench warfare on the Western Front.

The Soissons Area

November 5

German forces in German East Africa succeed in repelling the Allied attack in the Battle of Tanga.

The Battle of Tanga by Martin Frost

Britain and France declare war on Turkey, "owing to hostile acts committed by Turkish forces under German officers."

October 5

President Poincare

President Poincare visits the headquarters of the Allied armies.

British forces in Antwerp rise to 8,000.

The Prince of Wales Fund reaches £3,000,000.

October 4

The Battle of Arras

During the Battle of Arras the French 10th Army loses Lens as German forces push towards Flanders.

October 1

The Battle of Arras sees the French trying to outflank German forces and prevent their advance to the coast.

The Germans continue to pound the forts surrounding Antwerp.

HMS Cumberland

The Admiralty reports that HMS Cumberland captured ten German merchant vessels off the Cameroon River in West Africa.

September 29 - The "Angels of Mons"

Arthur Machen

The London Evening News publishes "The Bowmen" by Arthur Machen. The article was inspired by accounts that Machen had read of the fighting at Mons and an idea he had had soon after the battle. Machen set his story at the time of the retreat from the Battle of Mons and described phantom bowmen from the Battle of Agincourt summoned by a soldier calling on St. George, destroying a German host. The story is believed by many and forms the basis of one of the most enduring myths of the First World War.

German and French forces reach a stalemate in the Battle of Albert. Hostilities continue as trench warfare, whilst the remaining gap in the front line starts the so-called "Race to the Sea".


The 26th Brigade RFA remains in position, with no firing taking place.

On the Eastern Front, the Russians clash with German and Austro-Hungarian forces in the Battle of the Vistula River (also known as the Battle of Warsaw). The battle continues until the end of October.

September 13

The Allied offensive in the Battle of the Aisne commences.

The British advance at the Battle of the Aisne

The 26th Brigade RFA advances to Bourg, "crossed river [Aisne] by canal bridge".

The German cruiser SMS Hela is sunk by the British submarine E9 off Heligoland.

South African troops invade German South West Africa.

September 12

The Battle of the Marne ends. The Germans retreat up to 56 miles losing 11,717 prisoners, 30 guns and 100 machine-guns to the French and 3,500 prisoners to the British, before reaching the Aisne.

French soldiers advancing to take up new positions

In general terms the Marne is an Allied victory which saved Paris and kept France in the war; it also ensured the failure of the Schlieffen Plan for a quick German victory in the West. However there is less agreement as to the extent of the Allies' success.

The 26th Brigade RFA advances to Bazoches.

Recruitment figures show that between 4 August and 12 September, 478,893 men joined the army. This includes 33,204 volunteers on 3 September which was a wartime record.

September 5 - Battle of the Marne begins

The Battle of the Marne begins. It is the culmination of the German advance into Northern France and its pursuit of the Allied armies which followed the Battle of the Frontiers in August.

The Battle of the Marne: Positions on 5 September

HMS Pathfinder

HMS Pathfinder is the first British warship to be sunk by a submarine off the Firth of Forth.

The 26th Brigade, RFA marches to Nesle.

September 2

Due to the continuing advance of the Germans, the French Government relocates to Bordeaux.

The Russian Government renames St Petersburg "Petrograd", meaning "Peter's City", to remove the German words Sankt and Burg.

The 26th Brigade RFA marches to Chambry.

The Prince of Wales' National Relief Fund reaches £2,000,000 (see August 15).

Punch publishes another fine cartoon by Bernard Partridge, depicting the classical figures of Liberty and Belgium.

LIBERTY (To Belgium) "TAKE COMFORT. YOUR COURAGE IS VINDICATED; YOUR WRONGS SHALL BE AVENGED"

August 31

The Allies have retired to a line stretching between Amiens and Verdun

British casualties are announced as follows: August 23-26: killed, 163; wounded, 686; missing, 4,278.

The 26th Brigade, RFA marches from Allemant to Vauxbuin.

August 24 - The Retreat from Mons

Following the action at Mons, the 5th French Army withdraws, and the BEF had little choice but to do the same. The retreat of the BEF begins II Corps at at 4am. The initial objective is the line from La Longueville to La Boiseserrette. This is the first stage in what becomes known as the "Great Retreat", which lasts nearly two weeks, and takes the Allies back to the Marne.

Edward Croft, with the RFA located at Grand-Reng, is in action half a mile south-east of Villers-Sire-Nicole, although the Brigade War Diary adds, "no engagement". At 6.30pm the Brigade marches to La Longueville.

The retreat from Mons

Namur falls to the Germans.

Allied forces abandon the line on the River Sambre.

August 22 - The BEF's First Shots of the War

The "First Shot" Memorial near Mons

The first British shots of the First World War were fired today. These were the first by a British soldier on the continent of Europe in action against an enemy since Waterloo.

Ahead of the main body of the BEF, cavalry troops were ordered to seek and locate the German Army. On 22 August, the 2nd Cavalry Brigade were patrolling north and east of Mons. In "C" Squadron of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, the leading patrols set an ambush beside the Maisieres to Casteau road.

At about 7am one of the scouts reported the enemy coming down the road, and No. 1 Troop was ordered to charge. No 4 Troop, following, was ordered to dismount and fire. As Corporal Edward  Thomas later recalled, "I could see a German cavalry officer some 400 yards away ... Immediately I saw him I took aim, pulled the trigger and automatically, almost as it seemed instantaneously, he fell to the ground."


The German Cuirassiers were outnumbered and they fell back, pursued along the Brussels road. Captain Charles Beck Hornby, commanding No 1 Troop, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, probably the first gallantry award given to a member of the Army in the First World War. (Captain Hornby also had the distinction of probably killing the first German in the war, albeit by sabre rather than by shot.)

Edward Croft, with the 26th Brigade RFA, marched from Boue to Cartignies and again billeted in the 1st Brigade (Guards) area.

In the Battle of the Frontiers, France suffers its greatest loss of life to date, with 27,000 of her soldiers killed.

Austria-Hungary declares war on Belgium.

August 21 - Battle of Charleroi

The German 2nd and 3rd armies are victorious at the Battle of Charleroi, otherwise known as the Battle of the Sambre.

The Battle of Charleroi

The first British soldier is killed in action, Private John Parr. Parr was attached to the 4th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, which had disembarked at Boulogne on August 14. The battalion then moved east towards the front in Belgium.

The precise circumstances of Private Parr's death are still unclear. One explanation is that as a "reconnaissance cyclist" (and accompanied by another soldier), he was instructed to locate the enemy. They eventually came across German troops near Obourg. Whilst Parr stayed to monitor their movements, his comrade cycled back to the battalion to report the news. Parr was never seen alive again.

John Parr is buried in the cemetery at St Symphorium. Although his headstone records he was aged 20, he was in fact born in 1898, making him only 16 years old.

The Germans levy £8,000,000 on Brussels (£11 per head of the population) ad £2,400,000 on the province of Liege.

The BEF's concentration in France is practically completed.

Army Order 324 is issued, specifying that six new divisions would be created from units formed from the 100,000 volunteers who had come forward since 6 August. These new divisions are collectively  called "Kitchener's Army" or K1

August 14 - Battle of Lorraine

The Battle of Lorraine

The French launch the "Battle of Lorraine" during the "Battle of the Frontiers".

The 1st Army attacks Sarrebourg, and the 2nd Army attacks Morhange.

Both armies plan to advance into Germany, but the attacks result in a German counter-offensive which effectively ends in a German victory by 25 August.











War credit amounting to £40,000,000 is authorised by the French Government.

The Bank of England issues 10 shilling notes to complement its recently issued £1 notes (see August 7)

10 shilling note issued by the Bank of England

August 10

Canada offers 20,000 men and 98,000,000 lbs of flour. The photograph above shows Sir Henry Pellatt, Commanding Officer of the Queen's Own Rifles, Toronto, at the head of his regiment.

France and Britain declare war on Austria-Hungary.

The French fall back from Mulhouse, but occupy passes in the Vosges.

In London 30,000 special constables are enrolled, and the Official Press Bureau opens.

Men of the Ontario Royal Grenadiers, leaving their camp at Valcartier