August 11

German forces concentrate on the Metz-Liege line. The Germans occupy Liege.

One of the forts at Liege, destroyed by German bombardment

2,000 German spies are reported to have been arrested in Belgium.

The photograph shows Belgian artillerymen sweeping German troops off open ground between the forts of Liege.

August 9

Flag of German Togoland

British and French troops invade German Togoland in West Africa. The German Governor surrenders less than three weeks later.

For further details of this campaign click here.




German troops enter Liege.

The Liege forts

The King's Message is approved for wider circulation. A copy of this message was issued to each member of the BEF before they left British shores. It read:

"You are leaving home to fight for the safety and honour of my Empire. Belgium, which country we are pledged to defend, had been attacked, and France is about to be invaded by the same powerful foe. I have implicit confidence in you, my soldiers. Duty is your watchword, and I know your duty will be nobly done. I shall follow your every movement with the deepest interest, and mark with eager satisfaction your daily progress. Indeed your welfare will never be absent from my thoughts. I pray God to bless you and guard you, and bring you back victorious.
George RI
9th August, 1914"

The King's Message

The soldiers also received the following instructions from Lord Kitchener:

Lord Kitchener

"You are ordered abroad as a soldier of the King to help our French comrades against the invasion of a common enemy. You have to perform a task which will need your courage, your energy, your patience. Remember that the honour of the British Empire depends on your individual conduct.

"It will be your duty not only to set an example of discipline and perfect steadiness under fire, but also to maintain the most friendly relations with those whom you are helping in this struggle. The operations in which you are engaged will, for the most part, take place in a friendly country, and you can do your country no better service than by showing yourselves in France and Belgium in the true character of a British soldier.

"Be invariably courteous, considerate, and kind. Never do anything likely to injure or destroy property, and always look upon looting as a disgraceful act. You are sure to meet with a welcome, and to be trusted. Your conduct must justify that welcome and that trust.

"Your duty cannot be done unless your health is sound, so be constantly on your guard against any excesses. In this new experience you may find temptations, both in wine and women. You must entirely resist both temptations, and, while treating all women with perfect courtesy, you should avoid any intimacy. Do your duty bravely. Fear God. Honour the King."


The German submarine U15 is sunk by the British light cruiser HMS Birmingham.

U15 - the first German submarine lost in the war

HMS Birmingham

August 5

The forts around Liege

There was fierce fighting in Liege.

Lord Kitchener

Lord Kitchener was appointed War Minister.


















Punch publishes the cartoon "Mutual Service" by Bernard Partridge. This reminded readers of recent unease in Ireland (such as the Curragh Incident in March 1914, where officers stationed at the Curragh, opted for dismissal rather than "coerce" the Ulster Volunteers to accept Irish Home Rule as proposed by the Government of Ireland Act (1914). The ongoing crisis was only averted by the outbreak of war). Here, Britannia asks Peace to do her best in Ireland.

The Konigen Luise, a German mine-layer, is sunk off Harwich by HMS Lance. She was responsible for firing the first British shot of the war. The 4 inch gun that fired these shots now takes pride of place at the entrance of a new exhibition area at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. This is due to open in Spring 2014 as part of the national centenary celebrations of the First World War.

HMS Lance, which fired the first British shots in World War 1

In Surrey, the outbreak of war is reported on the front page of the Surrey Advertiser:

The ‘4 inch’ gun from the destroyer HMS Lance takes pride of place at the soon to be completed entrance to the new exhibition which is due to open in spring 2014 as part of the national centenary commemorations for WW1. - See more at: http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/news/news500.php#sthash.q1OEYSWo.dpuf

The ‘4 inch’ gun from the destroyer HMS Lance takes pride of place at the soon to be completed entrance to the new exhibition which is due to open in spring 2014 as part of the national centenary commemorations for WW1. - See more at: http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk/news/news500.php#sthash.q1OEYSWo.dpuf

August 4: The lamps are going out all over Europe...

King George V

Germany declares war on Belgium and German troops being their attack on the Liege forts.

Admiral Sir John Jellicoe is appointed in command of the Home Fleets.

Britain's ultimatum to Germany expires resulting in Britain's declaration of war.

In his memoirs, Sir Edward Grey recalls, "That evening some of us sat with the Prime Minister in the Cabinet Room in 10 Downing Street. I was there in touch with the Foreign Office to certify that no satisfactory reply had come from Berlin, though this was, after all that had happened, a forgeone conclusion and matter of form. Churchill also was among those present, ready at the appointed hour to send out the war order, that the fleet were expecting. Midnight came. We were at war."

At the Admiralty, Winston Churchill waited as the minutes passed slowly. He later wrote, "It was 11 o'clock at night - 12 by German time - when the ultimatum expired. The windows of the Admiralty were thrown wide open in the warm night air. Under the roof from which Nelson had received his orders were gathered a small group of Admirals and Captains and a cluster of clerks, pencil in hand, waiting. Along the Mall from the direction of the Palace the sound of an immense concourse singing 'God save the King' floated in. On this deep wave there broke the chimes of Big Ben; and, as the first stroke of the hour boomed out, a rustle of movement swept across the room. The war telegram, which meant 'Commence hostilities against Germany', was flashed to the ships and establishments under the White Ensign all over the world."

Mobilisation of the army begins. Reserves and Territorials are called up.

The Government takes control of the railways. Henceforth the railways are operated by the Railway Executive Committee - a committee of railway managers - with the Government guaranteeing the railway companies' 1913 dividends. During the war, the Government paid £95 million to the railways, although this traffic would have cost £100 million at pre-war rates.

Sir Edward Grey

Regarding Sir Edward Grey's famous comment about the lamps going out, he recalled, "A friend came to see me on one of the evenings of the last week - he thinks it was on Monday, August 3. We were standing at a window of my room in the Foreign Office. It was getting dusk, and the lamps were being lit in the space below on which we were looking. My friend recalls that I remarked on this with the words: "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our life-time."