October 28

Lord Kitchener announces that a further 100,000 men are urgently needed for the Army.

Punch publishes another political cartoon, "The Limit"

THE LIMIT

The Kaiser: "What are the wild waves saying?"

Wild Waves: "We were just saying, thus far and no farther!"

The 26th Brigade, RFA remains in action all day in the general area of the Ypres-Menin Road.

September 17

Lord Kitchener announces that rather more than six regular divisions (each 18,600 strong) and two cavalry division (each 10,000 strong) of British troops are in the fighting line. Kitchener expresses the hope that the New Army of 500,000 men will be ready to take the field in the spring of 1915.

Austro-Hungarian forces retreating from the advancing Russians are assisted by the newly-formed German 9th Army.

The 26th Brigade RAF remain in position. The war diary records, "Enemy made an attack in morning ... 118 withdrawn to north east of Tour de Paissy. About 3pm Enemy attacked from direction of Cerny. Both batteries searching north of Cerny."

September 3

On this day 33,204 men enlist for the British Army. This proves to be the highest daily total of the entire war.

A further list of British casualties is issued: killed, 70; wounded, 390; missing, 4,758.

The 26th Brigade RFA marches to La Ferte sous Jouarre, a crossing point on the River Marne.

HMS Speedy, a minesweeper, sinks after hitting a mine in the Humber estuary.

August 28 - Battle of Heligoland Bight

The first naval battle takes place off Heligoland Bight. One German destroyer and three light cruisers are sunk by the Royal Navy, with three more light cruisers damaged. The British suffered one light cruiser and three destroyers damaged.

The German light cruiser, SMS Mainz, sinking

Lord Kitchener calls for another 100,000 volunteers between the ages of 19 and 35. These become collectively known as "K2".

The Defence of the Realm Act is amended, and becomes known as the "Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Act 1914"

In France, the 26th Brigade RFA marches to St Gobain

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 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 6

Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia, and Serbia declares war against Germany.

HMS Amphion sunk in the North Sea by a floating mine. 150 British sailors were lost, and 18 crew rescued from the Konigen Luise, sunk the previous day.

Many of the survivors were taken to a military hospital in Harwich. A journalist recorded (on August 14), "The Amphion's men were dreadfully burned and scalded. They have marks on their faces and bodies which resemble the splashes of an acid. Of the British seamen in hospital, 13 are suffering from severe burns, five from less serious burns, two from the effects of lyddite fumes, and one each from concussion, severe injury, slight wounds, shock and slight burns."

HMS Amphion - the first British ship sunk in the First World War

The SS City of Winchester becomes the first British merchant ship to be lost during the First World War when a German boarding party from the German light cruiser, Konigsberg, seized control of the vessel off the coast of Oman. The City of Winchester is ordered to head for a group of island nearby. The merchant ship was later sunk (see August 12).

The SMS Konigsberg, which seized the SS City of Winchester

Lord Kitchener asks for 500,000 recruits for the Army, 100,000 to be raised forthwith. This immediate target was achieved within two weeks

A vote of credit for £100,000,000 is agreed by the House of Commons without a division. This was, in effect, Parliamentary sanction of the declaration of war on 4 August. Grey's ultimatum was sent only with the sanction of the Prime Minister, Asquith, and the Cabinet was only informed afterwards.

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