December 3

King George V, still in France, invests Sir John French with the Order of Merit.

It is announced that Expeditionary Forces from Australia and New Zealand have landed in Egypt to complete their training.

November 27

Field Marshal von Hindenburg

Sir John French's Fourth Despatch is published in the London Gazette. It covers the move of the BEF from the Aisne to Flanders, and the battles between La Bassee and Ypres (otherwise known as "First Ypres").

It is announced that the first British War Loan, launched on November 17, is over subscribed.

The Kaiser promotes General von Hindenburg a field marshal.

October 16

The Battle of the Yser begins.

Battle of the Yser

Sir John French's Second Despatch is published in the London Gazette. It describes the retreat from Le Cateau to the far side of the Seine and the dramatic turnabout and epic Battle of the Marne. Sir John's Third Despatch, covering the Battle of the Aisne, when the Germans dug in and defended stoutly. Movement was over and trench warfare began, is also published in the same edition.

Troops of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force set sail from Wellington.

September 14

The first Battle of the Masurian Lakes ends in a German victory. The Germans push the Russian First Army back, ejecting it from German soil. Further progress was hampered by the arrival of the Russian Tenth Army on the Germans' left flank. Despite its numerical superiority and heavily fortified defensive position, the Russians suffer defeat and are forced to retreat in disarray. Russian  losses are great, and Russian plans on the Eastern Front are left in disarray.

The Eastern Front, September 1914

In the Battle of the Aisne, a stalemate ensues. Sir John French orders the BEF to begin digging defensive positions - the beginning of trench warfare on the Western Front.

At 4am, 116 of the 26th Brigade RFA is with the 1st Brigade forming an advanced guard. 117 and 118 marches to Tour de Paissy. At 8am 117 and 118 are in action at Arbre de Paissy.At 10.30am 118 advances to a position south of Chemin des Dames.

The British armed merchant cruiser RMS Carmania sinks the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Cap Trafalgar off the Trinidade and Martim Vaz archipeligo. The action is otherwise known as the Battle of Trinidade.

The Battle of Trinidade

The Australian submarine AE1 disappears while patrolling the St George's Strait between New Britain and New Ireland. It is the first vessel of the Royal Australian Navy to be lost in the war.

September 8 - Loss of the "Oceanic"

RMS Oceanic runs aground off the island of Foula and is wrecked. No lives are lost. She is the first Allied passenger ship to be lost in the war, albeit due to a navigational error.

RMS Oceanic

Sir John French's first official dispatch on the progress of the war is published in the London Gazette. You can read his dispatch in full here.

Loyd George

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, refers to "silver bullets". In his speech he said, "I think cash is going to count much more than we possibly imagine at the present moment. ... That is where our resources will come in, not merely of men but but of cash. We have won with the silver bullets before. We financed Europe in the greatest war we ever fought, and that is what won."

You can read this speech in full by following this link.

The 26th Brigade RFA forms an advanced guard with the 1st Brigade. They move to Le Frenois, near Choisy. At 11am, 116 and 118 are in action south of Bellot. Their march continued to bivouack north of Hondevilliers. At 5pm, 116 Battery moved out of bivouack and shells a German column moving through Nogent.

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

August 1

Sir John French

During the day, King George V telegraphed the Czar saying, "I cannot help thinking that some misunderstanding has produced this deadlock. I am most anxious not to miss any possibility of avoiding the terrible calamity which at present threatens the whole world."

Meanwhile the Czar sent another appeal to the Kaiser, whilst the Kaiser was now determined to honour his promise to help Austria. At 5pm the Kaiser ordered the mobilisation of all German forces.

In the evening, the German Ambassador to Russia, Count Pourtales, handed the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergius Sazonoff, the German declaration of war.

Italy and Denmark declare themselves neutral.

Sir John French is appointed Inspector-General of the Forces.

British naval reserves are called up.

During the night, a small German force entered Luxembourg to occupy a rail and telegraph junction, the first steps in the long-prepared Schlieffen Plan.