![]() ![]() Sir John French again promised that the BEF would do all it could in the operation. Sir John French promised the support of the BEF.Īt 2pm, General Joffre arrived at GHQ and begged British support for the attack ‘In the name of France’. Many of the 5th Army units could be and were halted during the day.Īt 9am on 5th September 1914, General Manoury arrived at GHQ and explained to Field Marshal French his plan of attack, to be launched from a position west of the River Ourcq early the next day, 6th September. The retreating BEF formations were left to finish the day’s journey, and rest up, before returning over the ground they had just covered. The BEF and some of the French 5th Army units were already under way, marching away from the Germans, when Joffre’s instructions reached the senior headquarters. The timing of the new order caused some difficulty. The three armies on the left were to go on the offensive Manoury’s French 6th Army and I Cavalry Corps advancing from Paris, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) advancing north east, and Franchet d’Esperey’s French 5th Army advancing north, to and across the Marne River and then on to the Aisne River. The French armies in the centre and on the right, in the line south-east from Verdun to the Swiss border, were to remain in that position. In the early hours of 5th September 1914, General Joffre issued his instructions for the offensive. These developments took place over the period 6th to 10th September 1914 during the Battle of the Marne.įrench cuirassiers passing through Paris in 1914: the girl giving the flower is said to have been British: Battle of the Marne, fought from 6th to 9th September 1914, during the First World War 5th September 1914: To the east the French line curved north-east to the fortress town of Verdun, and then south towards the Swiss border.Īs von Kluck realised that his flank was seriously threatened, he interposed a number of cavalry divisions and mobile units in front of the BEF, commanded by General von der Marwitz, to give his infantry formations the opportunity to withdraw to the Aisne, where the Germans were preparing stronger and more permanent defences. Von Kluck’s German First Army faced General Franchet D’Esperey’s French 5th Army. To the north-west of the BEF, the French 6th Army and the Paris garrison were moving east against the flank and rear of the German IV Reserve Corps. The French 5th Army was to the east of the BEF. The BEF was in a line to the south-west of the Grand Morin and Aubetin Rivers. The change for the French and the British, from headlong retreat to precipitous attack, took place on 5th/6th September 1914. ![]() The German strategy assumed that the BEF was no longer an effective fighting force, and that General Manoury’s 6th Army on the German western flank was no threat, both assumptions to be proved wrong in the Battle of the Marne. Map of the Battle of the Marne, fought from 6th to 9th September 1914, during the First World War: map by John Fawkes Size of the Armies at the Battle of the Marne: The German Armies in France were weakened by the need to send 2 Corps to re-enforce the Eastern Front in East Prussia, in the light of the heavy defeat suffered by their Austro-Hungarian allies in Serbia, and their extreme difficulties at Lemburg, where a large Austro-Hungarian army finally surrendered to the Russians. Generaloberst von Kluck commanded the German First Army, the major German formation facing the BEF. Generaloberst von Moltke was the German Chief of Staff and de facto commander of the German Armies in the West under the Kaiser. General Franchet D’Esperey commanded the French 5th Army. General Manoury commanded the French 6th Army. Field Marshal Sir John French commanded the BEF. War: The First World War also known as ‘The Great War’.Ĭontestants at the Battle of the Marne: The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Army against the German Western Army.Ĭommanders at the Battle of the Marne: General Joffre commanded the French Army. Place of the Battle of the Marne: France, to the east of Paris. The next battle in the First World War is the Battle of the Aisneĭate of the Battle of the Marne: 6th to 9th September 1914. The previous battle in the First World War is the Battle of Villers Cottérêts British soldiers of the Middlesex Regiment under shrapnel fire during the Battle of the Marne, fought from 6th to 9th September 1914, during the First World War ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |