By Captain G. S. Gordon With an Introduction by Field-Marshal Lord French 1/6 net . The Evening News. —‘... The true history of those amazing and heroic days, briefly and clearly told by a soldier and an expert.’...

By Lieut. Col. F. E. Whitton , C.M.G. 10/6 net . Saturday Review. —‘... Clear and concise ... gives a much better general impression of the Battle of the Marne than any other we know.’...

By Field-Marshal Viscount French of Ypres, K.P., O.M., etc. With a Preface by Maréchal Foch 21/- net . CONSTABLE AND CO. LTD., LONDON. YPRES, 1914 AN OFFICIAL ACCOUNT PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE GERMAN GENERAL STAFF TRANSLATION BY G. C. W. WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY THE HISTORICAL SECTION (MILITARY BRANCH) COMMITTEE OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE LONDON CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD 1919 Printed in Great Britain...

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The German book of which a translation is here given was written in the autumn of 1917 by Captain Otto Schwink, a General Staff Officer, by order of the Chief of the General Staff of the Field Army, and is stated to be founded on official documents. It forms one of a series of monographs, partly projected, partly published, on the various phases of the war, but is the only one that is available dealing with operations in which the British Army was engaged. Several concerned with the Eastern thea

The gigantic scale of the present war defies comparison with those of the past, and battles which formerly held the world in suspense are now almost forgotten. The German people have been kept informed of the progress of events on all fronts since the 4th August 1914, by the daily official reports of the German General Staff, but the general public will have been unable to gather from these a coherent and continuous story of the operations. For this reason the General Staff of the German Field A

There is no more brilliant campaign in history than the advance of our armies against the Western Powers in August and early September 1914. The weak French attacks into Alsace, the short-lived effort to beat back the centre and right wing of our striking-force, the active defence of the Allied hostile armies and the passive resistance of the great Belgian and French fortresses, all failed to stop our triumphal march. The patriotic devotion and unexampled courage of each individual German soldie

The country in which it was hoped to bring about the final decision of the campaign of 1914 was not favourable to an attack from east to west. Western Flanders, the most western part of Belgium, is almost completely flat, and lies only slightly above sea-level, and in some parts is even below it. Mount Kemmel , in the south, is the only exception; rising to a height of over 500 feet, it is the watch-tower of Western Flanders. Before the war it was a well-wooded ridge with pretty enclosures and v

An Army Order of 16th October 1914 gave the following instructions for the 18th:— The III Reserve Corps to march to the line Coxyde-Furnes-Oeren , west of the Yser . The XXII Reserve Corps to the line Aertrycke-Thourout . The XXIII Reserve Corps to the line Lichtervelde-Ardoye . The XXVI Reserve Corps to the Area Emelghem-Iseghem , and, on the left wing, the XXVII Reserve Corps to the line Lendelede-Courtrai . The XXII, XXIII, XXVI and XXVII Reserve Corps all reached their appointed destinations

(Signed) Duke Albert of Würtemburg , General and Army Commander . Army Headquarters, Brussels , 15th October 1914 . Who can deny that the task set to the Fourth Army was not an infinitely difficult one. It would have probably been achieved nevertheless if the Belgians at the moment of their greatest peril had not called the sea to their aid to bring the German attack to a halt. Let us, however, now get down to the facts. On 20th October the III Reserve Corps, the battering ram of the Fourth Army

Throughout the fighting of the Fourth Army during October, the Sixth Army under Crown Prince Rupert of Bavaria had remained on the offensive on the line Arras-La Bassée —east of Armentières ; [48] but although fresh reinforcements had been sent up to that part of the front by the German General Staff, a break-through had not been possible. Both sides had gradually changed their objectives and now merely sought to prevent any movement of the opposing forces from that front to the decisive zone of

Whilst the northern wing of the Sixth Army under General von Fabeck was engaged in the heavy fighting just described, the Fourth Army of Duke Albert of Würtemburg had been doing its utmost, by means of constant attacks, to prevent the enemy from withdrawing any troops from his front to support his endangered positions near Ypres . By 11 A.M. on the 3rd November the reorganisation of the German forces rendered necessary by the inundation of the front between the coast and Dixmude had been suffici

When the 4th Division and von Winckler’s Guard Division were sent forward on the 9th November into the northern part of the fighting line, formerly occupied by the XV Corps, the II Bavarian Corps, from the heights of St. Eloi it had just stormed, was able to look right down on Ypres . The orders of the Sixth Army commander, dated the 7th and 8th November, had given all the necessary instructions for the employment of the new units. The 4th Infantry Division and von Winckler’s Guard Division were

As the November storms passed and frost and icy winds heralded to the mild climate of Flanders the approach of winter, the unbroken defensive lines of both sides were being slowly strengthened. The effect of artillery fire compelled them to make cover in good trenches and behind thick breast-works. As the armament in use became more and more powerful, artificial shelter, where the surface water allowed it, had to be made deeper and deeper in the earth. At first passive defence was little underst

The following units were also attached at various times:—...

Group Gerok was also temporarily in the Army Group Fabeck ....

[1] See p. 115 . [2] Fourth Army Cavalry. The Army Cavalry of the Sixth Army is stated on p. 56 to have been eight divisions, among which, according to p. 57 , were the 3rd, 7th and Bavarian Cavalry Divisions, included above in the Army Cavalry of the Fourth Army. It may be noted that in ‘Liège-Namur’ in the same series of General Staff Monographs the composition of the II Cavalry Corps is given as the 2nd, 4th and 9th Cavalry Divisions. [3] There is a further mistake (see footnote 110 ): the Ki