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The deployment plan for the western armies Westheer, allocated to the 7th Army (Generaloberst Josias von Heeringen) the XIV and XV corps, the XIV Reserve Corps and the 60th Landwehr Brigade, to deploy from Strasbourg to Mulhouse and Freiburg-im-Breisgau and the command of fortresses at Strasbourg and Neuf-Brisach. The 1st and 2nd Bavarian brigades, 55th Landwehr Brigade, Landwehr Regiment 110 and a battery of heavy field howitzers were also added to the army under the provisional command of the XIV Corps commander. In 1914, the XIV Corps near the Swiss border, guarded the frontier with the 58th Brigade and XV Corps guarded the border from Donon to the Rheinkopf, with several infantry regiments and Jäger battalions, with some artillery and cavalry. The mobilisation and deployment was completed from 8–13 August but the German troops were concentrated further north than anticipated, to be ready to meet a French offensive from Belfort with concentric attacks from the north and east.

The deployment plan for the western armies Westheer, allocated to the 7th Army (Generaloberst Josias von Heeringen) the XIV and XV corps, the XIV Reserve Corps and the 60th Landwehr Brigade, to deploy from Strasbourg to Mulhouse and Freiburg-im-Breisgau and the command of fortresses at Strasbourg and Neuf-Brisach. The 1st and 2nd Bavarian brigades, 55th Landwehr Brigade, Landwehr Regiment 110 and a battery of heavy field howitzers were also added to the army under the provisional command of the XIV Corps commander. In 1914, the XIV Corps near the Swiss border, guarded the frontier with the 58th Brigade and XV Corps guarded the border from Donon to the Rheinkopf, with several infantry regiments and Jäger battalions, with some artillery and cavalry. The mobilisation and deployment was completed from 8–13 August but the German troops were concentrated further north than anticipated, to be ready to meet a French offensive from Belfort with concentric attacks from the north and east.

A few border skirmishes took place after the declaration of war and German reconnaissance patrols found that the French had a chain of frontier posts, supported by larger fortified positions further back; after 5 August more patrols were sent out as French activity increased. French troops advanced from Gérardmer to the Schlucht Pass, where the Germans retreated and blew up the tunnel. Joffre had directed the First and Second armies to engage as many German divisions as possible, in order to assist French forces operating further north. The French VII Corps with the 14th and 41st divisions, under the command of General Bonneau, advanced from Belfort to Mulhouse and Colmar 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the north-east. The French advance was hampered by the breakdown of the supply service and many delays but seized the border town of Altkirch 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Mulhouse with a bayonet charge.

General Paul Pau was put in command of a new Army of Alsace, whereas the VII Corps commander Bonneau was dismissed ("limogé") by Joffre. The new army was reinforced with the 44th Division, the 55th Reserve Division, the 8th Cavalry Division and the 1st Group of Reserve Divisions (58th, 63rd and 66th Reserve divisions), with the aim to re-invade Alsace on 14 August as part of the larger offensive by the First and Second armies into Lorraine. Rupprecht of Bavaria, planned to move two corps of the 7th Army towards Sarrebourg and Strasbourg; Heeringen objected because the French had not been decisively defeated, but nevertheless most of the 7th Army was moved north. The Army of Alsace began the new offensive against four Landwehr brigades, which fought a delaying action, as the French advanced from Belfort with two divisions on the right passing through Dannemarie at the head of the valley of the Ill river. On the left flank, two divisions advanced in cooperation with Chasseur battalions, which had moved into the Fecht valley on 12 August. On the evening of 14 August, Thann was captured and the most advanced troops had passed beyond the suburbs of Cernay and Dannemarie on the western outskirts of the city by 16 August. On 18 August, the VII Corps attacked Mulhouse and captured Altkirch on the south-eastern flank, as the northern flank advanced towards Colmar and Neuf-Brisach.

The German II Cavalry Corps under General Georg von der Marwitz was ordered to conduct reconnaissance towards Antwerp, Brussels and Charleroi and by 7 August, had found that the area to a line from Diest to Huy empty of Belgian and Allied troops. Belgian and French troops were rumoured to be between Tienen and Huy and Marwitz advanced to the north towards parties of Belgian cavalry, which had retired towards Diest. On 11 August, large bodies of German cavalry, artillery and infantry had been seen by Belgian cavalry scouts in the area from Sint-Truiden to Hasselt and Diest. Belgian headquarters therefore anticipated a German advance towards Hasselt and Diest.

On 13 July all counter-attacks were cancelled and command arrangements were reorganised ready for an expected British attack, Gruppe Von Gossler from the Somme to Longueval with the 123rd Division and parts of the 12th and 11th Reserve divisions, Gruppe von Armin from Longueval to the Ancre with Division Burckhardt, 183rd Division and the 3rd Guard Division. Gruppe von Stein with the 2nd Guard Reserve Division, 52nd Division and the 26th Reserve Division, was made responsible for the front from the Ancre to Monchy au Bois. Many of the divisions were composed of units from other formations, brought in piecemeal to replace the "very heavy" casualties of existing units. Bavarian Infantry Regiment 16 was the last reserve of the 10th Bavarian Division and had lost many casualties around Mametz and Trônes Wood, the III Battalion having been reduced to 236 men.

At 8:50 a.m. Horne ordered the 7th Division to relieve the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division at High Wood as soon as they had captured it and the 21st Division to advance north to capture the ground from Bazentin le Petit to the Martinpuich light railway to assist the III Corps attack between the 21st division and Black Watch Alley. The 21st Division and 1st Division were to attack at 2:30 p.m. and the 34th Division was to patrol towards Pozières. The cavalry had been ordered forward from Moralncourt at 7:40 a.m. but found the going very difficult, the ground being wet and cut trenches and shell-holes. The Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade took until the afternoon to reach Montauban and at 12:15 a.m.

The corps aircraft photographed and reconnoitred the area before the attack and flew artillery-observation and contact patrols during the battle. Army squadrons flew further afield and denied German reconnaissance aircraft view of British troop movements, particularly behind the XI Corps front. On 19 July, aircraft from two squadrons patrolled the area towards Lille and had numerous air fights, in which two Fokkers and a British DH.2 were shot down. Bombing raids on German army billets, supply dumps and the railways from Lille to Lens, Douai, Cambrai and Valenciennes also took place.

The German IX Corps relieved IV Corps and the commander cancelled the planned counter-attack, choosing to concentrate on the defence of the O.G. Lines, which were the next objective of the British. The bombardment reached a climax on 26 July and by 5:00 p.m. the Australians, believing an attack was imminent, appealed for a counter-barrage. The artillery of I Anzac Corps, II Corps and the guns of the two neighbouring British corps replied. This in turn led the Germans to believe the Australians were preparing to attack and so they increased their fire yet again. It was not until midnight that the shelling subsided.

Joffre issued instructions on 18 August but held back the Third and Fourth armies because air and cavalry reconnaissance found few German troops opposite the two armies, only a large force moving north-west 40–50 kilometres (25–31 mi) away. On 19 August the Fourth army of General Fernand de Langle de Cary was ordered to occupy the bridges over the Semois but not to advance into Belgium until the German offensive began. A premature attack would advance into a trap rather than give time for the Germans to empty Luxembourg of troops before the French advanced. On 20 August the German armies in the south attacked the French First and Second armies and next day the Third and Fourth armies began their offensive. The Fourth Army crossed the Semois and advanced towards Neufchâteau and the Third Army of General Pierre Ruffey attacked towards Arlon, as a right flank guard for the Fourth army. South of Verdun, the Third army was renamed Army of Lorraine and was to watch for a German offensive from Metz, which left the remainder of the Third Army free to concentrate on the offensive into Belgium. The French armies invaded Belgium with nine infantry corps but ten German corps and six reserve brigades of the 4th and 5th armies lay between Metz and the north of Luxembourg.

Charbonneau explained that the defeat of the Colonial Corps was caused by faulty reconnaissance, the ineffectiveness of advanced guards in causing delay to advancing German units and that French offensive tactics neglected the importance of obtaining a superiority of fire, which had led to reckless attacks. The quality of the German opponents was not mentioned but German reconnaissance had been effective, communication between commanders and subordinates had not broken down, mutual support between neighbouring units had occurred and German artillery had provided continuous close fire support. At Neufchâteau, the French colonial infantry had been out-gunned and outnumbered by German units, which had been able to engage all their forces quickly. The French XII Corps had a greater number of guns but was not able to overcome two German infantry battalions. German artillery had engaged the Colonial Brigade from close range but when in a hastily occupied defensive position, the French had nullified much of the German artillery-fire; French troops caught in the open had been annihilated. Both sides had attempted to gain fire superiority before advancing and once this had been achieved by the Germans, they had been able to manoeuvre without severe casualties

Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and on 9 August the BEF began embarking for France. Unlike Continental European armies, the BEF in 1914 was exceedingly small. At the beginning of the war the German and French armies numbered well over a million men each, divided into eight and five field armies respectively; the BEF had c. 80,000 soldiers in two corps of entirely professional soldiers made up of long-service volunteer soldiers and reservists. The BEF was probably the best trained and most experienced of the European armies of 1914. British training emphasised rapid-fire marksmanship and the average British soldier was able to hit a man-sized target fifteen times a minute, at a range of 300 yards (270 m) with his Lee–Enfield rifle. This ability to generate a high volume of accurate rifle-fire played an important role in the BEF's battles of 1914.

The first contact between the two armies occurred on 21 August, when a British bicycle reconnaissance team encountered a German unit near Obourg; and Private John Parr became the first British soldier to be killed in the war.　 The first substantial action occurred on the morning of 22 August. At 6:30 a.m., the 4th Dragoon Guards laid an ambush for a patrol of German lancers outside the village of Casteau, to the north-east of Mons. When the Germans spotted the trap and fell back, a troop of the dragoons, led by Captain Hornby gave chase, followed by the rest of his squadron, all with drawn sabres. The retreating Germans led the British to a larger force of lancers, whom they promptly charged and Captain Hornby became the first British soldier to kill an enemy in the Great War, fighting on horseback with sword against lance. After a further pursuit of a few miles, the Germans turned and fired upon the British cavalry, at which point the dragoons dismounted and opened fire. Drummer Edward Thomas is reputed to have fired the first shot of the war for the British Army, hitting a German trooper.

Advancing towards the British was the German 1st Army, commanded by Alexander von Kluck. The 1st Army was composed of four active corps (II, III, IV, and IX Corps) and three reserve corps (III, IV and IX Reserve corps), although only the active corps took part in the fighting at Mons. German corps had two divisions each, with attendant cavalry and artillery. The 1st Army had the greatest offensive power of the German armies, with a density of c. 18,000 men per 1-mile (1.6 km) of front, or about ten per 1 metre (1.1 yd).

Late on 20 August General Karl von Bülow, the 2nd Army commander, who had tactical control over the 1st Army while north of the Sambre, held the view that an encounter with the British was unlikely and wished to concentrate on the French units reported between Charleroi and Namur, on the south bank of the Sambre; reconnaissance in the afternoon failed to reveal the strength or intentions of the French. The 2nd Army was ordered to reach a line from Binch, Fontaine-l'Eveque and the Sambre next day to assist the 3rd Army across the Meuse by advancing south of the Sambre on 23 August. The 1st Army was instructed to be ready to cover Brussels and Antwerp to the north and Maubeuge to the south-west. Kluck and the 1st Army staff expected to meet British troops, probably through Lille, which made a wheel to the south premature. Kluck wanted to advance to the south-west to maintain freedom of manuoeuvre and on 21 August, attempted to persuade Bülow to allow the 1st Army to continue its manoeuvre. Bülow refused and ordered the 1st Army to isolate Maubeuge and support the right flank of the 2nd Army, by advancing to a line from Lessines to Soignies, while the III and IV Reserve corps remained in the north, to protect the rear of the army from Belgian operations southwards from Antwerp.

On 22 August, the 13th Division of the VII Corps, on the right flank of the 2nd Army, encountered British cavalry north of Binche, as the rest of the army to the east began an attack over the Sambre river, against the French Fifth Army. By the evening the bulk of the 1st Army had reached a line from Silly to Thoricourt, Louvignies and Mignault; the III and IV Reserve corps had occupied Brussels and screened Antwerp. Reconnaissance by cavalry and aircraft indicated that the area to the west of the army was free of troops and that British troops were not concentrating around Kortrijk, Lille and Tournai but were thought to be on the left flank of the Fifth Army, from Mons to Maubeuge. Earlier in the day, British cavalry had been reported at Casteau, to the north-east of Mons. A British aeroplane had been seen at Louvain (Leuven) on 20 August and on the afternoon of 22 August, a British aircraft en route from Maubeuge, was shot down by the 5th Division. More reports had reached the IX Corps, that columns were moving from Valenciennes to Mons, which made clear the British deployment but were not passed on to the 1st Army headquarters. Kluck assumed that the subordination of the 1st Army to the 2nd Army had ended, since the passage of the Sambre had been forced. Kluck wished to be certain to envelop the left (west) flank of the opposing forces to the south but was again over-ruled and ordered to advance south, rather than south-west, on 23 August.

The second trench was captured and held for about half an hour, during which several counter-attacks were repulsed and then the raiders withdrew, because of a shortage of ammunition and mounting casualties. The German support position was not reached by the infantry, because the German defensive tactics included shelling trenches where the British had gained a foothold. In fewer than five hours the three Southdowns Battalions of the Royal Sussex lost 17 officers and 349 men killed, including 12 sets of brothers, three from one family. CSM Nelson Victor Carter was awarded a Victoria Cross (posthumous) for his actions in the battle. A further 1,000 men were wounded or taken prisoner. In the regimental history is is known as "The Day Sussex Died". The corps commander looked upon the attack as a raid and considered it to be successful.

By the end of 1 July, the Sixth Army had captured all of the German first position except Frise on the Somme Canal. Few casualties had been suffered and 4,000 prisoners had been taken. On the south bank, Territorials buried the dead and cleared the battlefield of unexploded ammunition, as artillery was moved forward to prepared positions. I Colonial Corps had advanced within attacking distance of the German second position and indications that the Germans were withdrawing artillery had been detected. In 48 hours, the French had broken through on an 8-kilometre (5.0 mi) front. The advance of I Colonial Corps created a salient and German artillery, safe on the east bank of the Somme and assisted by more aircraft and observation balloons, could enfilade the defences hurriedly built by French troops and make movement on the Flaucourt Plateau impossible in daylight. German counter-attacks at Belloy, La Maisonette and Biaches, increased French casualties. A bold suggestion for a French attack northwards across the river was rejected. By 6 July, Foch had decided to attack on both banks and to extend the attack with the Tenth Army, on the right of the Sixth Army, to exploit success on any part of the front.

By 05:30, the main German and Ottoman force was in a disorganised retreat towards Katia, with the 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades and the Ayrshire and Leicestershire batteries not far behind. At 06:00, a further 119 men surrendered to the infantry in No. 3 Redoubt; while these prisoners were being dealt with, it became apparent that they were part of a rearguard and that a full retreat was under way. At 06:30, Lawrence ordered Chauvel to take command of all troops and to initiate a vigorous general advance eastwards.

Von Kressenstein's raids confirmed the impracticality, identified by Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, in November 1914, of defending the Suez Canal from the western side. Near the end of 1915, with the Gallipoli campaign drawing to an end, Cabinet authorised new positions to be established in the desert about 11,000 yards (10 km) east of the Canal, strengthening defence of the canal against long range guns, and agreed to provide additional troops. Port Said became Headquarters of these new defences, with an Advanced Headquarters at Kantara. The defences were organised into three sectors: No. 1 (Southern): Suez to Kabrit HQ Suez – IX Corps No. 2 (Central): Kabrit to Ferdan HQ Ismailia – I ANZAC Corps (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) No. 3 (Northern): Ferdan to Port Said – XV Corps