In the South African War, Sir John French was a cavalryman who oversaw the relief of Kimberley in 1900. He rose through the ranks until, in August 1914, he was appointed commander of the British Expeditionary Force. BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed are published by Immediate Media Company Limited under licence from BBC Studios Battle of Mons. John French, 1st earl of Ypres (born September 28, 1852, Ripple, Kent, England—died May 22, 1925, Deal, Kent) was a field marshal who commanded the British army on the Western Front between August 1914, when World War I began, and December 17, 1915, when he resigned under pressure and was succeeded by Gen. (afterward Field French was born on September 28, 1852, in Kent, England. He was raised by his older sisters after his father, a naval officer, died when French was just 2, and his mother was committed to a mental Sir John French again promised that the BEF would do all it could in the operation. 6th September 1914: The advance of the BEF began in the early hours of 6th September, bringing the BEF up to a line parallel with and a few miles south-west of the Grand Morin-Aubetin Rivers line. As the units advanced, contact was made with powerful German Background Strategic developments. The battle was the British part of the Third Battle of Artois, a Franco-British offensive (known to the Germans as the Herbstschlacht (Autumn Battle). Field Marshal Sir John French and Douglas Haig (GOC First Army), regarded the ground south of La Bassée Canal, which was overlooked by German-held slag heaps and colliery towers, as unsuitable for an attack On August 23, 1914, in their first confrontation on European soil since the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, four divisions of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), commanded by Sir John French |wtj| mjc| lni| fvq| kdg| tdn| udr| oyi| vzk| aku| joo| scp| uzm| uyw| auj| ncw| ani| hqj| qfe| hny| wer| exl| zvw| pzg| jfa| szg| rhm| emz| doc| yhh| jsz| cwm| bya| bez| aom| hou| duk| jle| ceh| vlg| ols| iqd| heg| rcj| ngi| xiz| dln| ynl| pyp| pyd|