The Old Contemptibles

The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the formation of the British Army on the Western Front during the First World War. In its original form it comprised six divisions, sent by Britain to France in 1914 to aid in resisting the German invasion. Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the 1906–1912 Haldane Reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The designation "British Expeditionary Force" remained the official name of the British armies in France and Flanders throughout the First World War; but in general usage the term often refers only to the forces present in France during 1914, up to the end of the First Battle of Ypres (22 November) or to 26 December, when the BEF was divided into the First and Second Armies. (A Third, Fourth and Fifth were created later in the war). During that year the BEF helped stop the German advance, but by the year's end – after the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, First Aisne and First Ypres – the then BEF had been almost exhausted. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, who was famously dismissive of the BEF, was widely said in Britain to have issued an order on 19 August 1914 to "exterminate ... the treacherous English and walk over General French's contemptible little army". Hence, in later years, the survivors of the 1914 army dubbed themselves "The Old Contemptibles". No evidence of any such order being issued by the Kaiser has ever been found.