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The Old Contemptibles: The British Expeditionary Force, 1914
The British entered World War I convinced of victory. Many even predicted an end to hostilities by Christmas. For the British Expeditionary Force, which was instead obliterated by 1915, this proved a costly assumption. In his robust re-examination of the onset of war, Robin Neillands reviews the exploits and character of the BEF, revealing how it came to be both the focus of hasty British hopes and, in the tragedy of its defeat, the catalyst for a policy shift without which the war would surely have been lost. Affectionately known as 'the Old Contemptibles' (a subversion of criticism from the Kaiser), the BEF was, although small, so highly trained and motivated that enemy lines mistook the unremitting accuracy of its rifles for machine gun fire. However, at Ypres, it was nonetheless conclusively defeated, proving that no amount of patriotism, skill or valour could match superior numbers and equipment. This forced the government to re-evaluate conscription and military funding.Using the testimony of both commanders and infantrymen, Robin Neillands' definitive account offers new insight into still highly, and justly, emotive why such appalling numbers perished and to what extent the course of events would have been altered had the initial reaction from Britain been different.
384 pages, Paperback
First published August 2, 2004
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157 people want to read
About the author
Robin Neillands
44 books19 followersRobin Hunter Neillands was a British writer known for his works on travel and military history. A former Royal Marine who served in Cyprus and the Middle East, he later became a prolific author, publishing under multiple pen names. His military histories, often featuring firsthand accounts from veterans, challenged revisionist narratives, particularly regarding Bernard Montgomery, the Dieppe Raid, and the Allied bombing campaign in World War II. Neillands also authored numerous travel books inspired by his extensive journeys across Europe. His works, both popular and scholarly, earned him a nomination for the Royal United Services Institute’s Military Literature Award.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 23, 2023
A well-written and interesting work.
Neillands does a good job setting the political and strategic context for the BEF’s deployment, and in describing the course of the 1914 campaign. Much of the book deals with policymakers and commanders, so Kitchener, French, Haig and Smith-Dorrien feature prominently. Similar to other works on the 1914 campaign, Neillands is critical of French, and more appreciative of Smith-Dorrien. Like so many other statesmen and generals of the Great War, French would go on to write a self-serving memoir of limited historical value, and Neillands notes that French’s is largely a lengthy diatribe against Smith-Dorrien.
The narrative moves along at a fast pace. The book can, however, be a little repetitive when covering the Schlieffen Plan or the French Army’s Plan XVII. Some readers may wish for more coverage of ordinary soldiers and NCOs. At one point Herbert Asquith is called “Hubert.” Neillands also assumes that the reader is fluent in French.
A well-researched and readable work.
Neillands does a good job setting the political and strategic context for the BEF’s deployment, and in describing the course of the 1914 campaign. Much of the book deals with policymakers and commanders, so Kitchener, French, Haig and Smith-Dorrien feature prominently. Similar to other works on the 1914 campaign, Neillands is critical of French, and more appreciative of Smith-Dorrien. Like so many other statesmen and generals of the Great War, French would go on to write a self-serving memoir of limited historical value, and Neillands notes that French’s is largely a lengthy diatribe against Smith-Dorrien.
The narrative moves along at a fast pace. The book can, however, be a little repetitive when covering the Schlieffen Plan or the French Army’s Plan XVII. Some readers may wish for more coverage of ordinary soldiers and NCOs. At one point Herbert Asquith is called “Hubert.” Neillands also assumes that the reader is fluent in French.
A well-researched and readable work.
December 12, 2013
This is a well-researched and very readable account of the British Expeditionary Force of 1914.
Neillands starts with the pre-war plans of the major nations, all of which hinged on 19th century tactics and very little of which survived contact with the enemy. The British plan to mobilise and ship an army to France worked perfectly. However, the planners had failed to recognise that it was the wrong army - equipped to fight the Boers and lacking the heavy weaponry needed for war against an industrialised opponent.
The book then moves on to the fighting itself, the retreat from Mons, the "stopping blow" at Le Cateau, the counter attack on the Marne and finally the grinding attrition of first Ypres. At times you really need a map to follow the action but the author is nothing if not thorough.
Although it took heavy casualties at Ypres the fact that the BEF line didn't break in the face of much larger forces is down to the training and professionalism of the ordinary soldiers. Their rate of rifle fire was so rapid that at times the Germans believed they were using machine guns. In acknowledging this Neillands makes a valid point that although the final months of 1914 set the pattern for the next four years of conflict they also sowed the seed of Germany's defeat.
I'll make my usual gripe about uncorrected OCR errors in the Kindle edition - especially annoying here as they often involve numbers making them impossible to interpret - but overall this is an excellent account and well worth reading for anyone interested in Britain's role in the Great War.
Neillands starts with the pre-war plans of the major nations, all of which hinged on 19th century tactics and very little of which survived contact with the enemy. The British plan to mobilise and ship an army to France worked perfectly. However, the planners had failed to recognise that it was the wrong army - equipped to fight the Boers and lacking the heavy weaponry needed for war against an industrialised opponent.
The book then moves on to the fighting itself, the retreat from Mons, the "stopping blow" at Le Cateau, the counter attack on the Marne and finally the grinding attrition of first Ypres. At times you really need a map to follow the action but the author is nothing if not thorough.
Although it took heavy casualties at Ypres the fact that the BEF line didn't break in the face of much larger forces is down to the training and professionalism of the ordinary soldiers. Their rate of rifle fire was so rapid that at times the Germans believed they were using machine guns. In acknowledging this Neillands makes a valid point that although the final months of 1914 set the pattern for the next four years of conflict they also sowed the seed of Germany's defeat.
I'll make my usual gripe about uncorrected OCR errors in the Kindle edition - especially annoying here as they often involve numbers making them impossible to interpret - but overall this is an excellent account and well worth reading for anyone interested in Britain's role in the Great War.
September 16, 2021
A history of the BEF up to Jan 1915 how and why it went to war. Then a good narrative history from its battles during August -December. It does hammer a couple of points 1) he is not a fan of Field Marshall John French 2) the generals of WWI did not blindly lead men to their death but had an idea of turning the northern flank to gain an advantage, but a problem is both opponents had the same idea and were not successful leading to many losses.
November 3, 2018
No maps, flawed research and excessive jingoism
One of the main problems of the book- its complete lack of maps- might be true only of the ebook version, but in any case it's immensely frustrating. Military history is a bit useless when you don't know where anything is.
One thing that immediately struck me was the very flawed understanding of the political background which is described in, the earlier chapters. Of course, they aren't the point, but the author regularly confuses different German confederations and seems to fundamentally misunderstand the implications of Irish Home Rule, one of the main political issues in Britain in the period preceding the war. The flawed research also pops up when he gets people's names wrong- referring to Massigny when he means Messimy. This too might be some strange ebook error. I can't be sure whether there were any similar inaccuracies regarding the military situation, owing to my unfamiliarity with it, but I can't rule it out.
Beyond serious problems like these there's also a very annoying strain of jingoism throughout, talking about the natural resilience and determination of the British soldiers. Obviously, this is a story of British resilience, and I have no complaint with the author giving praise where it is often deserved, but there's frequent references to some kind of triumphant natural ability of the British which gets annoying quickly. Also annoying is the apparent need to reintroduce the Schlieffen plan and its aims every other chapter.
The author quotes extensively from the Official History and from Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August"; it doesn't come across as rigorous research and instead makes you wonder why you don't just read Tuchman instead. Tuchman's book, like this, is a popular history and very accessible, and although its scope is different I would highly recommend it over this. I don't see any reason to read this book unless you're interested in the BEF to the exclusion of all else.
One of the main problems of the book- its complete lack of maps- might be true only of the ebook version, but in any case it's immensely frustrating. Military history is a bit useless when you don't know where anything is.
One thing that immediately struck me was the very flawed understanding of the political background which is described in, the earlier chapters. Of course, they aren't the point, but the author regularly confuses different German confederations and seems to fundamentally misunderstand the implications of Irish Home Rule, one of the main political issues in Britain in the period preceding the war. The flawed research also pops up when he gets people's names wrong- referring to Massigny when he means Messimy. This too might be some strange ebook error. I can't be sure whether there were any similar inaccuracies regarding the military situation, owing to my unfamiliarity with it, but I can't rule it out.
Beyond serious problems like these there's also a very annoying strain of jingoism throughout, talking about the natural resilience and determination of the British soldiers. Obviously, this is a story of British resilience, and I have no complaint with the author giving praise where it is often deserved, but there's frequent references to some kind of triumphant natural ability of the British which gets annoying quickly. Also annoying is the apparent need to reintroduce the Schlieffen plan and its aims every other chapter.
The author quotes extensively from the Official History and from Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August"; it doesn't come across as rigorous research and instead makes you wonder why you don't just read Tuchman instead. Tuchman's book, like this, is a popular history and very accessible, and although its scope is different I would highly recommend it over this. I don't see any reason to read this book unless you're interested in the BEF to the exclusion of all else.
September 6, 2018
This is a mixed offering.
On the plus side, it is a good descriptive account of the early battles of the BEF in France and Flanders in 1914. In particular, the author does a fine job of describing the sequence of battles in October and November that have been packaged as The First Battle of Ypres. Mr Neillands does well in offering a clear narrative of the overlapping encounters and the sheer brutality and carnage experienced on all sides.
On the minus side, the opening chapters of the book are of a poor standard for a professional historian. The chapter "The Continent Goes to War, 1871-1914" is troubled by factual errors (e.g. p.10 - The 'Ems Telegram' was not a missive from Napoleon III; p.11 - Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended the German imperial throne in June, not July, 1888). There is also a continual referencing in the text of other historians in the early chapters, which reminded me of my student essays forty years' ago.
Overall, my advice would be to read this book for the narrative of the early battles to get a sense of the key events, before looking at other material for a deeper analysis of the BEF's 1914 campaigns.
On the plus side, it is a good descriptive account of the early battles of the BEF in France and Flanders in 1914. In particular, the author does a fine job of describing the sequence of battles in October and November that have been packaged as The First Battle of Ypres. Mr Neillands does well in offering a clear narrative of the overlapping encounters and the sheer brutality and carnage experienced on all sides.
On the minus side, the opening chapters of the book are of a poor standard for a professional historian. The chapter "The Continent Goes to War, 1871-1914" is troubled by factual errors (e.g. p.10 - The 'Ems Telegram' was not a missive from Napoleon III; p.11 - Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended the German imperial throne in June, not July, 1888). There is also a continual referencing in the text of other historians in the early chapters, which reminded me of my student essays forty years' ago.
Overall, my advice would be to read this book for the narrative of the early battles to get a sense of the key events, before looking at other material for a deeper analysis of the BEF's 1914 campaigns.
July 5, 2017
Very good read
Well researched and written. Informative without being academic. Unfortunately there wasn't more of it. It was read very quickly, a great read. One of the best available on this subject.
Well researched and written. Informative without being academic. Unfortunately there wasn't more of it. It was read very quickly, a great read. One of the best available on this subject.
March 1, 2020
An excellent account of the bef but takes a while to get going. Very good on debunking some myths of the first war such as that the British generals were fools.
January 26, 2023
Simply excellent, clear and concise, cogently argued, myth-busting. Neilland is an excellent historian, always in control of his subject.
December 26, 2022
The Kaiser’s Nemesis…
A quite brilliant read. Fast paced and almost unputdownable in parts, Neillands narrates lovingly what was instilled within Britain’s last truly professional army; courage, determination and compassion. My grandfather, a Normandy veteran, once said, ‘I tip my hat to the finest soldier in all the world - the British Soldier.’ He was relating to the war in which he served, but the foundations for the army of which he was a part were laid by the men of ‘The Old Contemptible’s’ and its to them we owe our freedom. Outstanding 5 stars.
A quite brilliant read. Fast paced and almost unputdownable in parts, Neillands narrates lovingly what was instilled within Britain’s last truly professional army; courage, determination and compassion. My grandfather, a Normandy veteran, once said, ‘I tip my hat to the finest soldier in all the world - the British Soldier.’ He was relating to the war in which he served, but the foundations for the army of which he was a part were laid by the men of ‘The Old Contemptible’s’ and its to them we owe our freedom. Outstanding 5 stars.
December 15, 2014
I started reading this book because of its title "The Old Contemptibles". It is also the name of the next in the series of Richard Jury mysteries I've been reading. Each of the Jury mysteries is named after a pub in England and I wondered where this strange name came from. Well, it turns out it is the name given by Kaiser Wilhelm to the British Expeditionary Force as he was about to engage them (along with the French and Belgian armies) in The Great War (WWI). This book is a pretty thorough analysis of the first battles of that war up to January 1915. As we are now 100 years from the start of The Great War, I found this a rather interesting book. It is mostly readable and would probably be appreciated even more by someone familiar with the mechanics of fighting a war, but even I got a good deal out of the experience. I was reading a Kindle version and would recommend having a map available at all times. The author, Robin Neillands, has also written a follow up book, called "The Death of Glory", which covers The Great War during 1915. Then I googled him and found he was a military historian with many, many books under his belt. This book focuses mostly on the BEF and in addition to covering the movements and strategies of the war, he also covers the personalities involved and the events leading up to the war and the effects of the war on the world and on Britain. Suffice it to say that the Kaiser found the BEF not quite of contemptible as he originally thought. The soldiers of the First World War were a brave lot indeed and this war proved a turning point in the way war was waged ever after.
December 21, 2013
I just finished a book written by Robin Neillands titled "The Old Comtemptibles - British Expeditionary Force, 1914"
The book is well written and although covers common knowledge on the early battles up to First Ypres, the author explodes with detailed information of the many battles leading up to the actual First Battle of Ypres.
I found his commentary compelling, leaving me with a deeper knowledge and understanding of how the accumulation of battles contributed to the attrition of the British professional soldier. The book offers story after story of the tenacity and heroism of this magnificent group of men.
After three years of researching the early battles of the war, I still found interesting facts I had not found in other sources. Of course Neillands focus was on the infantry since most of them paid the ultimate sacrifice, but for myself, I wish he would have provided a little more information on the RFA and RHA.
By the end of the book I was greatly moved by his portrayal of Britten's professional army. I was also impressed by his inclusion of both the Belgian and French armies contribution and sacrifices during the series of battles that make up First Ypres.
December 16, 2015
Good look at the BEF in 1914. The author points out the mistakes made in the hurry to get an army into the field to help the French allies. The author obviously does not think much of Field Marshal French or Major-General Wilson, who had a behind-the-scenes role not commensurate with his rank. I learned a great deal about the men on both sides, who struggled for victory only to see it slip away into the horror of trench warfare.
100 years after the events of 1914 took place, the reader can still ask why and how nations could let this tragedy happen. The BEF did not have that luxury. "The Old Contemptibles" did their duty, holding on while their ranks were nearly destroyed. For that, they should never be forgotten.
100 years after the events of 1914 took place, the reader can still ask why and how nations could let this tragedy happen. The BEF did not have that luxury. "The Old Contemptibles" did their duty, holding on while their ranks were nearly destroyed. For that, they should never be forgotten.
June 22, 2016
Well researched history of the destruction of the old professionals of the BEF. They were the finest expression of the 19th Century British Army. They were all long service volunteers in an era of multi-million conscript armies of continental Europe. There were only 150,000 of them in 1914. By January 1915 almost 70% were dead, wounded or missing. They were undersupplied, poorly led, and always outnumbered. But they held the line until help arrived. It is an awe inspiring story of sheer courage and what the term "professional soldier" means.
October 13, 2013
Historian Neillands offers an absorbing analysis of the patchwork alliances that led to the outbreak of WW1, from the Sudan to Sarajevo, and traces the decisions that led to Britain sending its small but professional army (half the size of the Belgian army!) to war. The Contemptibles shot the Germans flat, but at the sacrifice of themselves to overwhelming force. It's a good historical insight, and a tribute to the often-overlooked heroes of Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne and the Aisne.
November 15, 2015
Just finished reading The Old Contemptibles: The British Expeditionary Force, 1914 by Robin Neillands. Written more at the Strategic and Operational levels rather than the Tactical, this book discusses how the BEF ended up in France in 1914, and what they did when they got there. General French is seen as the main antagonist in the early campaigns, with Smith-Dorrien as the unheralded hero.
January 23, 2015
The Old Contemptibles is a very readable account of the fate of the BEF in the 1st year of the Great War. Neilands devotes a great deal of attention to the personality conflicts and idiosyncrasies of the British generals.
November 27, 2015
Excellent book
I had only known of the story to the Marne not what occurred after that. This book filled the gap in the story for me. An extremely good read well written and always interesting.
I had only known of the story to the Marne not what occurred after that. This book filled the gap in the story for me. An extremely good read well written and always interesting.
Read
June 5, 2016Read the first chapter or so of this while in England for a weekend back in 2009. Finally finished it six years later on the kindle.
October 30, 2014
Good read. Very detailed. Learned a lot about the BEF.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews