The record of the British Expeditionary Force from Mons to Ypres, between August and November,
1914
A programme composed in memory of a great feat of arms, by Beatrix Brice (author of the verses to the First Seven Divisions, ' 0 little mighty
Force that stood for England ')
Produced by B. W. Cave-Browne -
Cave
Based upon the Official History of the War by Brigadier-General J. E. Edmonds , who has seen and approved the programme; on the memoirs of Lord French and General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien ; and on letters and notes sent to the author personally by officers who were serving at the time
Whoever first used the expression ' England's contemptible little army', coined in 1914 an immortal phrase. An immortal phrase that commemorates an immortal feat of arms, for in the period August-November, 1914, the small British Expeditionary Force-more than half its men reservists - fought two important battles and innumerable small engagements, executed a difficult retreat in perfect order, marched more than a hundred miles in seven days, helped to check the first German thrust at Paris, and won the race for the Channel ports.