The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade: August 1914 to March 1915

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Transcriber's note:

      Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. All other
      inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's
      spelling has been preserved.

      The missing word "in" has been added in the sentence:
         However, I detached the Dorsets to move along the
         canal bank from Gorre and get in touch with the French.

         Weatherby, who had cantered off to get in touch with them,...





THE DOINGS OF THE
FIFTEENTH INFANTRY BRIGADE
AUGUST 1914 TO MARCH 1915



[Illustration: L. de St. A. -- J. T. W. -- G. -- A. L. M.-B. -- R. E. B.
_photo by Lieut. H. M. Cadell, R.E._ Some Of Brigade Headquarters.]




THE DOINGS OF THE
FIFTEENTH INFANTRY BRIGADE
AUGUST 1914 TO MARCH 1915

by

Its Commander

Brigadier-General COUNT GLEICHEN,
(now Major-General Lord Edward Gleichen),
K.C.V.O., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O.







William Blackwood & Sons
Edinburgh and London
1917




NOTE.


The following pages--not in the first instance intended for
publication--contain an expanded version of the very scrappy Diary
which I kept in France from day to day.

The version was intended for private home consumption only, and has
necessarily had to be pruned of certain personal matters before being
allowed to make its bow to the public. I have purposely refrained from
adding to it in the light of subsequent events.

I trust that the reader will consequently bear in mind the essentially
individual and impressionist aspects of this little work, and will not
expect to find either rigidly historical, professional, or critical
matter therein.

                                        G.
  _14th August 1917._




CONTENTS.


                                                       Pages
  Up to the Eve of Mons................................ 1-21

  The Battle of Mons.................................. 22-38

  Mons to Le Cateau................................... 39-43

  Le Cateau........................................... 44-56

  The Retreat......................................... 57-86

  The Advance......................................... 87-93

  The Marne.......................................... 94-102

  To the Aisne...................................... 103-111

  The Aisne......................................... 112-140

  Westward Ho!...................................... 141-149

  Abbeville to Bethune.............................. 150-157

  Givenchy and Festubert............................ 158-198

  To Bailleul....................................... 199-205

  To Ypres.......................................... 206-208

  The First Battle of Ypres......................... 209-248

  Back to Locre..................................... 249-251

  Trench Life Opposite Messines..................... 252-280

  Giving Up Command................................. 281-283


SKETCH-MAPS.

                                                        Page
  Boussu-Wasmes.......................................... 28

  Missy-on-Aisne........................................ 123

  Givenchy-Violaines.................................... 167

  The Footbridge over the Canal......................... 175

  Beukenhorst (near Ypres).............................. 211

  The Messines Front.................................... 255


ILLUSTRATION.


  Some of Brigade Headquarters                _Frontispiece_




The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade.

August 1914 to March 1915.


In accordance with the order received at Belfast at 5.30 P.M. on the
4th, the 15th Brigade started mobilizing on the 5th August 1914, and
by the 10th was complete in all respects. We were practically ready by
the 9th, but a machine-gun or two and some harness were a bit late
arriving from Dublin--not our fault. Everything had already been
rehearsed at mobilization inspections, held as usual in the early
summer, and all went like clock-work. On the 8th we got our final
orders to embark on the 14th, and on the 11th the embarkation orders
arrived in detail.

Brigade Headquarters consisted of myself, Captain Weatherby (Oxford
L.I.) as Brigade Major, Captain Moulton-Barrett (Dorsets), Staff
Captain, Captain Roe (Dorsets), Brigade Machine-Gun Officer,
Lieutenant Cadell, R.E., Signalling Officer, and Lieutenant Beilby,
Brigade Veterinary Officer.