Auckland Museum · Pou KanohiLetters from the front line
Landing of the British Expeditionary Force on the continent with artillery leaving for the front from the seaport of Boulogne, France, 14 August 1914.Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries: AWNS-19141015040-1

War chronicle · August–September · Mons, Belgium

A new kind of war

Soldiers are confronted with modern artillery and machine guns right from the first battles.

This is a new kind of war with new rules of engagement. The French Army is equipped with modern weapons but its tactics are as outdated as its 19th century-style uniforms.

With war declared, the French launch a series of attacks along their border with Germany, later called the Battle of the Frontiers (7–23 August).

Regiment after regiment of French troops are thrown into futile assaults against the enemy. Reckless courage proves no answer to machine guns and modern artillery – 210,000 French soldiers die in just the first four weeks of fighting.

The French then scramble to deal with the emerging threat from the German advance through Belgium.

The newly arrived British Expeditionary Force (BEF), barely 125,000 strong, is also ordered to intercept the Germans in Belgium. The BEF fights – and loses – its first battle at Mons on 23 August and is forced into a fighting retreat towards the River Marne.