1 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,880 "For all we have and are, For all our children's fate, 2 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,320 "Stand up and meet the War, The Hun is at the gate." 3 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:31,840 The Germans were west of Brussels. Still they came on. 4 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,880 It seemed that nothing could stop them. 5 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,920 The Schlieffen plan was working beautifully, 6 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,960 taking the Germans through Belgium, 7 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:45,800 brushing the Channel coast, down through France, west of Paris, 8 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,400 to attack the French armies from the rear. 9 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:51,800 Everywhere, the French were in confusion. 10 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,200 From Verdun to Charleroi, they were falling back. 11 00:01:55,200 --> 00:02:00,640 The German right wing three-quarters of a million men 12 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,160 was coming into position to make its sweep. 13 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,200 This was the loaded tip of von Schlieffen's flail. 14 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:13,640 The heaviest weight in the tip was General von Kluck's 1st Army. 15 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:17,480 They skirted the historic battlefield of Waterloo, 16 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:23,520 where, 99 years before, British and Germans had fought the French. 17 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,560 Ahead lay a dreary, industrial region. 18 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:31,240 Coming straight towards them, not knowing, oblivious of danger, 19 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,760 believing they were joining a great Allied advance, 20 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:39,280 marched the four divisions of the British Expeditionary Force. 21 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:44,320 Only the cavalrymen, under General Allenby, cautiously scouting ahead, 22 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,320 were aware of the German presence. 23 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:51,520 Suddenly, amid the slag heaps and villages of a mining area, 24 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,400 the army was ordered to halt. 25 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,440 Field Marshal Sir John French had received new information. 26 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,960 There would be no advance, but instead a defensive battle. 27 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,040 The British formed a broad angle. 28 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,880 The left flank, where the danger was greatest, was wide open. 29 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,720 At its apex stood the little, red-brick town of Mons. 30 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:22,520 Sunday, August 23rd, came in with mist and scattered showers. 31 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:27,520 Church bells were calling devout Belgians to early mass. 32 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,560 In their Sunday best, they stared at the foreign soldiers 33 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,600 who filled their town. 34 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,000 They found it hard to believe that war was upon them. 35 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,280 BELL TOLLS 36 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:49,240 The men of General Smith-Dorrien's 2nd Army Corps were digging in 37 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,920 along the Mons canal, preparing an awkward position for defence. 38 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:58,960 Quite suddenly, out of the blue, we saw cavalry coming towards us. 39 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,480 They came out on our right flank. 40 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:06,000 I said, "Good gracious, it's Germans!" 41 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,040 So we immediately started to fire. We fired fuse-nought. 42 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:16,040 They got about 300 yards, I suppose, from the guns and wouldn't face it. 43 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,880 By nine o'clock, the guns were in full cry. 44 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,840 The British Army began to learn about Jack Johnsons, 45 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:26,200 Black Marias and Coal Boxes, 46 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:30,760 the names the soldiers gave to the shattering explosions 47 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:32,800 of the German heavy shells. 48 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:38,680 'We were waiting for them. We didn't expect the blow that struck us. 49 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,760 'All at once, the sky began to rain down bullets and shells. 50 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:48,720 'I saw shells to my right and left. I saw many a good comrade go out.' 51 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,240 Then the German infantry began to come forward, 52 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:57,880 surging towards the canal banks to cross at locks and bridges. 53 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,040 There was a surprise in store for them too. 54 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:07,200 'They were in solid square blocks, standing out against the skyline. 55 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,600 'You couldn't help pitying them. 56 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:14,000 'We lay in our trenches with not a sound or sign. 57 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,440 'They crept nearer. Our officers gave the word.' 58 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,640 SHELLS EXPLODE 59 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:31,480 'The Germans staggered like a drunk man hit between the eyes. 60 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:33,520 'They made a run for it, 61 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,560 'shouting some outlandish cry we couldn't make out.' 62 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,160 'Poor devils of infantry. 63 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:45,200 'They advanced in companies of 150 men, in files five deep. 64 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:51,000 'The first company were blasted away to heaven by a volley at 700 yards. 65 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,400 'In their insane formation, every bullet would find two billets. 66 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,240 'They had absolutely no chance.' 67 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:03,080 This was the mad minute 15 rounds of aimed rifle fire per minute 68 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,480 that the British infantry alone were trained to do. 69 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:11,040 At Mons, it worked. The Germans were shot flat. 70 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:16,920 'Our first battle is a heavy, an unheard-of, heavy defeat. 71 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:21,760 'And against the English the English we laughed at!' 72 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:27,120 'Entrenched and completely hidden, the enemy opened a murderous fire. 73 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,640 'The casualties increased, the rushes became shorter. 74 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,680 'With bloody losses, the attack came to an end.' 75 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,720 It was all to no avail. 76 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:41,400 On the left flank of the British and the right of the French, 77 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,760 German pressure was building. 78 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,800 Sir Henry Wilson, Deputy Chief of Staff, 79 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,320 clung to the hope of advancing. 80 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,360 And then... 81 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:56,920 'At 11pm, news came that the French 5th Army was falling back further. 82 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,520 'Between 11pm and 3am, 83 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:04,640 'we drafted orders for retirement to the line Maubeuge-Valenciennes.' 84 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,160 Retreat from Mons had begun. 85 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:12,160 We were very disappointed 86 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,520 when we got the order to break off battle and retreat. 87 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,040 This was not an easy thing. 88 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:23,080 It's quite easy to join battle, but not to break it off. 89 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:27,120 We put down a curtain fire between us and the Germans, 90 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,680 which enabled the infantry and cavalry to get away. 91 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,720 'After all their experience of small wars, 92 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,240 'the English veterans brilliantly understood 93 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,800 'how to slip off at the last moment.' 94 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:44,840 On they came again. 95 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,640 The Schlieffen plan was still going like clockwork. 96 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:53,480 The whole Allied line was going back the end of a dream. 97 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:56,960 And for thousands of frightened, homeless people, 98 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,000 the end of a way of life. 99 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,840 On the other side of Europe, it was different. 100 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,920 Here, it seemed the Schlieffen plan was not working well. 101 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,360 The Russian steamroller was on the move. 102 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:34,040 Gathering slowly from the provinces of the Tsar's empire, 103 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:38,960 the limitless manpower of Russia assembled and marched to war. 104 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,440 Movement was slow across the endless plains 105 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,960 with bad roads and railways few and far between. 106 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:03,480 Army by army, with ponderous deliberation, 107 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,000 the Russians gathered on the Galician Front, 108 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,360 where the equally slow Austrians were taking up positions. 109 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:13,400 In East Prussia, 110 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,840 the Schlieffen plan, counting on the slowness of the Russians, 111 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,600 allowed only nine divisions to hold the enemy off. 112 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,080 The Germans received a shock. 113 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,840 On August 17th, Russians invaded East Prussia. 114 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,880 This the Germans had not expected. 115 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,120 German people tasted the tragedies 116 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,960 which Belgian and French were learning to know too well. 117 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:10,520 The fear of the Muscovites, the savage reputation of the Cossacks, 118 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:15,560 the terror of men with slant eyes drove these people from their homes, 119 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:19,520 away from the fields and farms they had worked so hard. 120 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:34,520 Orderly, submissive, sick at heart, they made their painful parting. 121 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:55,360 On August 20th, the day the Germans entered Brussels, 122 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,880 their eastern army was defeated at Gumbinnen. 123 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:03,920 Konigsberg, capital of East Prussia, was threatened by this advance. 124 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,520 On August 23rd, the day of Mons, 125 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:10,560 the Russians won another victory at Frankenau. 126 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,120 But it was their last. 127 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,720 Telegraph wires bore their messages across Germany to Belgium 128 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,080 to summon new German leaders. 129 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:31,600 Hindenburg and Ludendorff were sent by Moltke to stop the rot. 130 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:37,600 Out of the confusion of retreat on a battle front over 100 miles wide, 131 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:39,640 they shaped a bold plan. 132 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:46,000 The Russian 2nd Army was dangerously ahead of the 1st Army, 133 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,120 with the Masurian Lakes between them. 134 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,960 Using the well-developed railways of East Prussia, 135 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,800 the Germans would strike at the isolated 2nd Army 136 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,640 near the village of Tannenberg. 137 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:05,040 A German general with a French name von Francois. 138 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,880 A Russian general with a German name Rennenkampf. 139 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:12,640 A German general with a Scottish name Mackensen. 140 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,160 A Russian general with a tragic name Samsonov. 141 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,280 These were the chief actors. 142 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:22,720 The lesser actors were half a million soldiers, 143 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,480 who did the fighting and marching. 144 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,520 It was mostly marching for the Germans, 145 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,760 racing to cut Samsonov's line of retreat, 146 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:36,160 to smash his army before Rennenkampf could bring help. 147 00:13:29,810 --> 00:13:35,810 It took five days to do it. By then, the Russian 2nd Army was a wreck. 148 00:13:35,810 --> 00:13:39,330 90,000 Russian soldiers were taken prisoner, 149 00:13:39,330 --> 00:13:42,170 rounded up like stock in a corral. 150 00:13:42,170 --> 00:13:44,770 The head cowboy was Francois. 151 00:13:44,770 --> 00:13:49,610 General Samsonov walked away into a wood and shot himself. 152 00:13:51,330 --> 00:13:56,170 East Prussia was saved. The trim towns would not be shattered. 153 00:13:56,170 --> 00:13:59,370 Cossacks would not burn the farmsteads. 154 00:13:59,370 --> 00:14:02,610 Instead, the War would now flow eastwards. 155 00:14:02,610 --> 00:14:05,850 Schlieffen's plan had stood the test, 156 00:14:05,850 --> 00:14:10,690 which was ironical, since it was on the point of being abandoned. 157 00:14:10,690 --> 00:14:15,250 No weakening of the German purpose was yet visible in the west. 158 00:14:15,250 --> 00:14:18,770 Each day brought new discouragement to the Allies. 159 00:14:18,770 --> 00:14:22,810 The flail thumped against the left of the Allied line. 160 00:14:22,810 --> 00:14:25,730 The centre continued to give way, 161 00:14:25,730 --> 00:14:29,290 and the right held on by the skin of its teeth. 162 00:14:29,290 --> 00:14:34,330 Pressure intensified on the Allied Commander-in-Chief, General Joffre. 163 00:14:34,330 --> 00:14:38,570 Each day brought him new questions, but never an answer. 164 00:14:39,850 --> 00:14:43,890 'My first task was to seek the cause of these failures 165 00:14:43,890 --> 00:14:45,930 'in order to find a remedy. 166 00:14:45,930 --> 00:14:48,970 'Was it the enemy's numerical superiority? 167 00:14:48,970 --> 00:14:54,410 'It appeared that, as regards numbers, we were superior to him.' 168 00:14:54,410 --> 00:14:58,290 Was it the French Army's leaders who were at fault? 169 00:14:58,290 --> 00:15:03,050 If so, Joffre knew what to do. The Minister of War told him: 170 00:15:03,050 --> 00:15:06,490 'Eliminate the old fossils without pity.' 171 00:15:06,490 --> 00:15:12,250 This, Joffre would do. But another question was more disturbing. 172 00:15:12,250 --> 00:15:15,570 'The French soldier is impressionable, 173 00:15:15,570 --> 00:15:19,810 'losing confidence as readily as he acquires enthusiasm, 174 00:15:19,810 --> 00:15:23,850 'yielding to depression as quickly as he becomes exalted. 175 00:15:23,850 --> 00:15:27,290 'Could he hold out under this terrible strain?' 176 00:15:27,290 --> 00:15:29,810 Joffre asked himself a question 177 00:15:29,810 --> 00:15:33,330 which went to the very roots of everything. 178 00:15:33,330 --> 00:15:39,010 'Does the trouble lie in the strategic disposition of our forces?' 179 00:15:39,010 --> 00:15:44,690 On August 24th, Joffre reached a conclusion which shaped history. 180 00:15:44,690 --> 00:15:48,130 'What concerned me was the encircling movement 181 00:15:48,130 --> 00:15:51,650 'which the Germans were developing on our left. 182 00:15:51,650 --> 00:15:55,090 'The British alone could offset this menace. 183 00:15:55,090 --> 00:15:58,610 'To this army I had no right to give orders. 184 00:15:58,610 --> 00:16:01,850 'I had to content myself with suggesting. 185 00:16:01,850 --> 00:16:05,690 'It seemed necessary, on the left of the British Army, 186 00:16:05,690 --> 00:16:10,530 'to place French troops, to which I had the right to give orders.' 187 00:16:10,530 --> 00:16:13,770 This proposition contained a mighty seed. 188 00:16:13,770 --> 00:16:18,450 Everything that happened confirmed the strength of Joffre's idea. 189 00:16:18,450 --> 00:16:23,290 On August 26th, he went to his second meeting with Sir John French, 190 00:16:23,290 --> 00:16:27,490 witnessed by a young liaison officer, Lieutenant Spears. 191 00:16:27,490 --> 00:16:33,930 Joffre began to explain the purport of an order... 192 00:16:33,930 --> 00:16:37,970 extremely important, that he'd issued. 193 00:16:37,970 --> 00:16:43,850 Whilst he was doing so, in walked Lanrezac, bustling in. 194 00:16:43,850 --> 00:16:49,690 Then Joffre went on, explaining this order of his. 195 00:16:49,690 --> 00:16:55,530 Sir John French said, "What order? I haven't seen an order." 196 00:16:56,900 --> 00:17:05,900 Whereupon General Wilson, subchief of staff, explained over, awkwardly I thought 197 00:17:06,250 --> 00:17:13,500 that some order had been received during the night, but it hadn't been dealt with yet. 198 00:17:13,751 --> 00:17:16,501 I got the impression it hadn't been translated 199 00:17:17,060 --> 00:17:20,100 When General Joffre realised 200 00:17:20,100 --> 00:17:30,140 that his orders hadn't even been received and read by the British... 201 00:17:32,100 --> 00:17:36,940 ...he seemed overwhelmed with discouragement. 202 00:17:36,940 --> 00:17:39,980 It was the only time I've ever known 203 00:17:39,980 --> 00:17:43,420 that he seemed to lose heart, to be deflated. 204 00:17:43,420 --> 00:17:47,260 This was an abject moment for General Joffre. 205 00:17:47,260 --> 00:17:51,300 'When I left British headquarters in the afternoon, 206 00:17:51,300 --> 00:17:56,340 'I carried away a serious impression of the fragility of our extreme left. 207 00:17:56,340 --> 00:18:01,180 'Could it hold out long enough to enable me to regroup our forces? 208 00:18:01,180 --> 00:18:06,220 'If this manoeuvre was to succeed, two conditions had to be fulfilled. 209 00:18:06,220 --> 00:18:08,660 'First, our 4th and 5th Armies 210 00:18:08,660 --> 00:18:12,340 'must interrupt their retreat with counterattacks 211 00:18:12,340 --> 00:18:16,380 'to give me time to assemble a new army on our left. 212 00:18:16,380 --> 00:18:20,060 'Secondly, the British must resist tenaciously 213 00:18:20,060 --> 00:18:22,900 'and yield ground only very slowly.' 214 00:18:22,900 --> 00:18:26,140 Joffre and Sir John French didn't know it, 215 00:18:26,140 --> 00:18:29,420 but that was what the British Army was doing. 216 00:18:29,420 --> 00:18:33,860 General Smith-Dorrien had decided to fight at Le Cateau. 217 00:18:33,860 --> 00:18:38,620 2nd Corps was exhausted it would have to stand and fight, 218 00:18:38,620 --> 00:18:42,660 strengthened by a new division from England on the left. 219 00:18:42,660 --> 00:18:47,500 Smith-Dorrien hoped that Haig's men would show up soon on the right. 220 00:18:47,500 --> 00:18:51,540 And so, on August 26th the anniversary of Crecy 221 00:18:51,540 --> 00:18:56,580 Le Cateau joined the company of the many insignificant French towns 222 00:18:56,580 --> 00:19:00,100 pitchforked into history on a summer morning. 223 00:19:00,100 --> 00:19:03,020 Things didn't start too well. 224 00:19:03,020 --> 00:19:07,220 It was not the British 1st Corps which appeared on the right, 225 00:19:07,220 --> 00:19:09,260 but the German 3rd Corps. 226 00:19:09,260 --> 00:19:13,700 'They come up like a football crowd leaving Hampstead Park, 227 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:16,500 'firing rifles from their right hips. 228 00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:19,660 'They had absolutely no idea of aim.' 229 00:19:19,660 --> 00:19:23,300 British cavalry and horse artillery were driven in. 230 00:19:23,300 --> 00:19:26,820 The infantry, in crude trenches and rifle pits, 231 00:19:26,820 --> 00:19:30,340 were taken in enfilade... but they held on. 232 00:19:30,340 --> 00:19:34,020 Again, their rifles had wonderful targets. 233 00:19:34,020 --> 00:19:36,700 We'd hardly got our head covered, 234 00:19:36,700 --> 00:19:40,820 before the ridge about three-quarters of a mile away 235 00:19:40,820 --> 00:19:45,860 was literally swarming with Germans in their grey uniforms. 236 00:19:45,860 --> 00:19:50,700 They advanced, and we received the order for rapid fire. 237 00:19:50,700 --> 00:19:55,740 It was probably three-quarters of a mile, an extreme range for a rifle. 238 00:19:55,740 --> 00:20:00,660 But we fired at 15 rounds a minute at these advancing Germans. 239 00:20:00,660 --> 00:20:04,620 They broke up into smaller groups of six or eight, 240 00:20:04,620 --> 00:20:09,380 advancing through a cornfield, where the corn was in stooks. 241 00:20:09,380 --> 00:20:15,020 As we rapid-fired, they took cover behind these stooks of corn. 242 00:20:16,100 --> 00:20:20,900 The line held, but the morning passed slowly 243 00:20:20,900 --> 00:20:25,060 as more and more German units came into action. 244 00:20:25,060 --> 00:20:28,140 The last British reserves were thrown in. 245 00:20:28,140 --> 00:20:32,180 We were in reserve. The brigade was formed up. 246 00:20:32,180 --> 00:20:38,020 Orders came that we were required on the left of the line to go fast. 247 00:20:38,020 --> 00:20:41,540 We marched four miles to the left of the line. 248 00:20:41,540 --> 00:20:45,060 We came to a village whose name I don't remember. 249 00:20:45,060 --> 00:20:49,580 We found Smith-Dorrien standing outside his headquarters. 250 00:20:49,580 --> 00:20:52,020 He waved to us as we passed. 251 00:20:52,020 --> 00:20:57,260 He said, "I think we're holding them all right. You won't be wanted here. 252 00:20:57,260 --> 00:20:59,300 "Everything's going fine." 253 00:21:12,100 --> 00:21:17,540 The exposed artillery batteries on the right flank lost heavily. 254 00:21:17,540 --> 00:21:22,900 Men drifted from the battle. It was time to go, if it could be managed. 255 00:21:22,900 --> 00:21:28,140 The great problem was to extricate the guns, many of them silent now, 256 00:21:28,140 --> 00:21:33,380 standing on the skyline amid smashed limbers, dead horses and dead men. 257 00:21:33,380 --> 00:21:38,220 The Royal Artillery does not willingly abandon guns. 258 00:21:38,220 --> 00:21:42,260 The teams dashed forward through cheering infantry. 259 00:21:42,260 --> 00:21:45,100 'As they came in view of the enemy, 260 00:21:45,100 --> 00:21:49,980 'they were struck by a hurricane of shrapnel and machine-gun bullets. 261 00:21:49,980 --> 00:21:54,260 'Still they went on. The officer in charge was killed. 262 00:21:54,260 --> 00:21:58,300 'One team was shot down before the position was reached. 263 00:21:58,300 --> 00:22:02,980 'Two guns of the 122nd Battery were carried out without mishap. 264 00:22:02,980 --> 00:22:07,460 'A third was limbered up, but the horses went down instantly.' 265 00:22:07,460 --> 00:22:12,820 The rest had to be left. The Germans were 200 yards away. 266 00:22:13,900 --> 00:22:17,940 Incredibly, in the broad daylight of mid-afternoon, 267 00:22:17,940 --> 00:22:21,460 Smith-Dorrien's three divisions slipped away. 268 00:22:21,460 --> 00:22:25,300 The Germans did not know which way they had gone. 269 00:22:25,300 --> 00:22:30,340 This was the British Army's first real battle, and the cost was great: 270 00:22:30,340 --> 00:22:35,020 nearly 8,000 officers and men and 38 guns. 271 00:22:35,020 --> 00:22:37,540 Now they were retreating again. 272 00:22:37,540 --> 00:22:40,780 They had done everything expected of them 273 00:22:40,780 --> 00:22:43,500 and had no sense of being beaten. 274 00:22:43,500 --> 00:22:46,740 Tired troops can look like beaten men 275 00:22:46,740 --> 00:22:49,580 to those who don't understand them. 276 00:22:49,580 --> 00:22:53,380 General Smith-Dorrien understood them perfectly. 277 00:22:53,380 --> 00:22:58,420 'It was a wonderful sight men smoking pipes, quite unconcerned, 278 00:22:58,420 --> 00:23:02,860 'walking steadily down the road, no formation of any sort, 279 00:23:02,860 --> 00:23:05,700 'men of all units mixed up together. 280 00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:10,740 'I likened it at the time to a crowd coming away from a race meeting.' 281 00:23:10,740 --> 00:23:14,780 Joffre's liaison officer at General Headquarters, Colonel Huguet, 282 00:23:14,780 --> 00:23:18,020 did not understand the British Army. 283 00:23:18,020 --> 00:23:20,860 Joffre was appalled at his report. 284 00:23:20,860 --> 00:23:23,900 'The situation is extremely critical. 285 00:23:23,900 --> 00:23:28,740 'The British Army is beaten and incapable of any serious effort. 286 00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:32,780 'The 3rd and 5th Divisions are now disorganised bands, 287 00:23:32,780 --> 00:23:35,300 'incapable of offering resistance. 288 00:23:35,300 --> 00:23:39,740 'Conditions are such that the British Army no longer exists.' 289 00:23:39,740 --> 00:23:42,900 It wasn't true. They were just tired. 290 00:23:42,900 --> 00:23:47,420 We marched and marched, day after day, with very little food. 291 00:23:47,420 --> 00:23:51,940 I'd eaten my emergency rations. Of course I shouldn't have done. 292 00:23:51,940 --> 00:23:55,980 We had a tin of bully beef I'd eaten that as well. 293 00:23:55,980 --> 00:23:58,020 We were all very hungry. 294 00:23:58,020 --> 00:24:02,540 We did get a cup of tea occasionally, or a canteen of tea. 295 00:24:02,540 --> 00:24:07,380 We marched through a forest which was very cold and damp. 296 00:24:07,380 --> 00:24:11,980 We were marching during the day through a very big forest. 297 00:24:11,980 --> 00:24:16,020 Sometimes cold, more often far too hot, 298 00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:19,860 exhausted soldiers made their tour of France. 299 00:24:19,860 --> 00:24:23,700 35 miles to the Somme and into Picardy, 300 00:24:23,700 --> 00:24:28,540 long, white roads, dead straight between the poplar trees, 301 00:24:28,540 --> 00:24:31,060 dust rising off the cobbles. 302 00:24:33,380 --> 00:24:36,900 I've seen infantry with their feet bleeding, 303 00:24:36,900 --> 00:24:41,020 with their boots off and putties wrapped round them. 304 00:24:41,020 --> 00:24:43,460 I've seen men sobbing, 305 00:24:43,460 --> 00:24:49,020 asking our officers, "Why can't we fight? Why won't you let us fight?" 306 00:24:49,500 --> 00:24:56,521 Down in the Île-de-France, the dark forests and the green river valleys, with the little gay salles 307 00:24:56,700 --> 00:25:04,000 where the Parisians go to fish and to picnic in the summer ...this was no picnic. 308 00:25:13,340 --> 00:25:16,860 There was a despondent tide of humanity 309 00:25:16,860 --> 00:25:20,380 laden soldiers beside burdened refugees, 310 00:25:20,380 --> 00:25:24,900 sharing the same wretchedness, treading the same long road, 311 00:25:24,900 --> 00:25:27,740 which trudged wearily southwards. 312 00:25:30,700 --> 00:25:37,020 'We came across two young girls. They were helping each other along. 313 00:25:37,020 --> 00:25:41,540 'They could hardly drag one foot before the other. 314 00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:43,580 'A little bit further, 315 00:25:43,580 --> 00:25:49,420 'I saw one poor old chap with a long white beard sat in a wheelbarrow 316 00:25:49,420 --> 00:25:53,460 'and another old chap with a beard wheeling him along, 317 00:25:53,460 --> 00:25:56,300 'a little girl by the side, weeping.' 318 00:25:57,700 --> 00:26:05,060 Further along, there were thousands, not hundreds, taking to the woods 319 00:26:05,060 --> 00:26:07,100 at the side of the road. 320 00:26:07,100 --> 00:26:12,620 We saw them with what they had their scanty possessions 321 00:26:12,620 --> 00:26:18,220 taking refuge in the wood for the night. 322 00:26:19,700 --> 00:26:26,060 These woods were just silhouetted in the background by the flames 323 00:26:26,060 --> 00:26:30,900 of the burning villages and hamlets, which had been destroyed. 324 00:26:30,900 --> 00:26:33,660 They were just homeless and hopeless. 325 00:26:33,660 --> 00:26:38,420 The hopelessness of it all began to communicate to everyone, 326 00:26:38,420 --> 00:26:43,460 even the indomitable commander of the Allied armies General Joffre. 327 00:26:43,460 --> 00:26:50,500 It was a very strange thing to see a single man exercising his will... 328 00:26:51,500 --> 00:26:53,860 ...over a million men, 329 00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:59,700 with the fate of his country in the balance... 330 00:27:00,700 --> 00:27:06,740 ...having to satisfy the political requirements of his own government 331 00:27:06,740 --> 00:27:09,580 and the British government, 332 00:27:09,580 --> 00:27:16,660 having to face a catastrophic situation and never getting rattled. 333 00:27:16,660 --> 00:27:21,500 Appearances and reality were beginning to drift apart. 334 00:27:21,500 --> 00:27:25,020 One appearance did match the reality. 335 00:27:25,020 --> 00:27:29,660 Everyone looked tired and everyone WAS tired. 336 00:27:29,660 --> 00:27:35,020 Order out of disorder, hope out of darkness, reverse out of triumph. 337 00:27:35,020 --> 00:27:40,060 These were the realities that had to be plucked out of appearances. 338 00:27:40,060 --> 00:27:44,900 South-west now, to Amiens and towns that had never dreamt of war, 339 00:27:44,900 --> 00:27:47,420 marched von Kluck's 1st Army. 340 00:27:47,420 --> 00:27:49,460 If they were not checked, 341 00:27:49,460 --> 00:27:53,500 Joffre's new 6th Army would be smashed before it formed. 342 00:27:53,500 --> 00:27:57,340 Could they be checked? It seemed that they might. 343 00:27:57,340 --> 00:28:02,380 As they marched south-west, a gap split them from their neighbours. 344 00:28:02,380 --> 00:28:05,420 The Germans exposed their flank. 345 00:28:05,420 --> 00:28:08,460 It all depended on General Lanrezac. 346 00:28:08,460 --> 00:28:11,980 What followed was the Battle of Guise. 347 00:28:13,340 --> 00:28:18,380 August 29th the French columns wove westward through early mists 348 00:28:18,380 --> 00:28:20,500 and across the River Oise. 349 00:28:20,500 --> 00:28:25,620 Their objective: St Quentin and the left flank of the German 1st Army. 350 00:28:26,700 --> 00:28:31,260 At first, everything went well slowly but well. 351 00:28:31,260 --> 00:28:35,060 Towards noon, the picture suddenly changed. 352 00:28:35,060 --> 00:28:37,860 Von Bulow's 2nd Army took the French in flank 353 00:28:37,860 --> 00:28:42,940 as it came south, crossing the Oise at the ancient town of Guise. 354 00:28:42,940 --> 00:28:47,420 It was an ugly crisis, but Lanrezac rose to the occasion. 355 00:28:47,420 --> 00:28:50,940 He switched his reserves, still marching west, 356 00:28:50,940 --> 00:28:52,980 into the northern fight. 357 00:28:52,980 --> 00:28:57,020 "Throw the Germans back across the Oise," he ordered. 358 00:29:01,140 --> 00:29:04,980 The reserve commander, General Franchet d'Esperey, 359 00:29:04,980 --> 00:29:10,020 one of the most dynamic French officers, was just the man to do it. 360 00:29:10,020 --> 00:29:15,100 On horseback, Franchet d'Esperey led his red-trousered infantry 361 00:29:15,100 --> 00:29:19,420 with colours flying, bands playing, into the attack. 362 00:29:21,180 --> 00:29:24,900 It was the last of the old-time pageants of war. 363 00:29:24,900 --> 00:29:30,740 And it succeeded. They did throw the Germans back across the Oise. 364 00:29:30,740 --> 00:29:33,940 The Battle of St Quentin came to nothing. 365 00:29:33,940 --> 00:29:37,780 But the Battle of Guise was a valuable success. 366 00:29:37,780 --> 00:29:41,820 The straining Schlieffen plan broke down at last. 367 00:29:44,700 --> 00:29:49,300 General von Bulow, in alarm, called to von Kluck for help. 368 00:29:49,300 --> 00:29:54,340 Von Kluck, halting his march to the south-west, turned inwards... 369 00:29:54,340 --> 00:30:00,220 towards Paris, whose streets were sad and empty. 370 00:30:00,220 --> 00:30:04,060 The city of pleasure silent now and scared. 371 00:30:04,060 --> 00:30:09,100 The government had gone to the distant safety of Bordeaux. 372 00:30:09,100 --> 00:30:11,900 Many citizens had also fled. 373 00:30:11,900 --> 00:30:15,420 General Joseph Gallieni was in sole command. 374 00:30:15,420 --> 00:30:19,620 Before he left, the Minister of War had told Gallieni 375 00:30:19,620 --> 00:30:22,340 to defend Paris "a outrance". 376 00:30:22,340 --> 00:30:24,700 "Do you understand, Minister, 377 00:30:24,700 --> 00:30:29,220 "the significance of the words 'a outrance'?" asked Gallieni. 378 00:30:29,220 --> 00:30:34,260 "They mean destruction, ruins, dynamiting bridges in the city." 379 00:30:34,260 --> 00:30:37,500 "A outrance," the Minister repeated. 380 00:30:37,500 --> 00:30:40,700 Gallieni issued a proclamation. 381 00:30:40,700 --> 00:30:44,460 'Army of Paris, Citizens of Paris, 382 00:30:44,460 --> 00:30:47,540 'The Government of the Republic 383 00:30:47,540 --> 00:30:52,060 'has left Paris to give new impulse to the national defence. 384 00:30:52,060 --> 00:30:56,460 'I have received a mandate to defend Paris against the invader. 385 00:30:56,460 --> 00:31:00,980 'This mandate I shall carry out to the end.' 386 00:31:00,980 --> 00:31:05,220 The French people were learning fast what war meant. 387 00:31:05,220 --> 00:31:07,260 Everyone was learning. 388 00:31:07,260 --> 00:31:11,300 A special Sunday-afternoon edition of the London Times 389 00:31:11,300 --> 00:31:13,500 with a dispatch from Amiens 390 00:31:13,500 --> 00:31:18,860 confirmed what the observant had guessed from hints and suggestions. 391 00:31:18,860 --> 00:31:22,380 'The nation should know certain things. 392 00:31:22,380 --> 00:31:24,420 'Since Monday morning last, 393 00:31:24,420 --> 00:31:28,460 'the German advance has been one of incredible rapidity. 394 00:31:28,460 --> 00:31:32,980 'British forces fought a terrible fight the Action of Mons. 395 00:31:32,980 --> 00:31:37,020 'The broken army fought desperately with many stands, 396 00:31:37,020 --> 00:31:40,060 'forced backward by the sheer numbers 397 00:31:40,060 --> 00:31:45,100 'of an enemy prepared to lose three or four men for each British soldier. 398 00:31:45,100 --> 00:31:50,140 'Our losses are great. I have seen the broken bits of many regiments. 399 00:31:50,140 --> 00:31:53,580 'Some have lost nearly all their officers. 400 00:31:53,580 --> 00:31:58,100 'The British Expeditionary Force has suffered terrible losses 401 00:31:58,100 --> 00:32:01,940 'and requires immediate and immense reinforcement.' 402 00:32:01,940 --> 00:32:05,300 Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, 403 00:32:05,300 --> 00:32:10,140 circulated an official correction to the Times' alarming dispatch. 404 00:32:10,140 --> 00:32:13,660 'There has in effect been a four-day battle 405 00:32:13,660 --> 00:32:17,180 'on the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th August. 406 00:32:17,180 --> 00:32:19,220 'During this period, 407 00:32:19,220 --> 00:32:24,260 'British troops, in conformity with the movement of the French armies, 408 00:32:24,260 --> 00:32:29,620 'were checking the German advance and withdrawing to new lines of defence.' 409 00:32:29,620 --> 00:32:34,660 In the Commons, the Prime Minister, Mr Asquith, also made a statement. 410 00:32:34,660 --> 00:32:39,180 'It is impossible too highly to commend the patriotic reticence 411 00:32:39,180 --> 00:32:42,860 'of the press as a whole up to the present moment. 412 00:32:42,860 --> 00:32:47,900 'The publication in the Times would appear to be a regrettable exception. 413 00:32:47,900 --> 00:32:50,420 'I trust it will not recur.' 414 00:32:50,420 --> 00:32:54,860 The British public was not ready for too much truth. 415 00:32:54,860 --> 00:32:59,900 In victorious Germany, some signs contradicted the boasting press. 416 00:32:59,900 --> 00:33:03,940 A British-born German princess wrote on September 2nd: 417 00:33:03,940 --> 00:33:08,980 'Today I went to the Grunewald to see the arrival of trains of wounded, 418 00:33:08,980 --> 00:33:14,020 'hoping to see some English and help them, but it was a false report. 419 00:33:14,020 --> 00:33:16,060 'They were transport trains 420 00:33:16,060 --> 00:33:19,220 'carrying troops from the Western Front to Russia. 421 00:33:19,220 --> 00:33:21,780 'There was a tremendous reception, 422 00:33:21,780 --> 00:33:25,620 'but the troops looked too weary to respond 423 00:33:25,620 --> 00:33:29,340 'very different to those of a short time ago.' 424 00:33:29,340 --> 00:33:34,660 In St Petersburg also, bad news was making its first impact. 425 00:33:34,660 --> 00:33:38,700 'I passed groups of people engrossed in discussion. 426 00:33:38,700 --> 00:33:43,740 'A large group was gathered by the bulletin board of the Novoya Vremya. 427 00:33:43,740 --> 00:33:46,780 'I'd never seen so many people there. 428 00:33:46,780 --> 00:33:51,140 'An event of great importance must have occurred at the Front. 429 00:33:51,140 --> 00:33:55,180 'A voice said, "Disaster! Even generals are being killed. 430 00:33:55,180 --> 00:33:59,700 '"Why is the government deceiving us with news of victories?" 431 00:33:59,700 --> 00:34:04,740 'Another voice added, "It's the same mess as during the war with Japan."' 432 00:34:04,740 --> 00:34:08,780 A chill struck at the hearts of the Allied nations. 433 00:34:08,780 --> 00:34:12,620 A great weight seemed to press down on them all. 434 00:34:12,620 --> 00:34:16,660 Whatever might be happening in the German war machine, 435 00:34:16,660 --> 00:34:20,700 whatever mistakes the Supreme Command might be making, 436 00:34:20,700 --> 00:34:24,740 the German advance seemed inexorable, invincible. 437 00:34:24,740 --> 00:34:29,300 Yet all was not well with the mood of the German soldiers. 438 00:34:29,300 --> 00:34:34,620 They were becoming weary beyond words. Weariness breeds bitterness. 439 00:34:34,620 --> 00:34:38,220 We marched on and on and on. 440 00:34:38,220 --> 00:34:41,260 We never dared to take off our boots, 441 00:34:41,260 --> 00:34:44,780 because our feet were so swollen 442 00:34:44,780 --> 00:34:49,820 that we didn't think it would be possible to put them on again. 443 00:34:51,500 --> 00:34:55,020 And...in a small village... 444 00:34:55,020 --> 00:35:01,060 the Mayor came and asked our company commanders 445 00:35:01,060 --> 00:35:06,100 not to allow us to cut off the hands of the children. 446 00:35:06,100 --> 00:35:12,140 These were atrocity stories which we heard about the German Army. 447 00:35:12,140 --> 00:35:15,180 At first, we laughed about it. 448 00:35:15,180 --> 00:35:22,500 But when we heard other propaganda against the German Army, 449 00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:24,540 we became angry. 450 00:35:24,540 --> 00:35:26,980 'Our men are done up. 451 00:35:26,980 --> 00:35:31,820 'The men stagger forward, their faces coated with dust, 452 00:35:31,820 --> 00:35:34,860 'their uniforms in rags. 453 00:35:34,860 --> 00:35:37,900 'They look like living scarecrows. 454 00:35:39,060 --> 00:35:41,420 'They march with eyes closed, 455 00:35:41,420 --> 00:35:46,260 'singing in chorus so they shall not fall asleep on the march. 456 00:35:46,260 --> 00:35:48,300 'The certainty of victory 457 00:35:48,300 --> 00:35:51,820 'and triumphal entry into Paris keeps them going. 458 00:35:51,820 --> 00:35:55,340 'The delirium of victory sustains our men. 459 00:35:55,340 --> 00:36:00,180 'In order that their bodies may be as intoxicated as their souls, 460 00:36:00,180 --> 00:36:05,660 'they drink to excess, but this drunkenness keeps them going.' 461 00:36:05,660 --> 00:36:10,580 The British Expeditionary Force crossed the forest of Compiegne, 462 00:36:10,580 --> 00:36:14,500 pausing to fight a rearguard action at Villers-Cotterets. 463 00:36:14,500 --> 00:36:19,540 It was shortly after we passed a place called Villers-Cotterets 464 00:36:19,540 --> 00:36:26,900 that the nearness of Paris began to penetrate our tiredness. 465 00:36:26,900 --> 00:36:32,940 And we noticed the kilometre stones at the side of the road. 466 00:36:34,020 --> 00:36:41,060 Gradually, we were getting nearer and nearer to Paris 25, 24, 23. 467 00:36:41,060 --> 00:36:44,580 We couldn't believe it was happening to us. 468 00:36:44,580 --> 00:36:50,100 Every step nearer to Paris, as witnessed by these kilometre stones, 469 00:36:50,100 --> 00:36:55,140 was another blow on the head which increased our depression. 470 00:36:55,140 --> 00:37:01,580 And we mentally felt that should we reach zero Paris itself 471 00:37:01,580 --> 00:37:06,300 as far as we were concerned, we'd have lost the War. 472 00:37:06,300 --> 00:37:11,980 Day by day, the switch of divisions from right to left was going on. 473 00:37:11,980 --> 00:37:16,340 Day by day, the picture changed imperceptibly but decisively. 474 00:37:20,700 --> 00:37:25,740 As the troop trains rumbled across France to the decisive point, 475 00:37:25,740 --> 00:37:30,340 as the last pitiful batches of refugees made their escapes, 476 00:37:30,340 --> 00:37:35,660 and as the kilometre posts dragged slowly past the exhausted soldiers, 477 00:37:35,660 --> 00:37:39,500 General Joffre awaited his opportunity. 478 00:37:39,500 --> 00:37:43,300 Hour by hour, news came in from airmen, cavalry, 479 00:37:43,300 --> 00:37:45,740 from secret agents, commanders. 480 00:37:45,740 --> 00:37:50,260 Much of it was bad enough to frighten a lesser man to death. 481 00:37:50,260 --> 00:37:52,700 But one thing was certain. 482 00:37:52,700 --> 00:37:57,380 The German right wing, General von Kluck's mighty 1st Army, 483 00:37:57,380 --> 00:38:01,420 was not after all going to encircle the Allied left. 484 00:38:01,420 --> 00:38:06,940 If it held its direction, it would march across the defences of Paris, 485 00:38:06,940 --> 00:38:09,980 where Gallieni waited like an eagle. 486 00:38:09,980 --> 00:38:13,660 As it did so, its own flank would be exposed 487 00:38:13,660 --> 00:38:16,700 the most dangerous mistake in war. 488 00:38:16,700 --> 00:38:19,740 Joffre did not fail to perceive this. 489 00:38:19,740 --> 00:38:23,780 I actually saw him... 490 00:38:23,780 --> 00:38:29,100 on the afternoon that he decided on the Battle of the Marne. 491 00:38:29,100 --> 00:38:31,140 I'd never seen... 492 00:38:31,140 --> 00:38:35,980 Very few people have ever seen anybody with such a burden 493 00:38:35,980 --> 00:38:38,020 placed on his shoulders. 494 00:38:38,020 --> 00:38:44,540 With nobody to help, just weighing the pros and cons 495 00:38:44,540 --> 00:38:47,580 of this movement and that movement, 496 00:38:47,580 --> 00:38:49,620 what orders to issue. 497 00:38:49,620 --> 00:38:54,660 It lasted quite a long time, perhaps a couple of hours. 498 00:38:54,660 --> 00:38:58,340 And then he got up. His decision was taken. 499 00:38:58,340 --> 00:39:00,820 The orders went out that night. 500 00:39:03,340 --> 00:39:06,860 The pendulum was coming briefly to rest. 501 00:39:06,860 --> 00:39:09,620 For an indefinable moment of time, 502 00:39:09,620 --> 00:39:14,140 the soldiers paused under the gilding leaves of early autumn 503 00:39:14,140 --> 00:39:16,180 around their campfires. 504 00:39:16,180 --> 00:39:20,220 The men of the warring nations drew a little breath. 505 00:39:20,220 --> 00:39:23,660 The moment of decision was at hand.