British Expeditionary Force General Headquarters

Locations of GHQ

  • 7 August 1914: Room 222 at War Office in London
  • 8 August 1914: moved to Whitehall Room, Hotel Metropole, London
  • 12 August 1914: moved to Polygon Hotel, Southampton while en route for France
  • 14 August 1914: arrived Le Havre 9pm and went into Hotel Continental
  • 17 August 1914: arrived Le Cateau 3am and went into l’Ecole Filles
  • 25 August 1914: moved to Saint-Quentin
  • 26 August 1914: moved to Noyon
  • 27 and early 28 August 1914: moved to Compiegne and went into Palais Napoleon
  • 31 August 1914: moved to Dammartin
  • 1 September 1914: moved to Lagny and went into Hotel de Ville
  • 2 September 1914: moved to Melun
  • 9 September 1914: moved to Coulommiers
  • 12 September 1914: moved to Fere-en-Tardenois
  • 8 October 1914: completed move over several days to Abbeville
  • 13 October 1914: moved to Saint-Omer and moved into College St. Bertin
  • 11 November 1914: relocated within Saint-Omer, Operations Section moved to 15 rue Henri Dupuis and Intelligence Section to nearby Place Victor Hugo
  • 30 March 1916: moved to Montreuil-sur-Mer.
Imperial War Museum photograph Q9996. British General Headquarters at the Ecole Militaire Montreuil, showing the Guard of the Guernsey Light Infantry, 1918. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205245711
In addition to the main bases, advanced headquarters were established for closer control of specific operations. Source: war diary, see below.

Commanding Officers

  • Field Marshal Sir John French (full name John Denton Pinkstone French) was appointed to command the original British Expeditionary Force. He landed in France on 14 August 1914.
  • 21 December 1915: General Sir Douglas Haig took over as Commander-in-Chief, having previously been commander of First Army.
  • 2 April 1919: Lieutenant-General Joseph John Asser took over as commander of the British Army in France and Belgium, having previously been commander of Lines of Communication.

Sources

BEF GHQ war diary. National Archives WO95/1

Links

The War Office

The British Armies in France and Flanders

Gazetteer of the Western Front: Saint-Quentin