Changes

Most of the fighting in Flanders by the Germans up to this point had been conducted by the Sixth Army, under Crown Prince Rupprecht of [[Bavaria]] (nearly all of its troops being Bavarian as well), along with significant [[cavalry]] formations. In mid-October, however, Falkenhayn reinforced it with the Fourth Army under Duke Albert of Württemberg, itself backed by several reserve corps arriving from Germany and from Antwerp. Its task (with the Sixth Army providing support farther south) was to cross the Yser River in extreme western Belgium, advance across the French border, and cut the Allies off from the ports of [[Dunkirk]] and [[Calais]].

Most of the fighting in Flanders by the Germans up to this point had been conducted by the Sixth Army, under Crown Prince Rupprecht of [[Bavaria]] (nearly all of its troops being Bavarian as well), along with significant [[cavalry]] formations. In mid-October, however, Falkenhayn reinforced it with the Fourth Army under Duke Albert of Württemberg, itself backed by several reserve corps arriving from Germany and from Antwerp. Its task (with the Sixth Army providing support farther south) was to cross the Yser River in extreme western Belgium, advance across the French border, and cut the Allies off from the ports of [[Dunkirk]] and [[Calais]].

The Allied armies had less unity of command, being divided between British, French, and Belgian units. At the beginning of October, Marshal Joseph Joffre, the French overall commander, and Field Marshal Sir John French, commander of the BEF, had agreed that the BEF would be sent north into Flanders, to shore up the Allied flank there and to provide the British forces with more direct communication to the Channel ports and [[Great Britain]]. Its component units (the I, II, III, IV, and Indian Corps, plus cavalry and air-reconnaissance units) arrived between October 8 and 19, concentrating along a line that stretched from the town of Langemarck, south along some low ridges a few miles east of the city of Ypres, and on to the La Bassée canal. The BEF was joined by units of the French 8th Army under General Victor d'Urbal and, to the north, some 60-80,000 survivors of the Belgian Army under King Albert I. BEF commander French and General Ferdinand Foch, who had overall charge of French units in Flanders, agreed that the primary objective was to repulse any German attack in the vicinity of Ypres, but both hoped to follow this up with a counteroffensive that would liberate Lille and perhaps all of western Belgium.<ref>J. Edmonds, ''Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1914'', Vol. II (London: 1928), p. 268.</ref>  

The Allied armies had less unity of command, being divided between British, French, and Belgian units. At the beginning of October, Marshal Joseph Joffre, the French overall commander, and Field Marshal Sir John French, commander of the BEF, had agreed that the BEF would be sent north into Flanders, to shore up the Allied flank there and to provide the British forces with more direct communication to the Channel ports and [[Great Britain]]. Its component units (the I, II, III, IV, and Indian Corps, plus cavalry and air-reconnaissance units) arrived between October 8 and 19, concentrating along a line that stretched from the town of Langemarck, south along some low ridges a few miles east of the city of Ypres, and on to the La Bassée canal. The BEF was joined by units of the French 8th Army under General Victor d'Urbal and, to the north, some 60-80,000 survivors of the Belgian Army under King Albert I. BEF commander French and General Ferdinand Foch, who had overall charge of French units in Flanders, agreed that the primary objective was to repulse any German attack in the vicinity of Ypres, but both hoped to follow this up with a counteroffensive that would liberate Lille and perhaps all of western Belgium.<ref>J. Edmonds, ''Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1914'', Vol. II (London: 1928), p. 268.</ref>

 

 

==References==

==References==