Liaison 1914: A Narrative of the Great Retreat

by Edward Spears. Foreword by Winston Churchill

Pen & Sword, 2021. First published in 1930.

Peter L. Belmonte, Reviewer

The Author, Second from Right, with French Officers in 1914

Edward Spears was an Englishman born in Paris in 1886. He entered the British Army in 1903 and in July 1914 was sent as a liaison officer to the French high command, a position for which he was well suited due to his temperament and command of the French language. He was thus in the right place at the right time. During the following six weeks, Spears performed liaison duties and was well placed to comment upon the actions of many British and French leaders during the German advance to the Marne River. Readers familiar with this opening campaign through reading only surveys or general histories will appreciate this candid, intelligent view from a man who was closely involved with many aspects of the Allies’ retreat.

In later years, Spears often heard disparaging remarks, particularly among the French with whom he associated, regarding the British Army’s performance during the opening months of the war. Irritated at these inaccuracies, Spears wrote this book “to contribute something to the true story of the war, and to vindicate the role of the British Expeditionary Force in 1914” (p. xxxi). In this, Spears succeeds admirably.

When one considers that approximately 465 pages of this narrative are taken up by a description of events from 27 July through 14 September 1914, one may get an idea of the minute detail involved in the account. Spears details the intricate, often baffling maneuvers of the various units involved in the campaign, providing an almost hourly account. One can feel deeply the confusion that prevailed. This is not a detailed account of the battles during those days; rather, it is a vibrant account of the difficulties of liaison and decision-making among the French and British leaders.

Those who like to read about “how the sausage is made” will appreciate reading about the incredible strain and nerve-racking pressure under which the various headquarters staffs worked. Consider this report regarding a competent British staff officer:

On the previous night the strain had been so frightful that the Chief of Staff, [General] Sir Archibald Murray, exhausted by anxiety and overwork, had had a temporary collapse from shock when the false news was received that the enemy had attacked and defeated the I Corps at Landrecies. [p. 233]

Spears, as a liaison officer, saw and experienced all of this and more. Despite the fact that Spears was a young and junior officer, he performed the arduous tasks that had devolved upon him with remarkable skill and devotion to duty. Spears concludes an interesting passage about demanding duties of liaison officers with this telling observation: “His life is spent between the hammer and the anvil” (p. 331).

Despite his frenzied work as a liaison officer, Spears found time to volunteer for a flight as an observer in a French aircraft. Airborne, they met a German aircraft, and Spears records what must have been one of the earliest air combats involving an Englishman:

My only weapon was a French cavalry carbine, hardly better than a pistol, with three shots in the magazine. My thoughts were that a megaphone would have been more useful to point out to the German that it was dangerous enough to be where we were without playing any tricks. But having no means of communication I fired at him and he at us: the usual thing in war, each tries to kill the other for fear of being killed himself (p. 292).

Spears’s personal observations and comments about the men he met and worked with really make this a fascinating read. From field marshals and generals to privates and gendarmes, the author’s insights provide us with a human view of the war. He provides first hand character sketches of commanders such as French generals Joseph Joffre, Charles Lanrezac, Louis Franchet d’Espèrey, Louis de Maud’huy, and British field marshal Sir John French, among others. Spears is even-handed in his appraisal of these men, citing the good and the bad that he observed during these hectic weeks.

After recounting the events that drove the Allies back on the Marne River, Spears concludes that there were two main factors that resulted in 5th (French) Army failure: One is G.Q.G. (the French Supreme Headquarters) failure to accept Lanrezac’s assessment of German strength and intentions as they advanced along his front in Belgium. The second is Lanrezac’s reluctance to mount an offensive, particularly along the Sambre River and during the retreat in general. While recognizing British errors during the campaign, Spears also shows how British forces were an important force in stopping and driving back the German Army by mid-September.

Liaison 1914 is supplemented with 88 pages of appendices. These include orders of battle, orders, memoranda, reports, letters, etc., and more are included in ample footnotes in the text. Sixteen fine-quality maps and 49 photographs enhance the text. This book, although not the only resource to be consulted, is vital to an understanding of what happened during those crucial six weeks at the beginning of the Great War. I highly recommend it.

Peter L. Belmonte