1914), British forces repelled the Germans, but the
French had begun to withdraw from the area, and there-
fore the British were forced to do the same. At Le Câteau
(August 1914), the British again took on the German
First Army; however, once again French suffered a re-
verse when British general Horace Lockwood Smith-
Dorrien held his II Corps forces back, costing the allies
a victory; French later fired Smith-Dorrien. Disgusted,
French sent a letter to Lord kitchener, the secretary
of war for England, asking to be relieved of duty rather
than continue to send his men needlessly to their deaths.
Kitchener met with French in September 1914 and pres-
sured him into agreeing to remain in his position. French
commanded British forces at the first battle of Ypres (31
October–17 November 1914), Festuburt (15–25 May
1915), and Loos (25 September–19 October 1915);
each of these battles failed to break the German lines. At
the outset of the second battle of Ypres, he reported back
to London that the Germans were utilizing poison gas.
The Daily Mirror reported, “Sir John French last night
communicated the following, dated yesterday: Yesterday
(Thursday) evening the enemy developed an attack on
the French troops on our left in the neighbourhood of
Bixschoote and Langemarck, on the north east of Ypres
salient. This attack was preceded by a heavy bombard-
ment, the enemy at the same time making use of a large
number of appliances for the production of asphyxiating
gases. The quantity produced indicates long and deliber-
ate preparation for the employment of devices contrary
to the terms of the Hague Convention, to which the
enemy subscribed.”
As the conflict dragged on, French blamed France
and his own high command in London for failing to send
sufficient equipment to accomplish victory. In Decem-
ber 1915, Lord Kitchener relieved French of his duties,
and he was succeeded by his deputy, Sir Douglas haig,
to effect a closer cooperation with the French and their
high command, most notably General Joseph Jacques
Césaire Joffre. Historian William Philpott writes:
In August 1914 the British Expeditionary Force
(BEF), commanded by Field Marshal Sir John
French, had joined their French allies in the field,
but the failure to establish a proper chain of com-
mand soon caused tensions which were to com-
promise the cohesion and military effectiveness
of the alliance on the battlefield. By the summerof 1915 French’s independent demeanour had
obliged Kitchener to give in to Joffre’s increas-
ingly strident demands for a formal recognition
of French authority over the BEF. A similar situ-
ation existed in civil-military co-ordination, both
in Britain, where Sir John French and Kitchener
had long since fallen out over military policy and
Kitchener’s Cabinet colleagues were increasingly
at variance with the Secretary of State’s conduct
of the war, and in France, where the French op-
position were anxious to wrest greater control of
the war effort from Joffre and his civilian protec-
tor, [Alexandre] Millerand.Returning to London, French was created Viscount
French in honor of his services and became an efficient
commander in chief of Home Forces. He was named
lord lieutenant of Ireland in 1918, serving until 1921,
when he retired and was awarded a grant of £50,000 by
the British government. He was also created Earl French
of Ypres and High Lake. His only writing is a volume of
reminiscences of his command, entitled 1914 (published
1919). His war diaries and addresses were edited by his
son, Major Gerald French, and published in 1937. He
died in London on 22 May 1925 at the age of 73. His-
torian James Lucas writes:There is no doubt that French was a difficult
person, who found it hard to communicate with
or trust foreigners. He had been in the Sudan at
the time of the Fashoda incident when a French
military force had tried to claim British territory.
He had also witnessed the pro-Boer sentiments of
the French with distaste. He was, thus, an unwill-
ing ally, but once he was totally involved he was
absolutely loyal and dependable. He was prickly,
being quick to take offense, and was stubborn
in defense of his principles. A brave and skilled
soldier, he showed himself to be as able to orga-
nize and command an expanding British army in
France and Flanders as he had been in South Af-
rica. He was given no chance, given the condition
of trench warfare, to use the British cavalry in the
war which he would have liked. Had he had that
opportunity, then he might have scored as com-
plete a victory over the Germans in 1914 as he
had over the Boers more than a decade earlier.FRench, FielD mARShAl SiR John Denton pinkStone