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Experiences of the Great War

Early fighting

After landing in France, the British Army joined French troops in confronting the Germans as they swept through Belgium and advanced towards Paris in 1914.

Driven back, the British Army 1st Corps, under the command of General Haig, had retreated 160 miles before halting the German advance at the river Marne, on the outskirts of Paris.

Both sides then 'dug in', thus beginning the trench warfare that was to characterise the rest of the First World War.

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