1914-1918 - The Great War Years


Belgium was invaded on 04 Aug 1914; an event which caused Great Britain and the British Empire to declare War upon Germany and the Austro-Hungary alliance.  General mobilisation quickly followed and II(AC) Sqn was one of the first elements of the British Expeditionary Force to be dispatched to mainland Europe .  Their first aircraft - BE2a #347 flown by Lt. Harvey-Kelly - arrived in France on 12 Aug 1914 and a base was set up close to Amiens to receive the following aircraft.  They were only to stay there for 3 days before they moved onto Mauberge.  This was to be the pattern for the next few weeks as the squadron found itself being constantly moved and redeployed in sympathy with the changing fortunes and demands of the allied forces.

The locations where the squadron was based ranged from St. Omer in the north to Melun, south of Paris.   The actual dates against location is listed below together with a map showing most* of those locations.  (* Does anyone have a clue where to find "Touchin-Perzarches"?!)

  •  13 Aug 1914 - Amiens

  •  16 Aug 1914 - Mauberge

  •  24 Aug 1914 - Berlaimont

  •  25 Aug 1914 - Le Cateau

  •  25 Aug 1914 - Saint Quentin

  •  26 Aug 1914 - La Fere

  •  28 Aug 1914 - Compiegne

    		•

  •  30 Aug 1914 - Senlis

  •  31 Aug 1914 - Juilly

  •  02 Sep 1914 - Serris

  •  03 Sep 1914 - Touchin-Perzarches

  •  04 Sep 1914 - Melun

  •  07 Sep 1914 - Touchin-Perzarches

  •  09 Sep 1914 - Coulommiers

    		•

  •  12 Sep 1914 - Fere en Tardenois

  •  17 Sep 1914 - Saint Omer

  •  27 Sep 1914 - Merville - det. Saint Omer

  •  30 Jun 1915 - Hesdigneul

  •  09 Jun 1918 - Floringhem

  •  20 Oct 1918 - Mazingarbe

  •  26 Oct 1918 - Genech

    • Northern France