Postcard by Willi Scheuermann of the British coming to the continent, spreading rumors, and then being kicked back to England. After their defeats in the Battles of Mons and Le Cateau on August 23 and 26, 1914, the German First Army lost contact with the British Expeditionary Force and assumed they had withdrawn to the channel coast if not to England.
Er kam---Er sah---Er log---Er flog.[Signed] WSRussen vor BerlinFranzosen in MünchenHelgoland in die Luft geflogenHe cameHe sawHe liedHe flew[the lies:]Russians at BerlinFrench in MunichHelgoland blown upReverse:Logo: W S S B 577
"On August 9 embarkation began, the transports departing at intervals of ten minutes. As each left its dock every other ship in the harbor blew whistles and horns and every man on deck cheered. So deafening was the noise that it seemed to one officer that General von Kluck could not fail to hear if behind Liège. However, with the navy confident they had sealed off the Channel from attack, there was little fear for the safety of the crossing. The transports crossed at night without escort. Waking at 4:30 in the morning, a soldier was astonished to see the whole fleet of transports with engines stopped, floating on an absolutely glassy sea without a destroyer in sight; they were waiting for transports from other embarkation ports to complete a rendezvous in mid-Channel."
On August 5, 1914, the British War Council had decided to send the British Expeditionary Force — Britain's Army — to France.
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, page 229, copyright © Barbara W. Tuchman 1962, publisher: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., publication date: 1963
British Expeditionary Force, 1914-08-09
