y
to France, and to leave the manner of its employment to be settled in
concert with the French.

The original British Expeditionary Force, under the command of
Field-Marshal Sir John French, began to embark on the 9th of August; by
the 20th its concentration in a pear-shaped area between Maubeuge and Le
Cateau was complete. It consisted of the First Army Corps, under
Lieutenant-General Sir Douglas Haig; the Second Army Corps, under
Lieutenant-General Sir James Grierson, who died soon after landing in
France and was succeeded by General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien; and the
Cavalry Division, under Major-General E. H. H. Allenby. The Germans made
no attempt to interfere with the transport of the expeditionary force
from England to France. They had many other things to think of, and
there is evidence to show that they viewed with satisfaction the placing
of that admirable little force in a situation where they hoped that they
could cut it off and annihilate it. That they were disappointed in this
hope was due not a little to the activity and efficiency of the newest
arm, numbering about a thousand, all told, the Royal Flying Corps.

The Royal Flying Corps took the field under the command of
Brigadier-General Sir David Henderson. It consisted of Headquarters,
Aeroplane Squadrons Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5, and an Aircraft Park. Fairly
complete arrangements, thought out in detail, had been made some months
earlier for its mobilization. Each squadron was to mobilize at its peace
station, and was to be ready to move on the fourth day. On that day the
aeroplanes were to move, by air, first to Dover, and thence, on the
sixth day, to the field base in the theatre of war. The horses,
horse-vehicles, and motor-bicycles, together with a certain amount of
baggage and supplies, were to travel by rail, and the mechanical
transport and trailers by road, to the appointed port of embarkation,
there to be shipped for the overseas base. The Aircraft Park, numbering
twelve officers and a hundred and sixty-two other ranks, with four
motor-cycles and twenty-four aeroplanes in cases, were to leave
Farnborough for Avonmouth on the seventh day. Instructions were issued
naming the hour and place of departure of the various trains, with
detailed orders as to machines, personnel, transport, and petrol. On the
second day of mobilization a detachment from No. 6 Squadron was to
proceed to Dover, there to make ready a landing-ground for the other
squadrons, and