War - Fort George to Boulogne to battle - August 4th 1914 to August 22 1914

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On August 4th 1914 Britain declared war on Germany in response to that country's violation of Belgian neutrality which Britain had guaranteed.

On August 5th the 2nd Battalion A&SH received Mobilization Orders.  It was the responsibility of the Commanding Officer to maintain an official regimental War Diary from the declaration of war until the end of war. The 2nd A&SH War Diary starts simply with an entry on August 5th 1914.  It says "5.30pm Received the Order 'MOBILIZE'".  From now until the end of the war a daily log of actions and activities would be kept in this diary.  This diary has proven to be invaluable in locating the 2nd A&SH throughout the war.  Corporal John Minnery's name appears now and again and I will include those entries throughout this blog. 

2nd A&SH War Diary - first entries

It's interesting to note on the 6th August that the Battalion take charge of 91 Prisoners of War from a fishing fleet sunk in the North Sea.  The prisoners are confined to the moat during the day then the Fort's casements at night.

Captain Henry Hyslop of the 2nd  A&SH recorded in his diary the arrival of reservists...

At 2.30pm on the 7th August the Battalion receives Orders to "embark Expeditionary Force, taking 9th August as 1st day of Movement".

On the 8th at 1pm they are given orders to move the Battalion to Southampton on the following day.

Four parties proceeded to Fort George train station on Sunday the 9th August in half hour intervals starting at 6.10pm.   

Their trains departed heading for Southampton Docks where they would embark for France and War.

Fort George to Southampton..to Boulogne, France

The trains headed south via Inverness and then through Perth.  Captain Henry Hyslop of B Company, in his diary recorded the following:

Early in 1915 John mentions that he is in "A" Company.   "A" company departed at 6.40pm and the following afternoon embarked on the SS Seahound from Southampton heading to the french port of Boulogne.

Arriving in France

The following day the boats arrived at Boulogne

The Battalion were billeted in old local barracks. For the next two weeks the soldiers were assisting with the unloading and loading of materials.

Of Britain's 120,000 Regular and Reservists available, some 80,000 had headed to France as the British Expeditionary Force.

On the 22nd August the Battalion headed off by train to Valenciennes.  The A&SH were attached to the 19^th Infantry Brigade of the BEF.  This Brigade  also consisted of the Royal Welch Fusiliers (the poet and author Robert Graves' regiment), 1^st Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and the 1^st Middlesex.   At that point the Germans were sweeping through Belgium with a vastly superior force - the German Army in its entirety numbered 2 million men.   

The British forces were now heading north to the first large scale battles of World War One, Mons and then Le Cateau.  And the 2nd A&SH were to be heavily involved in the action at Le Cateau.