Decorative tin hanging plate with central portrait of Lieutenant General John D P French, 1902 (c)

Photograph by Lambert Weston and Son Folkstone, 1902 (c).

General Sir John French was in overall command of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) when it landed in France in August 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918). He was an experienced general who had skilfully commanded cavalry during the Boer War (1899-1902). But, like many other generals of his generation, he found modern warfare far more challenging.