Bef Collection

The Canadians at Ypres - William Barnes Wollen
The Canadians at Ypres 1915 - This depicts the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry at Bellewaerde Ridge on 8th May 1915

2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade survivors
" All that is left of them", the survivors of the original 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade which went out to France in 1914 with the original BEF (British Expeditionary Force)

Newspaper front cover: evacuation of Dunkirk, 1940
" Through an inferno of bombs and shells, the B.E.F is crossing the Channel from Dunkirk-in historys strangest armada

The Canadians at Ypres, 1915, depicting the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry at Bellewaerde Ridge on 8th May 1915

Stretcher party crossing the Menin road. Gunner F.J. Mears, B.E.F. Royal Garrison Artillery, Died 1929

Stretcher party crossing the Menin Road at Gheluvelt, by Gunner F J Mears, BEF, Royal Garrison Artillery (d. 1929). Date: 1914-1918

Statue of Field Marshal Haig - Edinburgh Castle
A statue of Field Marshal Haig on horseback at the Esplanade, Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland. Field Marshal Douglas Haig

British troops in France 1914
Arrival of the BEF, 11th Hussars at Le Havre on the Western Front in France during World War I on 16th August 1914

General Sir Horace Smith-Dorien
Portrait of General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien. In Command of the 2nd Army Corps British Expeditionary Force at the start of WWI. Date: circa 1914

Congratulations from Lord Kitchener to Sir John French
Postcard detailing the congratulations sent from Lord Kitchener to General Sir John French on August 25th 1914, at the very start of the First World War

British Army Pierrot Troupe - WWI
British Army Pierrot Troupe, from the British Expeditionary Force of 1917 Date: 1917

British Expeditionary Force Machine Gun Team
Members of the British Expeditionary Force in action in France at the beginning of the First World War. This photographic card depicts a Maxim machine gun team in light uniform

Map of Dunkirk area during the evacuation, WW2
Map of the Dunkirk area in northern France during the evacuation, showing two flooded areas of low-lying meadow land which assisted in the Allied retreat. Date: 1940

Aerial view of Dunkirk during the evacuation, WW2
Aerial view of Dunkirk and harbour during the evacuation, with surrounding countryside. Date: 1940

Map of France and Belgium, evacuation from Dunkirk, WW2
Map of the northern French and Belgian coast, showing the evacuation from Dunkirk and other points, and the evacuation triangle through which the Allied army retreated

1st Earl Haig at a British Legion Poppy Factory
Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (1861-1928) - a senior officer of the British Army who commanded the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in WW1 - pictured at the British Legion

Cameo portraits of seven Allied Generals
Posted from the BEF in France the card shows the team United against the Barbarians'. Passed by Censor 1332. WW1 Date: 1915

WW2 era - Comic Postcard - Good Night, Forces
The Caption is Good Night Forces. This is a play on the closing words of BBC Forces Radio which broadcast to the BEF. It began in 1940 and finished in 1944 well before this card was posted

Bray, near Dunkirk, during the evacuation, WW2
The British Expeditionary Force lining up on a beach near Bray, to the east of Dunkirk, northern France, during the evacuation, with men making their way into the water ready to embark onto vessels

WW1 - Mons and our Masterly Move - 1914
WW1 - Mons and our Masterly Move - Field Marshall Sir John Frenchs Historical Dispatch explained. A pictorial map showing the famous British Expeditionary Force (BEF)

Nieppe, just outside Northern boundary of Armentieres, WW1
Nieppe - just outside the Northern boundary of Armentieres. The old Mill, where eggs and fresh milk could be obtained almost up to the time the Bosche attacked

Portuguese Army mule cart en route through Erquinghem, WW1
Portuguese Wagon - Portuguese Army mule cart en route through Erquinghem - 14.7.17. Shows regimental insignia in red and green with the figures 13 and 169 on the cart

Storeyard from farmhouse Delacroix Farm, WW1
View of the RE storeyard from farmhouse, Delacroix Farm, Sailly-sur-la-Lys. Birds eye view of the Delacroix Farm as laid out as our depot

Typical French kitchen stove, with Hortense Delacroix, WW1
A typical French kitchen stove, with Hortense Delacroix. Here I took my cafe au lait each morning before going down line. Annotated on back of picture - Hortense Delacroix

Sad End of a German Spy Behind the British Line, WW1
The Sad End of a German Spy Behind the British Line. He foolishly endeavoured to obtain information from our sign boards!

Signpost Lane, from British lines to German lines, WW1
Signpost Lane, which ran from the British lines, through the German lines into the village of Neuve Chapelle. This sketch was made from a ditch in No-Man s-Land during a reconnaissance for

RE wiring party in front of the trenches, WW1
An RE [Royal Engineers] wiring party in front of the trenches. Until about late 1915, wiring was exclusively the work of the RE, but the casualties sustained in doing this work

Spy Farm, Rue de Bois, RE store destroyed by shell fire, WW1
Spy Farm, Rue de Bois, another RE store, destroyed by shell fire, 26th January 1915. A considerable amount of constructive woodwork was stored here

Trenches at La Boutillerie, forward of Fleurbaix, WW1
By the light of the flare. My first impression of the trenches, at La Boutillerie, forward of Fleurbaix, Jan.15. The front line consisted of separate trenches of primitive construction without any

WW1 - Hands Off. The Engish have landed
WW1 - Marianne to Kaiser Wilhelm II - Hands Off! The Engish have landed. Warning to Germany not to set her sight on France as the English will be on hand to defend her border... Date: 1914

A very fine 1914 BEF Tommy in full marching order
A very fine 1914 B.E.F. Tommy in full marching order. English School

WW2 - Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister in France
WW2 - Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940), British Prime Minister at Arras, France, during a visit to the British Expeditionary Force on 15th December 1939

WW1 - Portrait postcard of King George V and Queen Mary
WW1 - Christmas greetings postcard from King George V (1865-1936) and Queen Mary (1867-1953). The card bears a printed handwritten Christmas Greetings message on the reverse directed to serving

Be-medalled General Sir Douglas Haig
General Haig Commanded the BEF First Corps and went on to become Commander in Chief. The card has a message on the other side from a Conscientious Objector - what a card to choose! WW1 Date: 1918

Portrait of General Sir John French against a Union flag
Sir John commanded the BEF throughout the Retreat from Mons. His love letters during that time to his mistress in England, were auctioned at Sothebys in 1976. WW1 Date: 1914

British Expeditionary Force landing in France August 1914
British Expeditionary Force landing in France, August 1914. By William Barnes Wollen, RI ROI RBC (1857-1936). Date: 1914

WW2 - HM King George VI visits the BEF, December 1939
WW2 - HM King George VI saluting French soldiers just prior to departure back to England following his first visit to the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) in France, December 1939. Date: 1939

British troops crossing the Channel, WW1, Aug 1914
British troops crammed onto a ship crossing the Channel bound for France and Belgium during the early weeks of the First World War. Date: 1914

Observation balloon ascending, Abele, Belgium, WW1
Observation balloon ascending with two RFC men in the basket, Abele, Belgium, during the First World War. Date: 1918

Sir Douglas Haig. Part of Box 104 Boswell collection.Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC (19 June 1861 29 January 1928)

BEF arriving in France, WW1, August 1914
The British Expeditionary Force on French soil. British troops with their horses on arrival in France during the first few weeks of the First World War. Date: 1914

WW1 - British Tommies welcomed on arrival in France Date: 1914

Just what the doctor ordered !. C. Daley, B.E.F

British soldiers going up the line in a torrential rainstorm
A group of British soldiers going up the line in a torrential rainstorm on the Western Front. Another incredible image from an artist that was haunted by what he had experienced during the First

A very fine 1914 BEF Tommy in full marching order
A very fine 1914 B.E.F. Tommy in full marching order. English School

Photo of William Harold Hutchings at art exhibition
Photo of William Harold Hutchings at one of his art exhibitions. Private William Harold Hutchings (1885-1962), 2Nd/1St West Lancashire Field Ambulance (The Wurties), 55Th Division Bef

My, little, grey, home, West, feet, place, but, belong, another, evidently, economical, own, bed, space, Private, William, Harold, Hutchings, 1885, 1962, 2Nd, 1St, Lancashire, Field, Ambulance

A history of a Field Ambulance
MOTLEY - A history of a Field Ambulance (2nd/1st West Lancashire Field Ambulance - The Wurties), June 1918. Also 5 printed menus of the WURTIES Annual Reunion Dinners with many drawings by William

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