The 1st battalion Irish Guards were deployed to France eight days after the UK declared war upon Germany and remained on the Western Front for the duration of the war. The first major clash of the British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) with the German Army took place, on the 23rd August 1914 at the Battle of Mons. The battalion took part in this battle and the subsequent arduous and bloody Great Retreat.

The Battle of Mons was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies clashed with Germany on the French borders. At Mons, the British Army attempted to hold the line of the Mons–Condé Canal against the advancing German 1st Army. Although the British fought well and inflicted disproportionate casualties on the numerically superior Germans, they were eventually forced to retreat due both to the greater strength of the Germans and the sudden retreat of the French Fifth Army who had to withdraw to avoid being surrounded by the Germans. This Retreat (which is known to the Veterans and the Regiment as the Retirement) is a legendary epic, and the 1st Battalion, therefore, took part in what must be one of the most testing battles of the early part of the Great War. Though initially planned as a simple tactical withdrawal and executed in good order, the British retreat from Mons lasted for two weeks and was a severe test of skill and endurance, entailing withdrawing a distance of nearly 200 miles. It took the BEF to the outskirts of Paris before it counter-attacked in concert with the French, at the Battle of the Marne.

The Irish Guards was part of the rearguard during the retreat and took part in a small-scale action at Landreciess against the advancing Germans. The 1st Irish Guards also took part in another rearguard action at the woods near Villers-Cotterets, on 1 September, during the Battle of Le Cateau.  Here they sustained over 100 casualties including the death of their Commanding Officer and the Second-in-Command. Le Cateau was a successful action that inflicted very heavy losses on the Germans and helped delay their advance towards Paris.

The 1st Irish Guards took part in the Battle of Marne and the advance to the Ainse which began on the 8th September 1914. The German advance from Mons was halted just east of Paris, and the Allies began the advance northwards towards AINSE. The 1st Battalion crossed the Ainse on the 14th September 1914.

In mid-October the BEF was moved to cover the Channel Ports and from the 21st October to the 12th November 1914 the 1st Battalion fought continuously in the first battle of YPRES, one of the bloodiest battles of 1914. Having lost their CO only a few weeks after reaching France, the battle caused major casualties. The battalion took part in the major actions, at Langemarck, Gheluvelt and Nonne Bosschen. The 1st Battalion suffered huge casualties between November 1–8 holding the line against near defeat by German forces, while defending Klein Zillebeke, with No. 3 Company being blown to pieces on November 1 and No 1 Company being caught in the open after a French retreat on November 6 exposed their flank, ensuring that the greater part of them were missing.

By the end of 'First Ypres' on the 22nd November the battalion had suffered over 700 casualties.

By the end of 'First Ypres' on the 22 November, the battalion had suffered over 700 casualties. 

Joan Walker