2 November

Great War events that took place on 2 November.

1914 (Monday)

Western Front	▶ Germans withdraw from nearly the whole of the left bank of the Yser, and concentrate for attack on Ypres.	▶ British lines pierced at Neuve Chapelle, which the Germans re-occupy.
Eastern Front	East Prussia re-entered by Russian forces.
Naval and Overseas Operations	North Sea proclaimed by the British Admiralty to be wholly a military area from 5 November.
Political	▶ Turkey: Russian and French Ambassadors leave Constantinople.	▶ Great Britain publishes an account of Turkish provocations.

1915 (Tuesday)

Political	H. H. Asquith's military service pledge.^[a]

Notes

↑ The Military Service Bill, introduced by Mr. Asquith to redeem his pledge of 2 November, 1915, that married men would not be called up until after single men, provided that unattested single men and childless married men of military age should be regarded as having attested; that service should be for the duration of the war; that Ireland should be exempted. This Bill was introduced on 5 January, 1916.

Sources: Various material contemporary with the war have been used to compile The Great War On This Day and its associated Index.

Text has been transcribed from two out-of-copyright sources: Chronology of the War (1918-1920), and History of the Great War – Principle Events 1914-1918 (1922). Spelling of place names are original to British use at the time. Some typos have been altered or corrected for consistency. Duplicate or identical events between these sources have been amalgamated; as a result the date and wording may differ to the original texts.
Images come from scans or photographs of original sources, Wikimedia Commons, and the Imperial War Museum's online collections under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence. Attribution is given separately to the latter and do not come under the general licence of this site.
Advisory note: The information in these sources may not accurately represent up-to-date histories, present-day spelling of place names, or geographical boundaries. In some instances the language used may appear sexist or derogatory to the modern reader, and in rare cases, images may depict distressing scenes.
For further details and a full list of sources, click here.

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[1] The Military Service Bill, introduced by Mr. Asquith to redeem his pledge of 2 November, 1915, that married men would not be called up until after single men, provided that unattested single men and childless married men of military age should be regarded as having attested; that service should be for the duration of the war; that Ireland should be exempted. This Bill was introduced on 5 January, 1916.

[a]