Old Contemptibles

This historic phrase The Old Contemptibles originated with the Kaiser's address to the German Army issued at Aix la Chapelle on 19 August, 1914. The Kaiser's words were as follows: “It is my Royal and Imperial command that you concentrate your energies, for the immediate present, upon one single purpose, and that is that you address all your skill, and all the valour of my soldiers, to exterminate first the treacherous English and then walk over General French's contemptible little army.” The men of the Old Army, who stopped the German onset before Ypres, accepted the sneer as a title of honour, and after their practical annihilation facing the enemy, their successors of the New Army applied the name "Old Contemptibles" to them in admiring memory of their heroism.

See also British Expeditionary Force.

References / notes

The above term is listed in our Compendium of the Great War.

This compendium forms the central hub of words, phrases, people, and places relative to the Great War period of 1914–1918. These also include battles, political events, ships, trench slang, British and American service terms and expressions in everyday use, nicknames, sobriquets, the titles of British and Commonwealth Regiments and their origins, and also warfare in general. These words and phrases are contemporary with the war, which is reflected in the language used, some of which may seem derogatory by today's standards. Feel free to expand upon and improve this content.

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