Old Contemptibles

British  

plural noun

1. the British expeditionary force to France in 1914

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Etymology

Origin of Old Contemptibles

so named from the Kaiser's alleged reference to them as a ``contemptible little army''

Example Sentences

The first English Army, "the Old Contemptibles," had all been expert rifle-shots, and, after a period when rifle fire was almost entirely absent from the battle-fields, tacticians began to recall this fact, and the cost it had entailed upon the Germans.

From Project Gutenberg

No one officially said where the B. E. F. was stationed, but everyone knew: on France's low-lying Belgian border from Lille to Hirson, right where the "Old Contemptibles" took their stand 25 years ago.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus with proud self-derision the Old Contemptibles* of 1914 sang as they marched to battle.

From Time Magazine Archive

They were ill-trained and vitiated by appeasement when war came, not unlike the "Old Contemptibles" which the Kaiser scorned in 1914.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the Old Contemptibles stood their ground until their ranks were shot through & through.

From Time Magazine Archive