^* During the same period the approximate losses of other armies on the Western Front had been: France 850,000 and Germany 650,000. Throughout this book, the terms ‘losses’ and ‘lost’ include all casualties: killed, died of wounds, missing, prisoners and wounded.

After the war there was much controversy over casualty figures. It was suggested that the British system of making casualty returns tended to magnify the real figures, while the German system concealed the true extent of their losses. I do not wish to comment on these theories and, apart from casualties suffered on 1 July 1916, only give approximate figures.

^† Subsequent mention of ‘British’ troops and the B.E.F. will include the Empire troops which, by 1918, represented about twenty per cent of the B.E.F.’s strength.

^* Losses on the Western Front during 1915 were: Britain, nearly 300,000; France, over 1,000,000, and Germany, nearly 700,000.

^† The B.E.F. was fighting in both France and Belgium on what became known as the Western Front. The term ‘France’ will often be used in this book instead of the more technically correct ‘Western Front’ for several reasons: the book is concerned mainly with France, the length of front held in Belgium was very short and the term ‘France’ itself was much used in similar circumstances at the time. It is hoped that the reader will excuse this expedient.