Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment wani rukunin Sojoji ne na yau da kullun kuma, bayan da ya sha kusan 'yan ajiya 500, ya tashi zuwa Faransa, ya sauka a Le Havre a ranar 21 ga Agusta, 1914, kwanaki 17 kawai tun lokacin da Biritaniya ta shiga yakin, a matsayin wani ɓangare na British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Battalion ya shiga Brigade na 8 na 3rd Division a farkon Satumba 1914, sannan aka canza shi zuwa Brigade na 14 na 5th Division daga baya a cikin watan. Rundunar ta yi aiki a Yammacin Yammacin lokacin yakin, ta fara aiki a lokacin yakin La Bassée
a watan Oktoba inda suka taimaka wajen kama Givenchy Ridge, wanda ya biyo bayan Yaƙin Ypres na farko, inda rundunar, tare da yawancin sauran sojojin Birtaniya, suka ci gaba da fama da mummunan rauni. 1st Devons sun rasa kashi biyu bisa uku na jami'ansu da kashi uku na sauran darajoji. Daga nan ne bataliya ta shiga cikin ayyukan hunturu na 1914-1915, ta mamaye rami a cikin laka mai zurfi da dusar ƙanƙara kafin, a watan Afrilu na 1915, ta yi asarar rayuka 200 daga harbe-harbe da hare-haren Jamusawa bayan da suka kame Hill 60 bayan kama shi 'yan kwanaki da suka gabata.