First Army was a home service formation of the

British Army during the First World War The British Army during the First World War fought the largest and most costly war in its long history. Unlike the French and German Armies, the British Army was made up exclusively of volunteers—as opposed to conscripts—at the beginni ...

. First Army was formed on 5 August 1914 under the command of

Central Force In classical mechanics, a central force on an object is a force that is directed towards or away from a point called center of force. : \vec = \mathbf(\mathbf) = \left\vert F( \mathbf ) \right\vert \hat where \vec F is the force, F is a vecto ...

. It was based at

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

and Sir Bruce Hamilton was the Army Commander. Units attached to the Army were the

Highland Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

and the

Highland Mounted Brigade The Highland Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. After service in the Gallipoli Campaign and in the defence of Egypt, it was absorbed into the 2nd Dismounted Brigade in February 1 ...

. First Army kept its name even after the establishment of a First Army in the British Expeditionary Force in December 1914. It was disbanded on 12 March 1916 and reformed as Northern Army.

References

Field armies of the United Kingdom in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1916 {{UK-mil-unit-stub