I'm looking for details on the battle formations and tactics employed by armies. If you could link me to a British, French or German field manual of 1914 detailing company and battalion level tactics that would be the best. I have been having difficulty finding really good information from casually browsing the internet(which seems to be sufficient for most subjects). I know the company was the basic maneuver element in 1914(for the British anyway), but I have no idea about the other details. What was the interval between men in a rank? What was the interval between ranks? How much liberty did soldiers have to move, seek cover, and pick targets? What formations were available to the company(line, column, square...)? How did companies support each other on the battalion level? Any details or resources you can find.
Hey, this post sans the Belgium tangent is exactly what you're looking for:
The issue is that the British didn't have an army wide issued tactical manual until February/March 1917. You can read more about that in this post. 1914 combat would look more like this than you would think.
The French as well did not have strictly proliferated tactical manuals until into the war. They had general tactical ideals which trickled down from the top such as an emphasis on attack and fire teams and local fire superiority but, again, those were not set in stone tactical manuals. You can read these open source online, both are by Ferdinand Foch and one is The Principals of War in 1903 and The Conduct of War in 1905.
If I could I would change the title to Tactical Doctrine of 1914. Because that's really what I'm asking about. The doctrine.
They may not have had tactical manuals as we understand them today. But they would have had prescribed combat formations for troops.
For example a Napoleonic battle formation for a battalion sized element(the basic maneuver element) would have been about 400-1000 men formed in line, column, or square about 2 or 3 ranks deep(depending on nation) standing shoulder to shoulder with movement strictly limited to commands. Likewise a modern battle formation for a squad sized element(new basic maneuver element) would be about 5-13 men(depending on branch and nation) forming a line, column, or wedge a single rank deep with a spacing of about 5-10 meters between each man, with enough freedom of movement to take advantage of the terrain for cover and concealment.
I know the basic maneuver element in 1914 was the company, of around 100 men. And I know that the formations were looser than in the Napoleonic wars. Your link gives me an idea what a British battle formation would have looked like in 1917(two lines ". . .extensions between men . . .should usually be from 4 to 5 yards. . .The distance between lines should be from 15 to 25 yards . . .").
I am curious how consistent this was across different armies, and if there are any further details available.