History of the United Kingdom during the First World War and the German Imperial Navy did come into contact, notably in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, and at the Battle of Jutland. In view of their inferior numbers and firepower, the Germans devised a plan to draw part of the British fleet into a trap and put it into effect at Jutland in , but the result was inconclusive. In , the High Seas Fleet tried a similar enticement operation and was "lucky to escape annihilation". The lessons learned by the Royal Navy at Jutland made it a more effective force in the future. In 1914, the navy had also
Battle of the Frontiers were sent later. The Battle of Haelen ("Halen") was a cavalry battle at the beginning of World War I. Haelen (Halen in Dutch) was a small market town along the principal axis of advance of the German imperial army and provided a good crossing point over the River Gete. The battle took place on 12 August 1914 between German forces, led by Georg von der Marwitz and the Belgian troops commanded by Léon de Witte. Belgian engineers had blown the bridge over the Gete but the structure only partly collapsed and the Germans got troops over it into the centre