The Defence of Festubert was an engagement early in the Great War when units of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 and Indian Army

British Indian Army

The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...

 defended the village of Festubert

Festubert

Festubert is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. The village was on the Western Front during the First World War and was largely destroyed in the May 1915 Battle of Festubert.-Geography:...

 against a German attack on 23-24 Nov 1914. It is notable for being one of the first actions in the war in which an attack was made against a prepared defensive position, thus foreshadowing the years of trench warfare which were to come.

The British and Indian regiments that took part were awarded the battle honour

Battle honours of the British and Imperial Armies

The following battle honours were awarded to units of the British Army and the armies of British India and the Dominions of the British Empire. From their institution until the end of the Second World War, awards were made by, or in consultation with, the British government, but, since 1945, the...

 Festubert 1914.

This engagement should not be confused with the Battle of Festubert

Battle of Festubert

The Battle of Festubert was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. It began on May 15, 1915 and continued until May 25.-Context:...

which took place in the following spring.