Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te pakarutanga o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao i te marama o Akuhata 1914, kua eke a Brauchitsch ki te taumata rangatira. I tohua ia hei rangatira kaimahi ki te XVI Army Corps, i noho tata ki Metz. I te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, i mahi ia me te 34th Infantry Division me nga Kaitiaki Reserve Corps. I waenga i te 1914 me te 1916, i uru ia ki te Pakanga o Verdun me te Pakanga o te Ngahere o Argonne. I roto i nga tau e rua o te pakanga, i uru a Brauchitsch ki te Pakanga Tuatoru o Aisne, te Aisne-Marne whakaeke, te
Ko te Pakanga Tuarua o te Aisne, te Pakanga o Armentières, me te Pakanga o Flanders. I whakawhiwhia a Brauchitsch ki te Iron Cross 1st Class me te Whare Order o Hohenzollern, a ka mutu te pakanga me te taumata o te rangatira.