THE BATTLE OF MONS - 100 YEARS AGO
One of my favourite photos from the first world war was taken on August 22nd August 1914. Men of the BEF sit around relaxing in the town square at Mons in Belgian Flanders before fighting Britain's first battle in Europe for a century. The last being Waterloo in 1814 when the Duke of Wellingtons army smashed Napoleon (ironically enough, with the help of the Prussian army). I look at their faces and all I think is those men have no idea what was waiting for them.
On August 4th 1914 Britain declared war on Germany at 11PM. Britain which despite being the worlds most powerful nation and controlling global trade via the Royal Navy had a comparatively tiny army of 120,000 men against the Germans who fielded an army of some 2 million men. The British army had been organised around a concept of being able to rapidly deploy some 80,000 to 100,000 men of the British expeditionary force to Europe in the event of trouble breaking out within a short time.
After Germany invaded Belgium the BEF began embarking for France on August 9th.
The Germans and French had been preparing for war for decades ever since the Prussian army soundly defeated France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. The Prussian army was decades ahead of the French army and scored a resounding victory. After which a reparations bill was sent to the French and the Prussians paraded through Paris with their pointy helmets. The French got what they deserved. The French lost Alsace-Lorraine to the newly formed German state and the Saar coalfield.
The French were determined to gain revenge for their humiliation and had subsequently drafted more military age males and spent more on defence than Germany in the years leading up to the conflict. Central to their plan was a vast line of fortifications stretching from Switzerland to the Belgian frontier. Belgium as a neutral country was guaranteed her neutrality by various nations including Britain after the state was established in the wake of the Napoleonic wars. There really is no Belgium. Its a place as fabricated as Iraq, Syria or any other line on the map nation.
The Schlieffen plan dictated that in order to win a war against both France and Russia it would be best to knock France out of the war within 3-6 months so the entire might of the German army could defeat the Russians. The only way to do this was to bypass the French fortifications via Belgium and attack Paris. This plan counted on Belgium not resisting and allowing the German army free access. When Belgium refused the Germans invaded. The Belgian army and Belgium's system of defensive forts was antiquated and were quickly chewed to bits by German artilary guns.
At the same time the French launched their plan XVII in which the French army attacked German positions along the Frontier in Alsace and in Belgium. The Germans were of course waiting for them. The French marched into battle in colourful uniforms with bands playing as they would have in the Napoleonic wars. The Germans slaughtered them with machine gun fire and artillery. The French lost 250,000 men wounded or killed in the first month of the war.
The German advance through Belgium would be a Pincer movement, the German 1st army attacking the French 5th army on its western flank allowing the advance of German forces towards Paris given that the bulk of Frances army would be engaged on the frontiers to the east and had no defences to man between the Belgian border and the North Sea. The one thing the Schlieffen plan didn't count on was the British Expeditionary Force being there to meet the German 1st army.
A rough outline of the Schlieffen plan.
The Schlieffen plan was fundementally flawed. It counted on Belgium giving the Germans free access to invade France. As a neutral country the idea is appalling that they would allow free access for an invading army. If you ask me being a neutral country means that you would refuse any bordering nation access to invade another. Switzerland has been able to stay neutral for so long because the country is a fortress. There was a reason they were able to stay neutral in both world wars. The Schlieffen plan also counted on Britian staying neutral in the outbreak of any conflict.
On August 23rd the 80,000 men of the BEF under the command of Field Marshall John French engaged General Alexander Von Klucks 120,000 men of the German 1st army at the Belgian village of Mons. Mons was the last place the British could mount an effective defence. The village was intersected by a canal which would allow the establishment of a defensive line which was hastily dug in preparation for the German attack. This was to be the first time since Waterloo 100 years before that the British would face a adversary on the feild of battle in Europe.
The first few months of the war were somewhat strange in that some of the first combat between the British and German armies was actually cavalry warfare. The previous day on 22nd August a Squadron of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, commanded by Major Tom Bridges, pushed out two patrols north from Mons towards Soignies and met the Germans for the first time. Four enemy cavalrymen attacked the British but were turned around. They were pursued by the 1st Troop (under Captain Hornby). Corporal E. Thomas of the 4th opened fire near the chateau of Ghislain, the first British soldier to do so in the Great War. He was uncertain whether he killed or wounded the German soldier that he hit. Meanwhile, Hornby led his men in hot pursuit and charged the Germans, killing several with his sword. Ironically one of the first British casualties may have also fallen victim to a German cavalryman's sword. Although due to administartive screw ups it took a campaign led by his mother to actually get the British army to concede he was probably killed after wandering into a German ambush the day before the first shots were fired at Mons and he was declared missing in action.
The first Victoria cross of the war was won at Mons by Lt. Maurice Dease. The 4th fusiliers had been tasked with defending the bridges at Nimy. Naturally the Germans would need to cross the canal to overrun the British. Dease commanded the battalions sections of 2 machine guns. As the Germans came close to overrunning the positon all of his men were wounded or killed so he took over the machinegun himself and continued firing despite being wounded 5 times and was taken away to a medical station where he died. Private Sidney Godley took over the gun providing cover fire as the wounded retreated. He was able to dismantle the gun and throw it in the river before the Germans could capture it. He was taken prisoner and surivived the war.
The British despite being outnumbered held on for 2 days against the German onslaught. Eventually the British were forced to beat a hasty retreat when the French 5th army had to retreat. In retrospect it was probably for the best, to loose the professional core of the British army so early in the war would have been untenable. The British retreated for 12 days to the outskirts of Paris where the last defence would be made on the banks of the river Marne. Soliders walked all day weighed down by heavy equipment, most became utterly delerious, the Germans snapping at their ankles. The Germans pursued so doggedly that the British were forced into fighting a number of rear guard actions to give the bulk of the BEF a chance to retreat onwards.
Despite being outnumbered 2-1 at Mons (in both men and guns) the British inflicted 5000 casualties on the Germans for only 1600 of their own dead. Most of the British dead were suffered in the Middlesex and 2nd Royal Irish regiment which were practically wiped out.
The Germans soon learned how effective British rifle fire was. The SMLE - Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifle was a .303 calibre bolt action rifle which had a 10 round magazine capacity. In the Boer war its forbear the MLE had been outclassed by the German Mauser used by the Boer rebels. The Mauser could engage targets at more distance with its 7.92mm centrefire cartridge. The Mauser was so good the Americans based the M1903 Springfield and the .30-06 cartridge on it. But the British had made modifications to the .303 cartridge making it lighter and soft tipped which made it far more accurate at longer distances and increased its lethality. The design of the bolt made it easy to cycle rapidly. The British put their German counterparts under accurate rapid volley fire at 900 yards. In several battles in 1914 German commanders reported being convinced that the British were firing whole battery's of machine-guns at them when in fact they didn't have any at all.