Retreat from Mons - Affair at Landrecies

The British I Corps retreated south moving east of the Foret de Mormal. The 1st Guards Division moved into billets west of Avnes with initially little enemy contact.

The Germans had however found traversing routes through the Foret de Mormal and their advanced guard tried to secure crossing places over the River Sambre. As darkness fell, at 7:30 pm they attempted to capture a bridge over the Sambre in Landrecies.

The 4th Guards Brigade were billeted in Landrecies and were guarding the bridge. The initial contact was with piquets from 3rd Coldstream Guards who were reinforced by 2nd Grenadiers as the action developed.

Despite numerous German charges and German artillery brought forward the Guardsmen held the position.

Coldstream Guards Landrecies

Landrecies

During the action corn stacks in a farm yard were set on fire lighting up the British positions. L/Cpl GH Wyatt dashed out to put out the fire despite the enemy being only 25 yards away and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.

L/Cpl Wyatt VC

Charles Wyatt VC



Shortly after midnight the British man handled a 60 pounder gun into action near the station at Landrecies and were able to silence the German artillery. The Germans withdrew.


Landrecies Station

British 60 pounder gun field of fire Landrecies

Retreat from Mons Bavai / Foret de Mormal.

The assessment of Field Marshall French on 25th August 1914 was the German First Army were intent on turning his flank to force the British Expeditionary Force into Maubeuges. The French forces  on his right were not thought to be strong enough to protect his flank, whilst to his left the French Army were already 10 kilometres to his rear.

He therefore ordered the further retreat to Le Cateau, and Operation Order no 8 was issued.

The Foret de Mormal lay between the current Brtitish positions and Le Cateau. A formidable densely forested area, it was assessed that routes through the forest it would be impassable.




Foret de Mormal

Operation Order No 8 split the BEF at Bavai. I Corps and 5th Cavalry Brigde would pass to the east of the forest, II Corps with the Cavalry Division and 19th Brigade to the west, the intent being to would reform in the area of Le Cateau.

Operation Order No8 splits the BEF

Bavai

Roman Road Bavai to Le Cateau
Route of British 5th Division

Elouges - First Gunner VC of the Great War

On the 24th August 1914 the 5th Division of the British Expeditionary Force were withdrawing south from the Conde- Mons canal. To protect their flank the divisional reserve was ordered from their position in Dour to form a flank guard in a blocking position between Audregnies and Elouges.

The flank guard at Elouges consisted of 1st Norfolf Regiment and 1st Cheshire Regiment, their artillery support being provided by 119th Field Battery Royal Field Artillery. The battery was commanded by Major EW Alexander and part of 27th Brigade RFA.

Action at Elouges

Despite intense artillery and infantry fire, the flank guard checked the initial German advances.  However , as German pressure continued, and with the 5th Division now withdrawn from the area, the order to retire was received by the Battery.

VC Action Elouges

Two guns from the 119th Battery withdrew , leaving the four remaining guns. The gunners had been under effective fire from three German Batteries and casualties were heavy. As the order to withdrew came there were insufficient men to move the guns. Seeing the situation the gunners were in, Captain Grenfell of the 9th Lancers asked if he could assist. He called on volunteers from his unit to help the remaining men from the 119th Battery to manhandle the guns to a position where they could be limbered up and then extracted from the area.

For their actions in withdrawing the guns from Elouges, Battery Commander Major EW Alexander and Captain FO Grenfell were awarded the Victoria Cross.

For the Royal Artillery this was to be the first VC awarded to the Gunners in the First World War.

Major EW Alexander VC
119 Field Battery RFA

Ernest Wright Alexander VC

 

[ London Gazette, 18 February 1915 ], Elouges, Belgium, 24 August 1914, Major Ernest Wright Alexander, 119th Battery, Royal Artillery.

For conspicuous bravery and great ability at Elouges on the 24th August 1914, when the flank guard was attacked by a German corps, in handling his battery against overwhelming odds with such conspicuous success that all his guns were saved, notwithstanding that they had to be withdrawn by hand by himself and three other men. This enabled the retirement of the 5th Division to be carried out without serious loss. Subsequently Lieutenant Colonel Alexander ( then Major ) rescued a wounded man under a heavy fire, with the greatest gallantry and devotion to duty.   

Captain FO Grenfell VC
9th Lancers

Francis Octavius Wright VC

The citation was gazetted on 16 September 1914:

For gallantry in action against unbroken infantry at Andregnies, Belgium, on 24th August 1914, and for gallant conduct in assisting to save the guns of the 119th Battery, Royal Field Artillery, near Doubon the same day.^[2]

He was killed in action on 24 May 1915 and is buried in the Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery.

CWGC Captain FO Grenfell

Mons - Action Elouges Cheshires Last Stand

At Elouges the initial attack by German infantry was checked, however  increasing numbers of German troops continued to put pressure on the flank guard. With the 5th Division now retreating safely, orders were issued by Lt. Col Ballard commanding the troops at Elouges at 2;30 pm for the flank guard to retire.

The 1st Norfolk and the British artillery began their withdrawal, but despite sending three messages to 1 Cheshire they failed to receive the order to retire. The Cheshires together with small parties of Norfolks continued to fight until they were surrounded and overwhelmed, the action finishing at 7 pm in the evening.

Looking over the Battlefield at Elouges
Cheshires last stand

Action at Elouges - Cheshires last stand

Mons - Action at Elouges Cavalry Charge

As the British Expeditionary Force withdrew from Mons 24th August 1914, the 5th Division was in contact as it retreated. The Divisional Commander, General Ferguson became concerned about the security of his left flank, and consequently ordered the divisional reserve to blocking positions between Elouges and Audregnies. In addition the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Brigades who were in the process of retreating south, were ordered back into the area.

The German Army continued their wheel south and were moving along the road towards Valenciennes, north of the British Flank Guard.



Action at Elouges

View across the Elouges battlefield looking north form the British positions

 

The 5th Divisional Reserve (1 Cheshire and 1 Norfolk) supported by 119 Battery Royal Field artillery deployed into blocking positions around lunch time and were soon engaged by German Aartillery., and the German infantry advanced in two columns.

To disrupt the attack, the 9th Lancers, tgether with two troops 4 Dragoon Guards  were ordered to attack north into the German flank. Attacking along a roman road the cavalry thundered towards the attacking Germans.

Audregnies - Roman Road along which 9th Lancers charged

The charging cavalry were halted by intense German infantry and artillery fire, as well as by ordinary agricultural barbed wire fences,their limit of explotation being a sugar factory. They were forced to withdraw south east following a railway track to Elouges. .



9th Lancers charge at Audgregnies

Audregnies - Sugar Factory

Mons - St Symphorien Cemetery First / Last Casualties

St Symphorien First and Last British Battle Casualties

Buried in St Symphorien Military cemetery is Private John Parr 4th Middlesex Regiment who is recorded as being the first British battle casualty of the Great War.

On the 21st August 1914 he was on a bicycle reconnaissance patrol in Obourg when he and a colleague met a German cavalry patrol. In the ensuing engagement he was killed by rifle fire, aged 16

Private John Parr
4th Middlesex Regiment
Recorded as first British battle casualty in WW1

Private John Parr

CWGC Private John Parr



Coincidentally, a few yards from Private Parr's resting place is the grave of Private George Ellison, 5th Lancers, who is believed to be the last British battle casualty of World War One. He was killed one and a half hours before the armistice on a patrol north of Mons.

St. Symphorien - First and last British battle casualties

Private George Ellison
5th Lancers
Recorded as last British battle casualty in WW1

Private George Ellison

CWGC Private George Ellison

St Symphorien - one of the first RA casualties

 

Driver Edgar Towse
Royal Field Artillery
One of the first Royal Artillery battle casualties

Driver Edgar Towse was killed during the Battle of Mons 23rd August 1914. He served with 23rd Battery, 40th Brigade Royal Field Artillery, who were positioned on La Boit Haut. He was killed in action aged 29.

CWGC Driver Edgar Towse

He is commemorated on Sullington War Memorial, Sussex

Sullington War Memorial, Sussex

Last British Empire Battle Casualty

George Lawrence Price is recognised as being the last British Empire battle casualty of World War One. Whilst his patrol was engaged with Germans in Ville-sur-Haine on the Mons Central Canal he was shot by a sniper two minutes before the armistice came into force. He served with the Canadian 28th Infantry Regiment and was killed aged 29 at 10:58 am 18th November 1918

 

Private George Ellison
28th Canadian Regiment
Last British Empire battle casualty in World War One



Private George Lawrence Price

CWGC Private George Lawrence Price

 

 

Mons - St. Symphorien Military Cemetery

 The cemetery at St. Symphorien was established by the German Army in August 1914 as the final resting place for British and German soldiers who were killed at the Battle of Mons. Among those buried here is Private John Parr of the Middlesex Regiment who was fatally wounded during an encounter with a German patrol two days before the battle, thus becoming the first British soldier to be killed in action on the Western Front. The cemetery remained in German hands until the end of the war and also contains the graves of Commonwealth and German soldiers who were killed in the final days of the conflict, including George Ellison of the Royal Irish Lancers and George Price of the Canadian Infantry. Ellison and Price were killed on November 11, 1918 and are believed to be the last Commonwealth casualties of the First World War. In total, there are 284 German and 230 Commonwealth casualties buried in this site.

Source:   CWGC St Symphorien Military Cemetery

St. Symphorien  entrance

St. Symphorien  British Cross of Sacrifice & German Monument

St. Symphorien - British path entrance



St. Symphorien - British Cross of Sacrifice

St. Symphorien - Royal Fusiliers plot



St. Symphorien - Royal Fusiliers Memorial

St. Symphorien - 4th Middlesex circle

 

St. Symphorien - 4th Middlesex Memorial

 

 

St. Symphorien - PoW Commemoration

St. Symphorien - British and German graves

Buried in St Symphorien is Lt Maurice Dease who won the Victoria Cross at Nimy where he was mortally wounded.

Lt Maurice Dease VC

CWGC Information - Lt MJ Dease VC



St. Symphorien - British and German graves

St. Symphorien - German path entrance 

St. Symphorien - German Monument

St. Symphorien - German graves

Mons - La Boit Haut

To the south east of Mons lies La Boit Haut. The feature dominates the area around Mons and vital ground to the BEF.

The position was held by 2 Royal Scots and 1 Gordon's and for the artillery of 40th Brigade RFA, it provided good observation and fields of fire. The artillery were able to bring effective shrapnel fire onto the advancing Germans causing heavy casualties. The artillery and infantyry fire protected the British flank which aided the withdrawal of troops from the Mons salient. La Boit haut was held till nightfall when units withdrew to new defensive positions south of Mons.

 

View East from La Boit Haut

Mons - Mariette

The First Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers were position on the Conde – Mons canal at Mariette. Two companies forward on the canal fought through most of the day, starting their withdrawal late afternoon.


1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers Mariette

Source: The Devils Carnival - First Northumberland Fusiliers

 

1 Northumberland Fusiliers position Mariette

1 Northumberland Fusiliers position Mariette

  To their east, L/Cpl Charles Jarvis of the Royal Engineers succeeding in blowing a bridge at Jemappes whilst under fire, earning a VC. 

L/Cpl Jarvis winning the Victoria Cross

L/Cpl C Jarvis VC

L/Cpl Charles Jarvis VC

The Northumberland Fusiliers observed at attempt by another sapper, Captain Theodore Wright, to blow the bridge at Mariette whilst under intense infantry fire. Although unsuccessful, Captain Wright was awarded the VC.

Capt. T Wright Royal Engineers winning the VC at Mariette

Captain T Wright VC

Captain Theodore Wright VC