Mons, battle of

August 1914

The battle, between troops of the British Expeditionary Force and German forces as they advanced through Belgium, began on 23 August 1914. It represented the first significant encounter in WWI between the two armies and was the first battle fought by the British army on the European continent since Waterloo in 1815.

The aim of the 36,000 British troops was to cover the left flank of the French army as it fell back under German pressure. The heavily outnumbered British troops managed the stem the German advance, suffering 1,600 casualties on the first day, but on 24 August they were forced to retreat beyond the French border.

Reports of the battle and its aftermath, carried in the Times, had a salutary effect on the general euphoria the war had engendered in the British public.

© Historybookshop.com