Battle Of Mons 1914

[Guest British Frontier]

Hi, nice to meet you all. I basically pasted most of this but added my own compilation toward the end. I feel the British generally get painted not so well even with near accurate information. The way authors word info online can make a nation stand tall or look a little shorter, whereas any other nation they glorify for achievments which can be pretty modest to say the least when you dig up the facts. Irritates the life out of me. Anyway with that rant out of the way can someone clarify what the true casualties were at Mons as some sites differ in numbers.

The Mons battle signified the first engagement between British and German forces on the Western Front, and began on 23 August 1914.

Having arrived in France on 14 August the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) under its Commander-in-Chief, Sir John French was moving forward cautiously from the Belgian coast, in keeping with Sir John's character, his plan being to meet up with French General Lanrezac's Fifth Army near Charleroi on the Sambre.

Before reaching Charleroi however, the BEF encountered cavalry patrols from the German First Army at Soignies on 22 August. Sir John immediately made plans to attack the German forces, against intelligence advice and apparently unaware of its full strength. Changing tack overnight, Sir John ordered his five divisions to establish defensive positions at the nearby Mons Canal. Sir John's surprise at meeting the German First Army was equalled by its commander, General von Kluck who had just seen action at the Battle of the Sambre against General Lanrezac's French and was intent on chasing Lanrezac to the south. Distracted, von Kluck determined to launch a frontal attack against the BEF on 23 August, having been forbidden by the German High Command from outflanking the BEF and possibly losing contact with von Bulow's German Second Army.

Meanwhile Sir John, who because the initial British-German contact had come via cavalry troops had effectively bought himself a day's respite before battle commenced, deployed his two infantry corps, commanded by Smith-Dorrien and Haig respectively, east and west of Mons across a forty kilometre front.

The eastern wing almost reached the retreating French Fifth Army under General Lanrezac, some eight miles away. Edmund Allenby's cavalry division was held in reserve in case of need.

At the start of the battle the British found themselves heavily outnumbered by their German opposition: 70,000 troops as opposed to 160,000, and 300 guns against 600 German.

Despite such odds, von Kluck's offensive against General Smith-Dorrien following a preliminary artillery barrage began disastrously, the British riflemen exacting heavy losses on the advancing German infantry.

Indeed, by mid-afternoon he had no progress to show for the offensive. The British had suffered some 1,600 casualties. The efficiency of the British riflemen was such that von Kluck assumed that the enemy were using machine-guns. German losses were in excess of 5,000.

Whilst von Kluck paused the attack in order to draft in reserves, Sir John, having heard news that General Lanrezac had retreated and could therefore offer the British no assistance, ordered a strategic retreat to the British second line of defence.

Von Kluck renewed the offensive in the evening, by which time Sir John had realised quite how strong von Kluck's forces were. Sir john therefore ordered Smith-Dorrien and Haig to further retreat; von Kluck did not at first give chase, choosing instead to address the heavy casualties inflicted earlier in the day. Kluck, after the war had finished, described the BEF as an "incomparable army".

'Altogether, the British commanders were not ill-satisfied with the day's work. The men, too, were in high spirits, for they had met superior numbers of the most highly renowned army in the world and had given a good account of themselves'. (Official History)

The British Commander-in-Chief then undertook an extended retreat. Sir John himself recommended complete withdrawal to the coast, although Kitchener, the British war minister, rejected Sir John's suggestion, requiring the BEF to remain in contact with the French forces retreating to the Marne.

Tactics in the retreat.

British fire-and-movement infantry tactics were essentially those taught in the pre-war years. Intensive and accurate rifle fire, and the effect of air-bursting shrapnel rounds on a massed and unprotected enemy, were impressive. The British force engaged withdrew brilliantly in the face of overwhelming odds and without flank protection.

As good as the BEF Professional Army was, or better than their German counterparts, once it had lost its strength on the fields of Belgium and France, the call would go out for mass voluntary recruitment.

A recruitment that even up to 1916 at the Somme where casualties were heavy, Haig, now Commander in Chief noted in his despatch; "Moreover a VERY LARGE proportion of the officers and men under my command were still far from being fully trained." Indeed the invaluable experience missing and that defensive warfare was much more advanced than offensive would prove very costly, even though most of the objectives were met.

Thx

[Desmond7]

If you look up at your logged in name you will see 'The Long Long Trail' above it.

Click on and go to the subsection on battles and under 'Western Front' you'll find a list which includes Mons. I believe it gives casualty figures at the end.

Cheers

[Guest British Frontier]

Sure, i did include the figures from this site in the post the same as it says in Firstworldwar.com. But they give the appearance that 1,600 were casualties from the first day alone even though Mons subsidary engagements lasted until the 25th. Other sites can stretch the figures either way and end up spoiling a good factual account but np I'll go with The LLT as overall figure.

[Guest Desmond6]

British frontier - I wasn't trying to pull your leg.

Referring people to the Long, Long Trail is the standard reply to an opening post.

Sorry if it came out that way.

Des