This famous image (Imperial War Museum Catalogue No. Q 70071) is reproduction in many books and articles relating to the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914, the British Army’s first battle of the Great War of 1914-18. The caption in the online catalogue of the Imperial War Museum states,
Troops of A Company 4th Batt. Royal Fusiliers (7th Brigade, 3rd Division), resting in the Grand Place, Mons. The following day the Battalion won two Victoria Crosses (Lieutenant Maurice Dease and Private Sydney Godley) on the Canal bridge at Nimi 2 miles north of Mons.
I have always had problems with the caption to this image, and I will try and explain my concerns.
I will accept that the troops in the photograph are A Company 4th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and that they are sitting on the cobbles in the Grand Place in Mons in front of the Town Hall. My problem is the assumption that this image was taken on Saturday 22nd August 1914 while the battalion was on its way to take up positions on the canal. My contention is that it was taken during the afternoon of Sunday 23rd during the short period when the survivors of the battalion rested in the town to regroup during its fighting withdrawal from the canal where they had been engaged against overwhelming odds since dawn on that fatal Sunday.
My Evidence.
The movements of the battalion on Saturday 22nd August. The morning started with the march to the Mons Canal from overnight billets at. Le Longueille, beginning at 5:30 am, the battalion acting as advanced guard to the 7th Infantry Brigade. Their orders were to take up an outpost position at Nimmi guarding the crossings of the Canal which they reached in the early evening. They passed through Mons to be greeted by crowds of cheering inhabitants who loaded the marching troops with presence of eggs, fruit, tobacco, and even handkerchiefs.
- The Battle.
There is the briefest accounts of the battle in the War Diary and Regimental History. The battalion occupied salient created by the Canal between Mons and Nimy.
C Company, under Capt. Ashbourne lay north of Nimy with its right adjoining the 4th Middlesex, and it’s left a little north of Lock 6. Capt. Forster with two platoons held Nimy Bridge, two other platoons and Company H.Q. were entrenched at the railway bridge and on the canal bank to the left.
D Company, under Capt. Byng held the position about Lock 6 and the Ghlin-Mons bridge.
B Company, under Capt. Carey lay about Nimy station in support, with Battalion H.Q.
A Company, under Capt. Cole was the battalion reserve north of Mons.
The German attack started early in the morning with the 4th Middlesex subjected to heavy artillery bombardment and infantry attacks. By about 11am, it was apparent that the battalion could not hold the enemy and were ordered to prepare to retire. Once consequence of this warning order was that the ammunition boxes were removed from the trenches leading to a shortage of ammunition before the actual order to retire was given at 1.40 pm. ‘C’ Company, the most seriously engaged, lost about 75 men and fell back towards Mons, and when they were clear of their positions ‘D’ Company, which had been covering their withdrawal, also retired to join up with ‘C’ and ‘B’ Companies, and all three retired towards Mons covered by ‘A’ company as rearguard. ‘A’ company rejoined the rest of the battalion in the Grand Place where the battalion rested for about 15 minutes while the officers and NCOs sorted the men out into their Companies before continuing their retirement. During this time the German infantry was held at bay by the sharpshooters of ‘A’ Company firing down the streets from the cover of houses. As soon as the 4th Royal Fusiliers is left the Grand Place troops of the 84th Regiment, 18th Division, IX Corps entered and rounded up some of the civilians, including the Burgomaster, and drove them in front of them as human shields when they started after the Royal Fusiliers.
Back to the Photograph.
The Grand Place was not the only photograph of British troops at Mons. The one on the right is an unknown battalion resting in the streets of a mining town in Belgium it’s even possibly Mons itself. Noted the troops are wearing the caps, rifles stacked, and packs are on the ground. Compare that with the photograph of the Mons photograph.
There is no evidence of the cheering crowds giving soldiers gifts, as reported the day before when the battalion passed through the town. The majority of civilians in the photograph are men and boys milling around among the soldiers. The soldiers sitting in the Grand Place have the rifles beside them with many carrying additional bandoliers of ammunition, something unnecessary on the Saturday when marching to the canal. They look exhausted and there is no sign of their packs, exactly what one would expect if they were resting during a fighting retreat to get clear of the German infantry. On this evidence I suggest that the photograph was taken on the afternoon of Sunday, the 23rd of August during the Battle of Mons and request the IWM to reconsider their published caption.
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