2014-2018 The First and the Last - An ambitious programme to celebrate the centenary - Ville de Mons
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2014-2018
An ambitious programme
to celebrate the centenary
of the First World War
in Mons in 2014
The First and the Last
Press pack of the 23rd August 2013
© Claude Renard
An ambitious programme to celebrate the centenary of the First
World War in Mons in 2014
4th August 2014 will be the first day of the commemorations of the centenary of the First World War
in Mons. Today the Prime Minister and Official Mayor Elio DI RUPO along with Acting Mayor Nicolas
MARTIN, and representatives of the British Embassy, the CWGC, the federal government of Belgium
and the Federation Wallonia-Brussels presented the ambitious programme of events.
As well as the exceptional presence of one of the members of the British royal family at the
St. Symphorien military cemetery, the commemorations will be packed with moving events to
commemorate the memories of the men and women whose lives were turned upside down by the wa r.
For 4 years, the city will be working hard to raise awareness among members of the public. The focus
will be on all of Mons’ heritage, bearing witness to the Great War.
As well as this, the city is thrilled to be able to present the distinctive logo that will mark all official
events connected to the “2014 commemorations”.
The 2014 commemorations will be organised around three very special days:
4 August 2014 with the visit of the Belgian and British government officials to
the St. Symphorien cemetery.
Given the bi-national nature (German and British) of the cemetery and its unique feature (“The first and
the Last”, where the first and last British soldiers who died during the First World War are buried), the
military cemetery will play a key part in the commemorations.
This unique site, which has been awarded two stars by the Michelin guide, is due to undergo
renovation work between now and 2014.
23 August 2014 with the commemoration of the Battle of Mons and the appea
rance of the “Angels of Mons”.
A day during which citizens will attend a spectacular event in the Grand-Place, combining music,
poetry, circus acts, sound, light and the latest technology, all uniting to celebrate the “Angels of Mons”.
11 November 2014 with the commemoration of the signature of the Armistice.
By organising a number of national commemorative ceremonies with a truly international atmosphere,
the city of Mons confirms its desire to develop memorial tourism, the hub of which will be the Mons
Memorial Museum, due to open in 2015.
3.
© Soldat britannique à la Bascule, MMM, fonds photographique
As well as this, the Mons Museum Network will be organising a number of exhibitions dedicated to the
commemorations in 2014 :
At the BAM (august-december), an exhibition dedicated to visionary pre-War artists will be
presented and complemented by an exhibition on the future Mons Memorial Museum. Exhibits and
documents from the archives will tell the story of the battle of Mons.
At the Salle Saint-Georges (august-december), you will be able to discover works by cartoo-
nist Vermeulen on Fritz Häber and the 1918 Nobel Prize. He was involved in the design and widespread
use of the famous mustard gas on the front, introducing the First World War to modern warfare.
The Magasin de Papier (august-december), will be unveiling works by young British and
Belgian designers on their visions of the Great War.
5.
©Commémoration 2012 à la Bascule, AVM, fonds photographique, C. Rousman
Mons et la Grande Guerre
When the First World War began, the whole of Belgium, which had been neutral since the 1839 Treaty
of London, seemed to be sheltered from the conflict. However, on 4 August, our country was invaded
and as a result, the United Kingdom, responsible for Belgium’s neutrality, decided to come to our aid.
In Mons, it was the arrival of the first British soldiers who would discover the Germans on the Soignies
road that introduced the city to the conflict. So the first involvement of British soldiers took place in
Mons! Four years later, on 11 November 1918, Canadian troops liberated the city. Mons thus became
“the First and the Last” of the Great War for the Commonwealth armies.
Over the next four years, the City of Mons is keen to remember all these men who laid down their lives
for an ideal that may sometimes seem abstract to us. We hope to pay tribute to them, as is only fitting
for the Centenary of the First World War.
Nicolas Martin Elio Di Rupo
Bourgmestre faisant fonction Bourgmestre en titre
Ministre d’Etat
7.
©Cimetière militaire de Saint-Symphorien, WBT, J.-P. Remy
/Contents
PROGRAMME 11.
4 August 2014 11.
23 August 2014 13.
Fiftieth anniversary of the twinning of Sefton (Bootle) and Mons 15.
The future appearance of the Angels of Mons in the Car d’or Procession 15.
The museum network’s exhibitions 17.
Mons Memorial Museum 21.
The projects 23.
Photo competition 23.
The Great War in the eyes of children 25.
Heritage restoration 25.
Via Dolorosa 27.
The Great War – Peace corps and arms (Interreg IV project) 27.
Private initiatives 29.
Initiatives led by municipalities near Mons 33.
The municipality of Saint-Ghislain 33.
The municipality of Quiévrain 35.
The municipality of Frameries 37.
Heritage and History 39.
St. Symphorien Military Cemetery 39.
A historical recap 43.
The legend of the Angels of Mons 45.
Contact 47.
Partners 47.
9.
©Cimetière militaire de Saint-Symphorien, WBT, J.-P. Remy
/ PROGRAMME
4 August 2014: Commemorations of the start
of the First World War at the
St. Symphorien military cemetery
The British government has officially announced its desire to take part in a major commemorative
ceremony in Mons on 4 August 2014.
The St. Symphorien military cemetery is part of the fantastic programme planned for the Centenary
Commemorations of the First World War. The laying of a wreath at the cenotaph in Glasgow, a vigil of
prayer and contemplation at Westminster Abbey at 11am, the moment at which war was declared and
the ceremony at the St. Symphorien military cemetery are the three prestigious events that will be
organised on the first day of the Centenary, 4 August 2014.
In collaboration with the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission), the City of Mons is
preparing to welcome all the distinguished guests and visitors who are keen to pay tribute to the first
losses of the Great War. This ceremony will be held in the presence of a number of prestigious guests
from the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Commonwealth.
An official invitation from the City of Mons has been sent to the British government to welcome
delegations to the Town Hall for a commemorative ceremony. The City of Mons would like to thank the
soldiers from the other side of the Channel, via members of the British government, who died a
century ago to defend our country’s neutrality
11.©Place des Martyrs, WBT, J.-P. Remy
23 August 2014: Commemorations of the Centenary
of the battle of Mons
While the ceremony on 4 August is organised by the British government, the Commemorations taking
place on 23 August 2014 will be the responsibility of the City of Mons. The Centenary of the battle of
Mons will give us the opportunity to remember the battles that took place in our towns, in Maisières,
Nimy, Obourg, Mons and Jemappes.
A commemorative ceremony at all the sites of the battle of Mons will be organised, as it is every year,
but in 2014, we want to focus on the history of this battle and remember the five martyrs who lost their
lives in the eponymous square at the end of the Grand-rue.
Alongside these patriotic ceremonies, the City would like to invite all locals to take part in the activities
that will be organised throughout the weekend of 23-24 August 2014. A re-enactment society will be
taking part in the events and showing us how soldiers lived in the Great War. Groups of Scottish
bagpipers will be providing the soundtrack to these activities. In the evening, the City of Mons will be
proud to present a sound and light show in the Grand’Place for all visitors to enjoy.
13.©Les Anges de Mons en 1945, AVM, fonds photographique des Montois Cayaux
Fiftieth anniversary of the twinning of
Sefton (Bootle) and Mons
The links between Mons, the Hainaut and the United Kingdom are historic and incredibly strong,
as it was in Mons that the British began the Great War on 23 August 1914 and ended it on 11
November 1918.
It was this shared history that built the foundations for our twinning with Bootle, a town famous for
its docks near Liverpool, in 1954. In 1942-1943, the docks were bombed by the Germans who set
off from Chièvres. Mons still has the plans drawn up for these bombardments.
So it is together, in the spirit of friendship, that Mons and Sefton will be celebrating these two
events, not just by coincidence: the Centenary of the battle of Mons in August 1914, and the 50th
anniversary of their friendship.
SEFTON
COUNCIL
The future appearance of the Angels of Mons
in the Car d’or Procession
In 1919 and 1945, a group representing the Angels of Mons took part in the Car d’or Procession. It
was set up to commemorate the combat between the German and British armies during the battle
of Mons. This group represents British soldiers surrounded by angels dressed in white. It would
seem as though this group was formed in response to the emotions stirred by the end of the two
wars.
For the Doudou in 2014, the not-for-profit organisation Procession du Car d’or, working with the
Coordination Committee for the City of Mons Commemorations and supported by all of
Mons’ and the region’s patriotic associations, would like to bring back this group of Angels of
Mons. It plans to take part in the commemorations by repeating the presence of this group within
the procession as, as Legend would have it, the British appealed to St. George and the heavens,
and these Angels appeared…
15.© Franz von Stuck, « verirrt », 1891, Belvedere, Vienne
The museum network’s exhibitions
Our history and our museum heritage were profoundly affected by the Great War. The importance of
the military history collections, and the richness of the witness accounts in the archives, meant that the
involvement of the Museum Network was almost inevitable. For several years, the City of Mons has
been thinking about how to prepare for this event, including plans to create a new museum to bear
witness to our past for future generations. The BAM, the Salle Saint–Georges and the Magasin de
Papier will be playing an active role in proceedings, with exhibitions designed to “make young people
think”, “make young people aware” and “make young people understand” why this can “never happen
again”.
VISIONARY ARTISTS (PROVISIONAL TITLE) 1880-1914
Exhibition at the BAM / August-December 2014
Are there some works that predict catastrophe? How do these catastrophic signals express
themselves in artists’ imaginations? Well before the Great War began, visions of fear and violence
came to the fore. With the benefit of hindsight, the exhibition takes a new look at avant-garde pieces
to detect the works that predicted those terrible days. At the dawn of the 20th century, mankind felt at
the mercy of an increasingly complex world, characterised by new technology and the hunt for
different models of existence. This general state of agitation is clearly manifested in the arts by an
indictment of the dominant social and economic order. So in Belgium and Germany alike, representatives
of symbolism and expressionism created works treading the line between idyllic and threatening
visions. The exhibition showcases works, mainly by Belgian and German artists, created between 1880
and 1914. It assesses the limits and movements between naturalism, symbolism and expressionism.
This project strives to break down the boundaries between countries and genres to characterise how
modern European culture has been created from a general sentiment of doubt and uncertainty.
Experiences of the battle of Mons (PROVISIONAL TITLE)
Exhibition at the BAM / August-December 2014
Following on from the exhibition dedicated to visionary artists, members of the public can get to grips
with the philosophy of the Mons Memorial Museum during the 2014 Commemorations. The exhibition
will focus on the battle of Mons, which took place in August 1914. Some exhibits from the yet-to-be
opened museum will be on show for the first time, alongside witness accounts and photographs.
Putting the events of the battle of Mons into context, with this first glimpse of some of the content of
the Mons Memorial Museum, will be a key part of a cohesive programme put on by the City of Mons
Museum Network. The purpose of this programme is to raise awareness of the events of the Great War
through a range of exhibitions, starting in July 2014, taking a number of different approaches and
perspectives.
17.© K. Beveridge
19.
©La machine à eau, WBT, J.-P. Remy
21.
©Monument commémoratif de Maisières, AVM, fonds photographique, C. Rousman
/ The projects
Photo competition
The City of Mons Museum Network invites you to take part in the Commemorations by entering a
photo competition the theme of which is Memory. The “memories” of the Great War, buried in our
family or individual remembrance, or anchored in shared social conventions, flood our modern
society. The landscape of the Mons region and the Borinage are still marked with cemeteries,
commemorative plaques, monuments and buildings… But this past also lives on in the consciences
of each and every one of us, combining history, the collective imagination, tradition and forgetfulness.
The photo competition will begin in September 2013 and end in August 2014. Entries should be
confirmed by 31 October 2013 at the latest, and the photos should be sent by 5 April 2014.
It is open to everyone aged 8 and over. There are a number of separate categories :
8-12 years old: anyone
8-12 years old: schools, youth groups and centres, community groups etc.
13-18 years old: anyone
13-18 years old: schools, youth groups and centres, community groups etc.
18 years and over
Professionals
A panel of professional judges will choose the 3 best photos in each category, and a Facebook com-
petition will be launched on the Museum Network page to select the 3 photos that will win the
people’s prize. The 21 winning photos will be displayed in an open-air exhibition on the esplanade of
the Boulevard Dolez in front of the Machine à Eau from August 2014 until the centre opens in 2015.
They will also be reproduced as postcards, available at the centre when it opens.
The competition rules can be downloaded from www.bam.mons.be.
Entry forms should be returned by 31 October 2013 by email to: laurence.herman@ville.mons.be
or by post, for the attention of Laurence Herman, Médiatrice culturelle, Hôtel de Ville - 22,
Grand Place - 7000 Mons.
23.©Monument au cimetière de Ghlin, AVM, fonds photographique, C. Rousman
The Great War in the eyes of children
The City of Mons Department of Education would like to introduce a number of innovative initiatives to
involve young people in a shared commemorative project. The municipal schools of Rossignol in
Mons, Commandant Lemaire in Cuesmes, Obourg, Ghlin and Saint-Symphorien, representing
different sections of Greater Mons, have decided to offer their pupils a unique approach, to go hand
in hand with the Centenary of the First World War. Each school will develop a specific theme
connected to local heritage (street signs bearing the names of members of the resistance or former
fighters, graves and monuments will be (re)discovered and find a new meaning among younger
generations). They will also learn about the history of the battle of Mons, which took place on 23
August 1914, as well as the legend of the Angels.
They will pay particular attention to the Commemorations on 11 November: from class 3 in nursery
school to class 6 in primary school, all schools will be talking about our history, and flags, flowers and
talks about the need to remember will be prepared.
When it comes to the form, an exhibition will be organised containing photos taken by children, as well
as documents and pieces loaned either by the City of Mons, or by the families of the children
themselves. A multimedia initiative will include a short film made by the children about their personal
feelings towards local heritage in terms of the First World War, a sort of subjective vision of this war, to
help us understand modern wars, as well as a mini-event on the same theme.
Heritage restoration
The Public Works Department, with the hard work of the whole team, has come up with a number of
initiatives to help restore First World War heritage in the local area. So the Charles Simonet monument
in the municipal cemetery and the children’s grave in Ghlin will be restored. Alongside this restoration
work, the Department will be giving a whole new makeover to all of the areas around the memorial
sites for the Great War, playing an active role in all the events taking place between 2014 and 2018.
Alongside these initiatives, the site of the St Symphorien cemetery, j ust like the Mons Memorial
Museum, will be a key attraction for all visitors keen to find out more about the history of the Great War
in Mons and more specifically, its two battles in 1914 and 1918. Within this context, the City of Mons
Public Works Department will be working on the exterior of the site to improve the visitor experience.
25.©Gare d'Obourg, AVM, fonds photographique, C. Rousman
Via Dolorosa
This road of suffering, travelled during the retreat of the Belgian and British armies from August to
December 1914 in Belgium, links the project that brings together a number of areas promoting the
history of the First World War in Belgium. The result of a partnership between sites in the Walloon
region and the Flemish region, this project unites the City and the Mons Tourist Information Office, the
Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, the Town of Comines-Warneton and its Tourist Information
Office as well as its Interpretation Centre, “Plugstreet 14-18” and the Tour de l’Yser museum in
Diksmuide.
The general idea is to pay tribute to and commemorate the history of the men and places ravaged by
the conflict in the first few months of the war. The whole project is supported by the Belgian Federal
Government, the main financial backer. Activities will focus on the introduction of a specially designed
bus that will travel through Belgium in 2014 to talk about this famous retreat of the Belgian and British
armies from our region. Alongside this initiative, a website will also be created to keep a permanent
record of the whole project.
The Great War – Peace corps and arms (Interreg IV project)
The result of a cross-border partnership, this project is supported by a number of partners of Mons
(City of Mons, Tourist Information Office and Mundaneum) and of the Cambrai region
(Tourist Information Office, Community of municipalities of Caudrésis-Catésis and Community of
urban areas of Cambrai) and is funded by the European Union. The general aim of the project is to
commemorate the British retreat of 23-26 August 1914: it is the remembrance trail of an expeditionary
corps that fought in Mons and withdrew to Le Cateau while a pacifist front formed with Henri La
Fontaine (Nobel Prize for Peace 1913) and the British poet Wilfred Owen (Wilfred Owen’s forest
hideout in Ors).
The goal is to take a number of measures to promote this heritage: raising the profile of these sites
and the region, creating an inventory of and digitising archives connected to this shared history,
developing a multimedia experience using specific web applications and setting up a website to bring
everything together. As well as this, the informative signage used at all the memorial sites for the battle
of Mons on 23 August 1914 will be reviewed, updated and modernised.
Thanks to this funding, the City of Mons has been able to employ a historian to carry out a
comprehensive audit of all the references to the battle of Mons in our architectural and written
heritage.
27.© Claude Renard
/ Private initiatives
Many local associations are keen to embark on their own initiatives to commemorate the Great War,
and sometimes more specifically, the fighting that took place on 23 August in Mons and the
surrounding area.
The Mons 2015 foundation will be bringing out a novel by Xavier Hanotte in November 2013 presenting
the legend of the Angels of Mons through the vision of a British soldier. This novel will be accompanied
by lots of illustrations by Claude Renard. It will be translated into Dutch and English.
The Archives de l’État (state archives) in Mons, the City’s Archives and the City of Mons museum
network would like to launch a day dedicated to studying the battle of Mons, on 23 August 1914 in
Mons, and its impact throughout the region. This day will be held at the Archives de l’État in the last
half of 2014.
The Montois Cayaux association has decided to choose the theme of Life in Mons before the Great
War for its annual exhibition at the Salle Saint-Georges. A huge number of photographs and
documents from the archives will be unveiled to help us understand those last few years before the
war when Belgium thought it was protected by its status as a neutral country.
The Maison de la Mémoire is looking forward to presenting a major exhibition of photos, archives and
pieces from collections belonging to other museums in Mons in the cloisters of the Ateliers des
FUCAM. It will be based on three personal diaries from the time that describe locals’ feelings during
the battle of August 1914 and the beginning of the occupation. Alongside this exhibition, lots of
different events will be organised including talks and guided tours of the memorial sites.
Jemappes Passé présent and the Mons municipal library are joining forces to organise an exhibition
in the Salle Reghem in Jemappes town hall looking at the battle of Mons on 23 August in Jemappes
and the Borinage. It will include documents from that time that will illustrate military operations, based
on the handwritten report of the fighting put together by the parish priest of Jemappes that provides
the guiding theme of the exhibition. Guided tours will also be available for schools.
Nimy Museum will be organising an exhibition, either at the museum itself, or in the town hall, looking
at the fighting that took place on 23 August in the village, and more specifically, focusing on the British
flag found at the site of the battle. Organisers would also like to arrange an earthenware exhibition
illustrating the region’s output during the period between 1900 and 1920. A range of activities will also
be organised to tie in with the Commemorations of the Great War, aimed at young audiences.
29.The Cercle Royal Mars et Mercure Club de Mons and the Cercle Royal de Officiers de Réserve de
Mons (CRORMs) along with the city’s secondary schools, are offering final-year students the chance
to sponsor one or more tombs of soldiers who died during the battle of Mons. They will be
encouraged to look into the backgrounds of these men (their geographical and social background,
military unit etc.), to bring the soldier’s history back to life. This work will be completed by the
organisation of an exhibition and the creation of a DVD, showcasing the results of the
students’ research. The whole project will be entitled: Ils avaient 18 ans en 1914 ; Mons se souvient …
(They were 18 in 1914: Mons remembers…).
The MONS STAR project is a citizen-led initiative designed to pay tribute to the Commonwealth
soldiers who died during the 1914 and 1918 battles of Mons. With this in mind, its members are putting
together a bilingual French / English website: www.the-mons-star.eu. The project is also keen to
organise an exhibition in Mons in August 2014, with the support of the Redcoats Society, focusing on
the British Expeditionary Force.
Inter-university conference: The Battle of Charleroi, 100 years on brings together some twenty
universities, all internationally renowned experts, who will be coming to Charleroi on 22 and 23 August
2014 to remember the violent conflict between different armies, but also to look at the tragic
consequences of the fighting and the subsequent occupation on local people. Speakers will be
coming from Belgian and French universities from Brussels (ULB, USL, VUB), Clermont-Ferrand (Blaise
Pascal), Liège (ULG), Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL) and Paris (Sorbonne, EHSS). After the event, speakers
and members of the public will be invited to Mons to attend the events planned for the
Commemorations.
Morgan Owners Group Belgium and the city of Mons are joining forces in order to commemorate a
remarkable piece of history: the battle of Mons (23th of August 1914) and the following legendary
campaign undertaken by the British Expeditionary Force, from Mons to the first battle of Ypres. An
international rally following the trail of the Brits will be organized on 15th, 16th and 17thof August 2014
in a true spirit of thankfulness and friendship. Not only the city of Mons but also Le Cateau, Comines
(Ploegsteert) and Zonnebeke (Passchendaele) are actively supporting this commemoration journey.
Contact: president@morganownersgroup.be
31.© Plan manuscrit de la bataille de Tertre “Je suis arrivé a u pont avec l a Compagnie ’A’ vers 7h50 le m atin. La s eule information que j’avais reçue sur les mouvements de l’adversaire était que quelques ‘Uhlans’ (Cavalerie) ont été vus le jour avant au nord du canal. Les troupes à cheval de la division de notre Cavalerie sont arrivés vers 8h15 et nous avons traversé le canal de suite. Peu après, il y avait quelques coups de fusils tirés vers nous venant de la direction nord-est. Je voyais l’infanterie de l’ennemi sortir en grand nombre de Tertre. Du côté Est de la route je comptais à-peu-près 400-500 hommes. Nous avons ouvert immédiatement le feu sur eux et il était clair que l'adversaire subissai des pertes considérables. Un instant après, ils ont réagis en tirant vigoureusement sur nous. Depuis cette action, j’ai constaté que sur le front les Allemands avaient trois Bataillons d e Grenadiers B randebourg, une B atterie d’Artillerie et une C ompagnie de M itrailleurs. L es O fficiers, les O fficiers non commissionnés et les hommes de la Compagnie se conduisaient bien dans ces circonstances difficiles” Extrait du rapport du Capitaine George Lister (1e Bataillon ’The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment’ ) – 23 Août 1914
/ Initiatives led by municipalities near Mons
The municipality of Saint-Ghislain
A tribute to the British soldiers who died in Tertre on 23 August 1914
Re-enactment of the battle, unveiling of a Memorial and an exhibition
History : on Sunday 23 August 1914, the 12th Brandenburg grenadiers were in Baudour, to the south of
the Mons canal in Condé. It was the 1st British battalion of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent who
were responsible for defending the canal. And it was Tertre (Saint-Ghislain) that saw the first confronta-
tion between the soldiers of the West Kent and the Brandenburg grenadiers, the first stages of what
went on to be known as The Battle of Mons. After a bloody battle, the Germans only managed to cross
the canal in Saint-Ghislain on 24 August 1914.
Events : To honour the memory of the 6,866 men of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment who
died during the First World War, and more specifically the first 20 soldiers who lost their lives in Tertre
on 23 August 1914, the Town of Saint-Ghislain has organised a number of events:
23 August 2013 at 11am : the unveiling of a Memorial dedicated to the soldiers of the Queen’s
Own Royal West Kent Regiment on the corner of the Rue des Herbières and the Rue Defuis
seaux in Tertre. This Memorial has been financed by British donations, and made possible by
the “Royal West Kent” Living History Group and the Town of Saint-Ghislain.
23 August 2014 : 100 years later, re-enactment of a camp and a look at the life of the British
soldiers who came to lay down their lives on the Western Front, with around a hundred partici
pants from the other side of the Channel. Tertre will step back in time to August 1914 and will be
welcoming members of the public throughout the afternoon in a range of different events and
activities. An exhibition of postcards and photos from that time will be open from 23 August to
22 September 2014 in the Tower on the Place de Saint-Ghislain, where educational information
will also be available..
Information and contact :
Ville de Saint-Ghislain – Service Animation Sport et Culture: 065/76.19.84.
patrick.demarbaix@saint-ghislain.be
33.©Reconstitution au cimetière d'Audregnies
The municipality of Quiévrain
The battle of Audregnies took place on 24 August 1914 as the British army was retreating. This
skirmish followed the battle of Mons that took place on 23 August 1914 when, after putting up a
heroic resistance, the Allies were brought down by the German troops who were implementing the
Schlieffen plan.
After the fighting around the Mons-Condé canal, British troops were stationed at the entrance to the
village of Audregnies (now the Municipality of Quiévrain). The location of Audregnies offered an
excellent position for defence: the German attack was forced to take place on a flat area facing a hill
stretching from Audregnies to Elouges. The men had no time to dig trenches, but they used the natural
lay of the land to defend their position.
The skirmish should have been a crushing defeat for the British, who were outnumbered by a ratio of
1 to 4: there were around 4,000 British soldiers against 12,000 Germans. On 24 August at around 12.30,
German artillery fire broke out on the flat land. The first British cavalry charge of the war was underway,
but the land is no longer suitable for cavalry charges because of so many modern obstacles (railway,
barbed wire fences etc.). The Germans, temporarily taken aback by the resistance, started to move
forward again. The canons of the 119th British battery had to be evacuated, drawn by the men.
After this skirmish, the British Expeditionary Force was forced to continue its retreat towards Le Cateau
and the Marne.
The commemorations
In 2014, the commemorations of the centenary of this battle will be jointly organised by the association
of enthusiasts and amateur historians, ‘Centenaire Bataille d’Audregnies’, and Quiévrain local council.
Events will have a more festive feel on Saturday night (23 August 2014), with the organisation of a
period ball, a camping experience for re-enactment groups and a ceremony to celebrate the twinning
of Quiévrain with a town in England.
On Sunday 24, the anniversary of the battle itself, the atmosphere will be altogether more solemn. The
council and local residents will pay tribute to British troops by welcoming a number of veterans and
soldiers from the Cheshire Regiment. A memorial will be unveiled and official ceremonies will take
place at the municipal cemetery and on the battlefield. Lastly, in the afternoon, the main events of the
battle will be brought to life by re-enactment groups
The exhibition
Entitled ‘1914 à Audregnies et dans le monde’ (1914 in Audregnies and the world), the exhibition will
give visitors a clear, informative explanation of the Battle of Audregnies, putting events into a different
spatial and temporal context. Unusually, it will describe local life in the village and surrounding area, as
well as talking about the main political, diplomatic and military events that threw village life into turmoil,
as happened in so many other parts of the country. Visitors will be able to learn about some of reasons
for the war, and the events that marked the first hostilities until the front was established in the Marne.
35.© Coll. Privée.
The municipality of Frameries
The Commemorations of the battle of Frameries of 24 August 1914
It was in 2010, thanks to the involvement of an amateur local historian in the “Quinzaine du Devoir de
Mémoire”,organised every year by the municipality of Frameries, that people first started to talk about the
battle that took place in the area on the first day of the Mons retreat in August 1914.
Activities were carried out in schools, which included references to a number of different archives, and
gradually the idea came about of commemorating the centenary of this forgotten episode in the village’s
history, marked only by the 47 tombs of British soldiers in the local cemetery.
The 2014 commemorations will involve two stages:
On 11 November 2013, local primary school pupils will choose the tomb of an unknown soldier,
who will be given the title of honorary local citizen. Symbolically, all the members of the British
Expeditionary Force who took part in the fighting in Frameries will also be honoured.
On 24 August 2014 in the presence of representatives of the units who are the heirs to those
illustrated here, the landmarks that the local council will have put up at the main battle sites
will be unveiled.
37.©Cimetière militaire de Saint-Symphorien, WBT, J.-P. Remy
/ Heritage and History
St. Symphorien Military Cemetery
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission: St. Symphorien Military Cemetery
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is at the heart of international co-ordination
and planning for the marking of the centenary of the First World War.
The UK government has formally announced that a commemorative event to mark the beginning of the
war, will be staged at CWGC St. Symphorien Military Cemetery, Mons, on 4 August 2014.
The first major clash between British and German forces of the Great War took place at Mons on 23
August 1914.
St. Symphorien contains the graves of 229 Commonwealth and 284 German servicemen of the First
World War, 105 of whom remain unidentified.
The cemetery also contains the burials of Private John Parr of the Middlesex Regiment, believed to be
the first Commonwealth casualty of the war and of George Ellison of the Royal Irish Lancers and
George Price of the Canadian Infantry – believed to be the last.
St. Symphorien forms part of the Retreat from Mons Remembrance Trail, the latest trail to be launched
by the CWGC (leaflet enclosed), it follows the journey of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during
the opening weeks of the war.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is responsible for the commemoration of almost 1,700,000 members of the Commonwealth for ces who gave their lives in
the two world wars. The graves and memorials of these men and women, who came from all parts of the Commonwealth and who were of many faiths and of none, are
found around the globe in 153 countries.
For more information about the Commission, our work and how to search our records online visit www.cwgc.org Enquiries are also welcome at our offices:
CWGC Head Office Tel: + 44 (0) 1628 507200 E-mail: casualty.enq@cwgc.org
CWGC Northern Europe Office Tel: + 32 (0) 57 22 36 36 E-mail: neaoffice@cwgc.org
39.© Cimetière militaire de Saint-Symphorien, AVM, fonds photographique, C. Rousman
Special attractions of the site
The St. Symphorien military cemetery was created by the Germans in 1916 on land belonging to Jean
Houzeau de Lehaie, a leading Belgian naturalist. Keen to prevent his land from being requisitioned, he
offered to allow it to be used free of charge as a military cemetery for the towns where graves of
soldiers had been dug. This solution, negotiated with the local authorities, brought together all soldiers,
whatever their nationality, in one and the same cemetery. This desire to unite different soldiers at the
same site was a symbolic gesture in times of war.
Features
Bi-national cemetery: presence of 513 tombs (229 Commonwealth soldiers and 284 German
soldiers)
Presence of the tomb of the 1st British soldier to die during the First World War (21/08/1914):
J. PARR
Presence of the tomb of the soldier who received the first Victoria Cross of the First World War
(23/08/1914): M. J. DEASE
Presence of the tomb of the last soldier in the Commonwealth armies to die (a Canadian
soldier) in the First World War (11/11/1918): G. L. PRICE
Presence of the tomb of the last British soldier to die in the First World War (11/11/1918):
G. ELLISON
Tourism plaudits
Two stars in the Michelin Guide: “One of the most important locations on the front, and
probably one of the most peaceful.”
Holt’s: “This is one of the, if not the, most unusual and lovely cemeteries on the Western Front”.
Creation of a remembrance trail
As well as the battle fields, the landscape of the Mons-Borinage region is studded with many cemete-
ries where soldiers were buried and monuments dedicated to their memory. The CWGC has created
a Remembrance Trail that takes in the Commonwealth cemeteries connected to the battle of Mons.
The Interreg IV project will include all the sites and monuments around Mons from the Hautrage and
Audregnies cemetery via sites in Mons to Cambrai and Le Cateau. The project is also planning to set
up a GPS route, along with Smartphone apps and informative signposts.
41.© Troupes britanniques sur la Grand'Place de Mons 1914, MMM, fonds photographique
A historical recap
Start of the First World War and violation of the nation’s boundaries
The touch paper of the First World War was lit in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 when a Serbian activist,
Gavrilo Prinzip, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. After this, the shifts in European
alliances established at the beginning of the 20th century began to move. Belgium was neutral, and so
asked the neighbouring warring countries to reconfirm our neutrality, as established by the 1830 Treaty
of London, and reconfirmed in 1839. France responded promptly, but Germany did not, instead asking
Belgium if it could bring its troops through the country under the pretext of the arrival of French troops
in Belgium. The Belgian government gave a firm “No”, but on 4 August, the Germans crossed the
border. This movement of enemy troops through Belgium followed on from the strategic plan put
together several years earlier by Count Schlieffen.
The British declare war
After Belgium’s borders had been breached, the United Kingdom, who had guaranteed our neutrality,
decided to come to our aid. The Germans were not expecting the British to get involved in the conflict
so soon. Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, announced to the House of Commons that Belgium,
true to its honour, in the knowledge of what was right, had done its duty in good faith by defending its
territory, and so he declared war on Germany. In Mons, from the beginning of August, reservists were
called up and requisitioning began. Once the British had declared war, the BEF (British Expeditionary
Force) began to gather its troops and come to the continent.
The Battle of Mons
On 22, 23 and 24 August 1914, the Mons region provided the setting for fierce fighting between the
BEF troops and German soldiers. The British troops had not fought in Western Europe since Waterloo.
Now they attempted to contain the German advance along the Mons-Condé canal. The massive
onslaught of the Kaiser’s soldiers, superior in numbers and in artillery power, combined with the
retreat of the 5th French army on its right flank, forced Sir John French (commander in chief of the
BEF) to organise the retreat. “The retreat from Mons” lasted nearly two weeks. With the German troops
hot on their tails, the British engaged in combat several times, including in Le Cateau (26 August).
Overall, British action in Mons helped to slow down the Germans’ progress.
43.©Les Anges de Mons, tableau de Marcel Gillis, Ville de Mons
The legend of the Angels of Mons
Legend has it that during the night of 23 August 1914, when the British army had been cornered,
winged, radiant figures appeared in the sky and came down to help the British troops. These angels
are supposed to have temporarily held back the Germans, giving the British time to organise their
retreat.
There are many different origins and foundations for this legend. But one of the most important factors
for the popularity of the story was the involvement of Arthur Machen, a British fantasy writer who, on
29 September 1914, published an article in the London Evening News. It told the story of a British
soldier who, during a battle against German soldiers, appealed to Saint George. Helped by archers
who came straight from the Battle of Agincourt, the Patron Saint of the British army thwarted the
German army. Soon after the story appeared, the author admitted that it was pure fiction, which he had
written to raise the morale of his compatriots.
The rumour spread quickly throughout England. During the months that followed, many articles and
books were published containing accounts from soldiers who had taken part in the Great Retreat. The
legend took on different guises. The angels who appeared to the British troops took on a range of
forms: luminous clouds, a man on a horse, a winged knight… Spiritualist reviews seized on the
phenomenon, as did the Protestant Church. Sermons recounting the legend and divine intervention
were given on the front as well as back home. Artists painted it and pieces of music were composed
about it. The legend really did take root in British society, probably with the help of the authorities, who
felt that it was a way of supporting the war effort.
45.During the afternoon, infantry and cavalry troops crossed the town to great cheers.
They belonged t o the elite regiments. T here were Scots a mong them. As they
passed, the crowd gave them cigars, cigarettes, cakes and sweets. Everybody admired
the state the men were in, how beautiful their horses were, how smart they looked in their
khaki uniforms and how well turned out their equipment and weapons were. We could
hear them march to the sound of fifes and drums (Hambye: 22 August 1914).
©Plaque commémorative dans le porche de l'Hôtel de Ville, WBT, J.-P. Remy
THE BATTLE OF MONS: A FEW FIGURES
British troops German troops
70.000 160.000
British losses German losses
4190 5000/ CONTACT
Coordination Commémorations 2014 : Corentin Rousman
22 Grand’Place 7000 Mons
commemorations2014@ ville.mons.be
+32 (0)478/41.76.89
/ NOS PARTENAIRES
SEFTON
COUNCIL
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