From military historian Jack Horsfall, Mons 1914 explores the tactics and actions behind this significant World War I battle that ended in Allied defeat.
August 1914. The British Expeditionary Force’s (BEF) II Corps was stationed in the mining town of Mons, Belgium in preparation for an Allied offensive against German forces conducted with French military. Located less than twenty miles from Waterloo, the battle site that brought an end to the Napoleonic Wars a century earlier, Mons also became a noteworthy battleground. From August 23-24, General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien’s infantry division, outnumbered and outgunned by the German First Army under the command of Generaloberst Alexander von Kluck, defended themselves against an attack. With dwindling food, water, and other crucial supplies, the BEF held off the German advancement until their enemy’s superior numbers drove them out of Mons. Despite defeat, the BEF succeeded in inflicting heavy casualties on the German army.
Mons 1914 reveals the true story behind the heroic stand and sacrifices made by the British military against incredible odds in one of the first major skirmishes of World War I.
