Within three weeks of Great Britain declaring war on Germany on 4 August 1914, forces from the two powers clashed for the very first time in Mons, Belgium. The Mons battlefields were re-crossed in autumn 1918, meaning the cemeteries in and around Mons – maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission – contain the graves of some of the first and last casualties of the Great War.

Outbreak of War

Within thirty-seven days of the gunshots in Sarajevo which killed Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, the war in Europe had begun.

After declaring war on France on 3 August, Germany’s troops entered Belgium. At 11pm the following day, Britain declared war on Germany in support of Belgium’s neutrality. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), numbering some 85,000 officers and men, was shipped across the Channel, travelling by rail and road alongside French forces moving to meet the German advance.

German soldiers advancing in August 1914

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From Mons to the Marne

The Battle of Mons started at 8.30am as the German 1st Army attacked the British positions in front and around Mons. A bend in the canal to the north of Mons was the crucial point. Between Nimy and Obourg was an exposed salient which the German army could exploit. A series of bridges over the canal saw the heaviest fighting, as the Germans began to cross and the outnumbered British tried desperately to stop them.

By late afternoon, the British were forced to retreat – having suffered some 1,600 casualties, around half of whom were taken prisoner. German casualties are estimated to have been around 5,000 killed, missing or wounded.

For the British, it was the start of a long fighting retreat towards Paris.

The British I Corps retired practically unmolested to a line between Bavay and Maubeuge, but the British II Corps was

Party of the British 5th Cavalry Brigade during the retreat

hotly pursued to its line between Bavay and Valenciennes. The general retreat continued as the Germans continued to press aggressively forward.

However, on 26 August, General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, commander of the British II Corps, decided he must fight before retreating further, as his force was suffering considerable losses fighting desperate rearguard actions.

At the Battle of Le Cateau, the thrust of the German 1st Army and II Cavalry Corps was temporarily halted by a mere three British Infantry Divisions (the 5th, 3rd and 4th), backed-up by a few brigades of artillery and a couple of squadrons of British and French cavalry.

The operation bought the retreating British forces much needed time to withdraw in good order, but losses during this period amounted to

Reservists of the Grenadier Guards, re-enlisting on the outbreak of war, queue for a medical inspection at Wellington Barracks, Chelsea, London

“A bend in the canal to the north of Mons was a crucial point”

7,812 officers and men and the BEF was now split into two.

As August turned into September, the French and British armies fought their way back to a new line between Laon, La Fère and St. Quentin.

On 3 September, the recently reunited BEF, now some 15,000 men and 45 guns less than the force that had landed, crossed the River Marne and took up positions south of it, between the 6th and 5th French Armies, to help defend Paris.

On 6 September, General Joffre, the French Commander, issued orders for the Allies to go over to the offensive and the Battle of the Marne began. The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 9th French Armies, with the BEF, attacked the German 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Armies and drove them away from Paris.

In just three days, at the cost of 1,700 casualties, the BEF managed to advance over 36 miles and re-cross the Marne. The German plans to take Paris were thwarted, forced to withdraw to positions behind the Aisne to entrench themselves. The long years of hard trench warfare had begun.

The dead

The early actions of the First World War swept across huge swathes of northern France and Belgium in a war of movement that would not be seen again on the Western Front until 1918. The graves from this period are equally widely spread, many of the dead being buried as they fell – in communal cemeteries and churchyards – either by their own comrades or by the advancing Germans. The cemeteries are all maintained and cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

St. Symphorien Military Cemetery, Belgium 2 km east of MonsThe cemetery was laid out with great care by the Germans in August 1914, after the Battle of Mons, to create the effect of a wooded garden or park and contains many memorials to both British and German casualties.

Frameries Communal Cemetery, Belgium2 km south-west of Mons Graves were brought from the surrounding area after the Armistice

Landrecies Communal Cemetery, France St. Symphorien Military Cemetery, Belgium

and are largely those of soldiers who died in August 1914, most of whom belonged to the 3rd Division.

Hautrage Military Cemetery, Belgium15 km west of MonsThe village of Hautrage was in German hands for most of the First World War. Many British graves of 1914, mostly of the 2nd Cavalry and 5th Infantry Divisions, were brought into the cemetery from the surrounding battlefields and local cemeteries in the summer of 1918.

Landrecies Communal Cemetery, France40 km south-west of Valenciennes On 25 August 1914, 4th (Guards) Brigade acted as a rearguard for the British III Corps and fought a night action at this place.

Esnes Communal Cemetery, France8 km south-east of CambraiIn the corner of the communal cemetery at Esnes is a large grave, marked also by a French memorial, containing the bodies of 112 soldiers of the 4th Division who fought in the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 August 1914.

St. Symphorien Military Cemetery, Belgium Hautrage Military Cemetery, Belgium

Haucourt Communal Cemetery, Nord and Fontaine-au-Pire Communal Cemetery, France 11 km south-east of Cambrai Part of the communal cemetery at Fontaine-au-Pire was used by the Germans after the Battle of Le Cateau and the British wounded who died in the Mairie were buried there.

Guards’ Grave, Villers-Cotterets, France 22 km south-west of SoissonsThe Forêt de Retz was the scene of a rearguard action fought by the 4th (Guards) Brigade on 1 September 1914. In the aftermath, many of the dead were buried by the people of Villers-Cotterêts.

Montreuil-aux-Lions British Cemetery, France17 km west of Château-ThierryThis cemetery was made after the Armistice – when graves were brought in from the battlefields of the Aisne – and most of the graves date from September 1914.

La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial, France Montreuil-aux-Lions British Cemetery, France

Haucourt Communal Cemetery, France

Perreuse Chateau Franco British National Cemetery, France7 km south-west of La Ferté-sous-JouarreThe grounds of the Château de Perreuse were used by French medical units throughout the war and the site was later presented to the French Government by the owner, Mme Dumez.

La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial18 km east of MeauxThis memorial commemorates the operations of the BEF in August, September and early October 1914, and records the names of the 3,740 officers and men who died in those operations whose graves are not known.

Montreuil-aux-Lions British Cemetery, France Perreuse Chateau Franco British National Cemetery, France

War graves from other Commonwealth personnel who lost their lives in the fighting from Mons to the Marne can be found at the cemeteries below:

Le Cateau Military Cemetery, France

Elouges Communal Cemetery, Belgium 17 km west of Mons

Le Cateau Military Cemetery and Communal Cemetery, France 27 km east-south-east of Cambrai

Caudry British Cemetery and Old Communal Cemetery, France 13 km east of Cambrai

Etreux British Cemetery, France32 km north-east of St-Quentin

Vailly British Cemetery, France13 km east of Soissons

Nery Communal Cemetery, France 17 km south of Compiègne

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T H E I R N A M E L I V E T H F O R E V E R M O R E

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for the commemoration of almost 1,700,000 members of the Commonwealth forces who gave their lives in the two world wars. The graves and memorials of these men and women, who came from all par ts of the Commonwealth and who were of many faiths and of none, are found around the globe in 153 countries.

Enquiries on the location of individual burials or commemorations can be directed to the offices below or to the Commission’s website at www.cwgc.org where there is an online searchable database.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission5-7 Rue Angèle Richard CS 10109 62217 Beaurains France Tel: +33 (0) 3 21 21 77 00Fax: +33 (0) 3 21 21 77 10

Commonwealth War Graves Commission2 Marlow Road Maidenhead BerkshireSL6 7DXTel: +44 (0) 1628 507200 Fax: +44 (0) 1628 771208 E-mail: enquiries@cwgc.org Website: www.cwgc.org

Front cover : St. Symphorien Military Cemetery, Belgium