Battle of Mons

1914 battle during World War I

302 Users like

Battle of Mons
Part of the Battle of the Frontiers of the First World War

British soldiers from the Royal Fusiliers resting in the town square at Mons before entering the line prior to the Battle of Mons. The Royal Fusiliers faced some of the heaviest fighting in the battle and earned the first Victoria Cross of the war.
Date23 August 1914
Location50°27′N 03°57′E / 50.450°N 3.950°E / 50.450; 3.950
Result See Analysis section
Territorial
changes
British withdraw to defensive line along Valenciennes–Maubeuge road before retreating 250 mi to outskirts of Paris
Belligerents
 United Kingdom  German Empire
Commanders and leaders
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Sir John French
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien
German Empire Alexander von Kluck
Strength
2 corps
1 cavalry division
1 cavalry brigade
300 guns
4 corps
3 cavalry divisions
600 guns
Casualties and losses
1,638 2,000–5,000
Mons is located in Belgium
Mons
Mons
Mons: Belgian town and capital of Hainaut

The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the First World War. It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies clashed with Germany on the French borders. At Mons, the British Army attempted to hold the line of the Mons–Condé Canal against the advancing German 1st Army. Although the British fought well and inflicted disproportionate casualties on the numerically superior Germans, they were eventually forced to retreat due both to the greater strength of the Germans and the sudden retreat of the French Fifth Army, which exposed the British right flank. Though initially planned as a simple tactical withdrawal and executed in good order, the British retreat from Mons lasted for two weeks and took the BEF to the outskirts of Paris before it counter-attacked in concert with the French, at the Battle of the Marne.


Search News


Where can I visit?

  • Mons, Belgium

    City in Hainaut, Belgium

  • Hainaut Province

    Province of Belgium

  • Frameries

    Municipality in French Community, Belgium

  • Battle of Jemappes

    Part of the War of the First Coalition (1792)

  • Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe

    NATO Headquarters in Belgium

  • Battle of Mons

    1914 battle on the Western Front of World War I

  • County of Hainaut

    Medieval region in current Belgium and France

  • Jemappes

    Sub-municipality of the city of Mons, Belgium

  • Allied Command Transformation

    NATO strategic-level military command

  • Mundaneum

    Institution aimed to gather together all the world's knowledge founded in 1910


How do I get there?


Battle of Mons

Share this page