Mons

So on August 22nd, the BEF moved into Belgium, following the German Schlieffen Plan to outflank Paris through the Belgian frontier.

At Mons, the Germans met a British line of about twelve thousand infantry, six thousand five hundred cavalry, and several artillery batteries.

They had been moving faster than any Ally expected.

Despite the numerical inferiority of the BEF, the men fired effectively against superior numbers.

Commanders such as Sir Douglas Haig realized that staying would mean annihilation.

A tactical withdrawal was the only viable option given supply issues and fatigue.

Thus began what we now call the Great Retreat, more than two hundred kilometers from Mons to the Marne, stretching from Belgium into northern France over several weeks.

The retreat wasn't chaotic.

Part 1.

Preface and Chapter 1 of Canada's 100 Days with the Canadian Corps from Amiens to Mons.

August 8 to November 11, 1918.

This is a LibriVox recording.

as a consequence we entered early in june on more ambitious local offensive operations in which the australians had a considerable share by the end of july he goes on the reconstruction of the british armies had been completed and the success of their various local operations had had a good effect i had once more at my command an effective striking force capable of taking the offensive with every hope of success when the proper moment should arrive that moment now approached at a conference held on july twenty three field marshal haig writes when the success of the attack of july eighteenth was well assured the methods by which the advantage already gained could be extended were discussed in detail the allied commander-in-chief asked that the british french and american armies should each prepare plans for local offensives to be taken in hand as soon as possible with certain definite objectives of a limited nature these objectives on the british front were the disengagement of amiens and the freeing of the paris amiens railway by an attack on the albert mondidier front the role of the french and american armies was to free other strategic railways by operations farther south and east it would depend upon the nature of the success which might be obtained in these different allied operations whether they could be more fully exploited before winter set in it was subsequently arranged that attacks would be pressed in a converging direction toward mezières by the french and american armies while at the same time the british armies attacking toward the line of st canquin cambrai would strike directly at the vital lateral communications running through mouberge to herson and mezières by which alone the german forces on the campaign front could be supplied and maintained such a movement would also threaten the group of german armies in flanders and therefore it was obvious of vital importance to the enemy to maintain intact his front opposite st quentin and cambrai and for this purpose he depended upon the great fortified zone known as the hindenburg line it is necessary to keep this in mind as it is the key to the extraordinary fierce resistance the enemy maintained throughout the critical days of the battle of cambrai summing up the general scheme of british operations field marshal haig says the brilliant success of the amiens attack was the prelude to a great series of battles in which throughout three months of continuous fighting the british armies advanced without a check from one victory to another this period was divided into two well-defined phases the first being the breaking through of the hindenburg line and the second the pushing of the enemy before us from his hastily prepared defenses the second phase had already reached its legitimate conclusion when the signing of the armistice put an end to the operations Finally defeated in the great battles of November 1 and 4 and utterly without reserves, the enemy at that date was falling back without coherent plan and in widespread disorder and confusion.

End of Part 1 Preface and Chapter 1 Recording by David Lawrence in Brampton, Ontario September 2009

Part 1, Chapter 2, of Canada's Hundred Days with the Canadian Corps, from Amiens to Mons, August 8th to November 11th, 1918.

This is a LibriVox recording.

In these days magnificent work was done by Core Signals, who pushed their telegraph lines ahead abreast of the advance, thus keeping all units in touch, a remarkable feat, for in the textbooks it had never been contemplated that in open warfare of the nature now developing, wire communications could thus be maintained.

But the work was carried forward right up to Mons, and after the Armistice through Belgium to the Rhine.

Once the north bank of the Sensi had been cleared, our advance went forward practically unchecked for several days.

Canadian railway troops had been brought up to repair communications, but our progress quite outpaced their utmost efforts, and the troops pressed on, often with but meagre rations, yet stimulated by the prospect of liberating civilians in the next village ahead, and there again encouraged to fresh exertions.

On the morning of October 2, the civil authorities transmitted the following message through Canadian Corps signals to the French government, quote, After 50 months of hard captivity, but always resolute and inspired by the memory of her sons heroically fallen on the field of honor, the city of Valenciennes, cruelly separated from her brave mayor, Dr. Truchon, and with a great number of her inhabitants in exile, addresses to the French government the expression of her admiration for the victorious armies of the Entente and her patriotic cry of joy on the day of her deliverance.

Dr. Truchon had persistently opposed the exactions of the German military governor until finally he was exiled.

Acting in his place remained Messieurs Billier and Damien, who together with Monsieur René Delamme, representative of the American Relief Committee, administered faithfully to the wants of their people, and were not to be deterred by threats and commands from doing what was possible to mitigate their unhappy condition, for their lot was very miserable.

Except for a little meal, these depended entirely on American and Spanish relief for their food, and the one bright spot in a story of oppression and violence is the figure of a German, Britmeister Vinnerborg, associated with Monsieur Delam in the relief, who did his best to see that it was honestly distributed.

That was the EU climate boss there speaking to our Maria Taddeo.

And now moving on to this next story that takes us to the NATO headquarters in Mons here in Belgium, where a Canadian national of Chinese origin is accused of spying while interning there.

Now, details of the case remain tightly guarded, but serious questions are being raised over how an alleged spy gained access to one of the world's most important military alliances and who she was allegedly working for.

For more, we can head straight over to Mons, where our EU correspondent Angela Scudens is standing by as this case is set to move forward today.

Good morning, Angela.

Just tell us, what is the latest on this case?

Good morning, Maeve.

So, yes, I'm out the front of the Belgian indictments chamber in the city of Mons.

So, let's begin where so many of these stories begin, in the autumn of 1914, on a retreat that should have ended in disaster, with the case that started it all.

This is the haunting of the Angel of Mons.

It's August 1914.

The First World War is only weeks old, and already it's not going the way anyone promised.

They said, didn't they, that it would be over by Christmas.

They were wrong by four years and 17 million lives.

The British Expeditionary Force, a small professional army, has crossed into Belgium to stand alongside the French, and at a town called Mons, they meet the German army for the very first time.

The British soldiers are outnumbered roughly two to one, but they are superbly trained.

Or you could grow moss once again.

This is all to be installed by the individual but some city actually do help people install them to make the city look better and to help people lower their bill like Mons in Wallonia.

If you live in the center of Mons you just need to choose which plant you want to grow and the city will give it to you for free and help you install it on your facade.

All of this after the city successfully voted and elected a majority.

Greens, Socialists and Marxists together.