| Second Battle of Mons | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of TheWestern Front of theFirst World War,Hundred Days Offensive | |||||||
.jpg) Canadian troops in Mons | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Canada |  Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 SirArthur Currie | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 6-8Divisions | 3-4Divisions | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 280 killed, wounded, or missing | Unknown | ||||||
TheSecond Battle of Mons was aFirst World War military engagement fought between 9–11 November 1918, in which Canadian forces captured the Belgian town ofMons, re-capturing an area that had been under German occupation since 1914. The capture was completed before thegeneral armistice at 11:00 am.
Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and on 9 August, the BEF began embarking for France.[1] The firstBattle of Mons was undertaken by theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) on 23 August 1914, a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers. With the firstVictoria Cross of the war awarded, the British fighting retreat into France lasted two weeks.
After the failure of theGerman spring offensive (21 March – 18 July 1918)[2] and the Allied success at theBattle of Amiens (8–12 August 1918), theEntente began an aggressive series of offensives on the Western Front which would come to be known as theHundred Days Offensive.[3] The Germans were forced into a full retreat eastward. TheCanadian Corps closed on Mons. A city of huge symbolic value to the Entente. British troops had staged afighting retreat in the early days of the war, delaying the Germans in their advance towards Paris but suffering heavy casualties in the process. Mons had also been under German occupation for the entirety of the war and had been used as a critical logistical centre. Now, the Canadians had a chance to recapture Mons on the last day of the war.[4] TheImperial German Army, though badly beaten, fought a fierce rear-guard action as it retreated towards Mons. In early November, Canadian troops had taken the French city ofValenciennes after acostly battle.
By 9 November, Canadian forces were already on the outskirts of Mons. CanadianLieutenant-General SirArthur Currie, in charge of Canadian forces, wanted to take it to break German morale and to ensure that the Germans did not think they had any pieces for negotiation. While Currie's senior officers did not protest, the men on the ground were less pleased, but trusted their commanding officer and obeyed the order nonetheless.[5] The plan to capture Mons was an encircling manoeuvre, with the2nd Canadian Division attacking from the south and south-east, and the3rd Canadian Division attacking from the east. On 10 November, the Canadians pushed into the outskirts of the city, engaging with German patrols in skirmishes but no large-scale assaults on dug-in German positions. There was no artillery bombardment of the city following orders from higher command not to bombard Mons with artillery in order to capture the city without destroying it. On the night of 10 November at around 11:00 pm, platoons from the42nd Battalion and theRoyal Canadian Regiment made it through the southern defences of the city. From the west, other companies crossed into the city over bridges. By the early morning of 11 November, after heavystreet fighting, Canadian forces had captured most of Mons without the use of heavy shelling. Bagpipes played and the town's inhabitants welcomed the Canadians as liberators.[6]
The Canadians had lost 280 men killed, wounded, or missing.
Canada is traditionally assigned the tragic distinction of having suffered the last fatality among British Commonwealth forces during the First World War. PrivateGeorge Price was hit in the chest by a sniper shot in the town ofVille-sur-Haine near Mons. He died at 10:58 am, two minutes before thearmistice went into effect.[7] A bridge and school in the town now bear Price's name.
The Second Battle of Mons was the last battle before the end ofWorld War 1.
In June 1927, the city of Mons erected a plaque commemorating its liberation by theCanadian Corps.[citation needed]
The news of the Armistice on 11 November 1918 was ill-received by former CanadianMinister of Militia and DefenceSam Hughes, who felt Currie had stolen the glory of victory that was rightfully his. In December 1918, Currie learned from friends in Canada that Hughes was telling anybody who would listen that Currie was "a murderer, a coward, a drunkard and almost everything else that is bad and vile".[8] In a letter to his sister, Currie wrote "Sam Hughes is a vindictive and bitterly disappointed man, and so is his sonGarnet Hughes".[8] Arthur and Garnet were friends and Currie was most likely speaking out of anger toward Sam Hughes. Arthur and Garnet had helped each other form the50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders)[9][10] and took the Militia Staff Course together.[11] In fact, it was Garnet Hughes who encouraged him to reconsider and accept the position of commanding officer of the regiment after he initially declined.[12] On 4 March 1919, in a speech before theHouse of Commons, Sam Hughes accused Currie of "needlessly sacrificing the lives of Canadian soldiers".[13] Specifically, Sam Hughes claimed Currie had only launched the Second Battle of Mons in order to have the Canadian Corps end the war for the British Empire where it began (the British Expeditionary Force fought its first battle at Mons in August 1914).[14] Canadian Prime MinisterRobert Borden defended Currie saying, “No criticism could be more unjust.”[6]