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Age-27

49, Usk Road, Battersea

The Battle of Mons  August 23, 1914

This was the first battle fought by the British Army (BEF) in the war. Since landing in France ten days earlier the four infantry divisions and five cavalry brigades of the BEF had advanced to a position on the left flank of the French Armies only to find themselves directly in the line of the advance of the German First Army as they swept through Belgium and headed for Paris.

With orders to hold the German advance for 24hours and outnumbered two to one, the BEF dug in along the Mons-Conde canal. The battle commenced at 9am and lasted all day. By nightfall the BEF had withdrawn to a position along the Valenciennes-Maubeuge road, a position from which the Great Retreat began the next day. British casualties, killed, wounded or missing, amounted to 1600 for the battle. German casualties were higher.

13 Brigade of 5th Division held a three mile front along the western stretch of the canal.1st Royal West Kent covered the canal bridges immediately east of St. Ghislain in excellent trenches and on their left the 2nd Scottish Borderers battalion occupied the canal up to the railway bridge at Les Herbières, sending a company to a pond half a mile north of the Les Herbières road bridge. Covered by artillery field batteries the Germans now attacked but the British were very well positioned and they were stopped 300 yards from the canal. It was here that the Germans suffered very heavy casualties and, unaware of ‘rapid fire’ thought they were up against ranks of machine guns. At 6pm the enemy brought up more guns and destroyed the barricade at Les Herbières forcing 2nd Scottish Borderers to withdraw to the south bank whilst the engineers destroyed the bridge. At dusk they moved back on Wasmes. One of their casualties on this day was George Peterkin.