August 23 - Mons

Mons was the first major action of the 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.

The Battle of Mons

During the battle, the first Victoria Crosses are awarded to Lieutenant Maurice Dease (the first psthumous award) and Private Sidney Godley.

Edward Croft,with the RFA, moves from Cartignies (in France) to Grand-Reng (in Belgium).

British artillery on the march

 
The Belgian town of Namur is evacuated by the Allies. French forces withdraw from Lorraine.

Japan declares war on Germany.

On the Eastern Front, the Battle of Tannenberg begins between Russia and Germany.

August 22 - The BEF's First Shots of the War

The "First Shot" Memorial near Mons

The first British shots of the First World War were fired today. These were the first by a British soldier on the continent of Europe in action against an enemy since Waterloo.

Ahead of the main body of the BEF, cavalry troops were ordered to seek and locate the German Army. On 22 August, the 2nd Cavalry Brigade were patrolling north and east of Mons. In "C" Squadron of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, the leading patrols set an ambush beside the Maisieres to Casteau road.

At about 7am one of the scouts reported the enemy coming down the road, and No. 1 Troop was ordered to charge. No 4 Troop, following, was ordered to dismount and fire. As Corporal Edward  Thomas later recalled, "I could see a German cavalry officer some 400 yards away ... Immediately I saw him I took aim, pulled the trigger and automatically, almost as it seemed instantaneously, he fell to the ground."


The German Cuirassiers were outnumbered and they fell back, pursued along the Brussels road. Captain Charles Beck Hornby, commanding No 1 Troop, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, probably the first gallantry award given to a member of the Army in the First World War. (Captain Hornby also had the distinction of probably killing the first German in the war, albeit by sabre rather than by shot.)

Edward Croft, with the 26th Brigade RFA, marched from Boue to Cartignies and again billeted in the 1st Brigade (Guards) area.

In the Battle of the Frontiers, France suffers its greatest loss of life to date, with 27,000 of her soldiers killed.

Austria-Hungary declares war on Belgium.