Information

In a small little neighborhood in Calgary, Alberta the street names all have something in common, they are all named after World War One battles.  By viewing my web page about one of these battles, I would like you to spend a few minutes  remembering all the Canadian soldiers who have died to fighting for us in that battle.   

I am going to tell you about the Battle of the Mons and how Canadian soldiers contributed to that battle.  There were two battles of the Mons, one in 1914 and the other in 1918.  I will be telling you about the 1918 battle. World War One started at Mons and the last battle of the war was fought at Mons. Canadian soldiers were part of the 1918 battle. In fact The last Canadian soldier killed in WWI was killed at Mons, 2 minutes before the Armistices on November 18.  His name was Private George Lawrence Price.     

The Battle of the Mons started on August 23, 1914 when the British and French armies went to war against the country of Germany.  Because Canada was a British colony they always supported the British when they went to war. That is why Canada was in Belgium with the British. This 1914 battle took place in places called Mulhouse, Lorraine, the Ardennes, Charleroi and most of all Mons. This battle was a fight from the western front; a fight for Mons.  There were 70 000 Allie troops compared to the 160 000 German troops.  By the end of the day, the Allies had 9 600 wounded.    

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Story

(based on the experiences of Corporal Bernard John Denore...written in my own words)

August 25th

At 5 a.m. we started on our march- we have had no food for two days.  I feel hungry and weak. The whole day we are marching, even though there is a lot of firing about us, we are not part of the fighting...we are just marching.  Then at 6:30 we found a place in Maroilles. Here, my platoon guarded the bridge all night.  At 9 p.m. the Germans attacked it the bridge. the fighting went on all night. I'm scared, hungry and tired beyond belief. In the end the Germans never got into Maroilles.  There were at least 45 of my company killed or wounded even the company officer. 

 “Does anyone have a map?’’ someone yelled out. When our company officer got up with a map, a German went up and shot him with a revolver.  Then one of our privates (with a bayonet) stabbed and killed the German. This is so horrible!

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Sources

   The Battle of Mons. [Internet]. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2354/mons.html [retrieved on March 17, 2003]  

Mons. 2001. [Internet]  http://www.webmatters.net/belgium/ww1_monsbtl.htm  [retrieved March 17, 2003

   Duffy, Michael. 2000. The Battle of the Mons. [Internet]  http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/mons.htm [retrieved March 17, 2003]

   Duffy, Michael. 2000. Memoirs & Diaries: The Retreat from Mons, August 23rd-September 5th, 1914. [Internet].http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/retreatfrommons.htm [retrieved March 17, 2003]

   Addingham Civic Society. 2002. Battle of Mons. [Internet]. http://www.addingham.info/war/mons.htm. [retrieved on March 17,2003]

   Swettenham, John. 1969. Canada and the First World War. Ryerson Press. Toronto, Ontario.

 

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THIS WEB PAGE WAS CREATED BY:

STEFANIE