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The Battle of Le Cateau 26th August 1914

Speaker: Dr Spencer Jones
British Royal Field Artillery Le Cateau

The British Expeditionary Force faced disaster in August 1914. Driven from Belgium after the Battle of Mons, it found itself isolated from its French allies and closely pursued by numerically superior German forces. At the darkest moment of the retreat General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien made the bold decision to turn his forces and fight.

General Smith Dorrien
General Smith Dorrien

The Battle of Le Cateau on August 26, 1914, was a crucial rearguard action where the British Expeditionary Force (BEF)'s II Corps fought a delaying engagement against the advancing German First Army, allowing the main BEF to continue its retreat from Mons.

Dr. Spencer Jones is an award-winning historian and author. He is Senior Lecturer in Armed Forces and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton and serves as the Regimental Historian for the Royal Regiment of Artillery.

All are welcome to attend this event, and everyone is guaranteed a warm welcome with the doors opening at 6.30pm ready for a 7pm start.

Event organiser: Staffs (North) & Cheshire (South) branch
9 March 2026 19:00 to 9 March 2026 21:00
Congregational Church, King Street, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 1EJ
Branch contacts
Geoff White
(Branch Chairman)
Email Geoff White

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