Search results for Mons.

Our April 2017 Newsletter

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  Wellington Quarry, Arras Welcome to the April Branch Newsletter, I hope that you are able to enjoy the sunnier weather that we have been having.  This month’s topical picture is of one of the exits from the Wellington Quarry in Arras, from which the attacking troops left the safety of the underground tunnels and advanced to the German lines a…


14 September 1914 : Pte Ernest Scott

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Ernest was a warehouseman at Spring Mills at Wheatley Lane near Burnley prior to the outbreak of war. A pre-war reservist, he was recalled to duty on 4 August 1914 and embarked for France within a fortnight of the declaration. A veteran of the Battles of Mons and the Marne, he was severely wounded by shrapnel shattering his arm during the Battle…


15 October 1914 : Pte Arthur William Heptinstall

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His parents were James (a joiner) and Ann Heptinstall. Arthur was the seventh of their children born between 1864 and 1878.  Arthur enlisted in Bradford on 10 November 1899, joining 2nd Bn Royal Scots (Infantry). He was 21. He served in South Africa from 1900 to 1902 and in India from 1902 to 1907, where he became a qualified telegraphist. He ex…


Centenary of the Last Charges of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales’s)

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By Philip Watson Crest Publications, Kettering, 2016, £12.99, 136pp, many ills, index ISBN: 078-0-9935977-0-1 Book review by Bob Wyatt The 12th Lancers (now part of The Royal Lancers), still celebrate annually Moy Day on the 28th August when, in 1914, during the retreat from Mons. In reading regimental histories, and viewing contemporary oil p…


100: June 2014 Special Edition

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What did you do in the Great War Grandfather? The Life and Times of an Edwardian Horse Artillery Officer.

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What did you do in the Great War Grandfather? The Life and Times of AN Edwardian Horse Artillery Officer. Helion, £16.95. 187pp, 187 ills, 4 maps, bibliog., index ISBN 978 1 91217403 4 Charles Barrington Author, Charles Barrington, enjoys the good fortune of being published by Helion, and, consequently, the assurance of quality productio…


Mons 1914 by John Terraine

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Mons 1914 (Lecture given to The Western Front Association in 1990 by the then Honorary President John Terraine) I didn’t have much choice about the title of  my first book, Mons, the Retreat to Victory, which came out thirty years ago, in 1960. Messrs B. T. Batsford were publishing a series overall title of Great British Battles. It was a good se…


21 December 1914 : A/Cpl Simon Bennett

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After a number of years as a coal miner, Simon Bennett had enlisted into the army in 1904. After spending most of his service in India, Simon returned home and, while still held on the reserve, he became employed as a miner at the Towneley colliery in Burnley. He had just entered the final year of his reserve commitment (and was temporarily work…


22 October 1914 : Lt Henry Noel Atkinson DSO

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Henry was the son of the Reverend Arthur Atkinson, Canon of Chester Cathedral, and Ursula Mary Atkinson (née Cotton-Jodrell) and the grandson of the former Bishop of Calcutta.  He was one of the first and one of the youngest men to be awarded the DSO. Henry was educated privately at Mr Leonard Dobie’s boarding prep: school Moorland House, H…


31 January 1915: Pte Henry Arthur Nicholls

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Son of James Nicholls. He was educated Highfield Road School and initially worked as a machinist.  29 June 1913 he married Helen (née Ware) at St.Stephen's Church, Walworth. They lived at 178, Westmoreland Road, Walworth.  Henry enlisted 30 June 1910 in the Coldstream Guards. Come the war Henry was called up and went to the Front with his…


'The Story of the Iron Twelve' [Part 1] by Hedley Malloch

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This article first appeared, in two parts, in the journal of The Western Front Association, Stand To! No. 87 and No. 88. Members of the WFA have access to the entire Stand To! archive editions 1 to the present day. See Join the WFA.  This is the story – told over two successive issues of Stand To! - of eleven British soldiers, trapped behind the l…


1914 Days of Hope by Lyn Macdonald

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xiv plus 446 pp. Case bound. £15.95. Michael Joseph. In this latest in her series of books on the Great War the author has retained the style and format which proved so popular with her earlier works, as undoubtedly will be the case with this one. It may not be to everybody's liking but it has resulted in a graphic, interesting and very readable a…


The Affair at Néry

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The first weeks of the First World War had seen the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), under Field Marshal Sir John French, arrive in France and take up positions near Mons. Due to the overwhelming strength of the German Armies, this forward movement of the BEF rapidly turned into a retreat. As the BEF - and the French alongside them - fell back a …


Ep. 178 – Irish Recruitment in World War One – Dr Tim Bowman, Dr Michael Wheatley & Dr William Butler

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Dr Timothy Bowman, a Reader in modern British military history, University of Kent, Dr William Butler, the Head of Military Records, The National Archives, UK and Dr Michael Wheatley, an independent researcher who writes on early twentieth century Irish politics, talk about their latest book, The Disparity of Sacrifice. This book examines the mi…


John Terraine : The Smoke and the Fire: Myths and Anti–Myths of War 1861–1945

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(London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1980) A reappraisal by Gary Sheffield [This article first appeared in the April 2021 edition of Stand To! No. 122 pp 51-52. Members received Stand To! four times a year, and Bulletin three times a year either digitally or in print.] Of all John Terraine’s many books, The Smoke and the Fire is my favourite. It is no…


ONLINE: The Battle that Saved the BEF: Le Cateau, 26 August 1914 with Dr Spencer Jones

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The presentation will be live and online.  We welcome back Dr Spencer Jones who will talk to us about one of the early battles of the First World War. 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…


Riding the Retreat: Mons to Marne 1914 Revisited by Richard Holmes

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Jonathan Cape, 1995.  Hardback, 280 pages   £20.  ISBN 0224037625 [This review first appeared in the 1996 edition of Stand To! No.45] Riding the Retreat arrived in my postbox just as I finished Army Battlefield Guide - Belgium and Northern France by the same author. They are in marked contrast. I have always hankered after riding the Somme on …


'Hunted With All The Hounds, 24th August - The Day After Mons' with Sean Godfrey

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Historically accepted at the first day of the 'Great Retreat' the vicious engagements of the 24th August are often forgotten. However British casualties on this day were higher than for the Battle of Mons. This talk looks at the actions of the day, in particular Frameries, Wasmes, Elouges and Audregnies.


The Evolution of Victory - British Battles on the Western Front 1914-1918 by Andy Simpson

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1995 Hardback Publisher T.Donovan 152pp £17.95 ISBN 1 87108519 5 [This review first appeared in the September 1996 edition of Stand To! No. 47] The fighting on the Western Front means different things to different people. For the majority of the population, it is a terrible, apparently senseless event, essentially outside normal history; a ph…


8 January 1915 : Pte Albert Croucher, 1st East Kent Regiment

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His father was William James Croucher (a gardener/domestic servant) and his mother was Mary Ann Sharp.  At the 1891 Census at home, on Garlinge Greene, Petham age three, he was with his parents and young brother Albert (one). A decade later in 1901, his father was now 'head gardener'. Albert was at home, Paxton Cottage, St. Mary’s Platt, Kent a…


The Middlesex Regiment at Mons - a talk by Jonathan Steer

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Branch member Jonathan Steer will present a talk about the Middlesex Regiment at Mons, an action at which a family member served. Meet from 7:30 for an 8pm start in the bar area of the village hall at Hatfield Peverel. The bar is available. There is parking on site. Requested entrance donation of £3.50 and, as ever, the talk is open to members an…



The Voie Sacrée by Roy Larkin

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Please note - the date of this meeting (our May meeting) has been changed to avoid the Coronation weekend and additional bank holiday. It will now take place on Wednesday, 26th April at 19.00.   This is the last branch meeting before our summer break - our speaker will be Roy Larkin who will talk on 'The 'Voie Sacrée - the road that saved Verdun …


'Mons 1914' by Colin Ellender

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Our branch season for 2023/24 starts on Sunday, 3rd September. Colin Ellender will take us back to the early days of the Great War with his talk on Mons and the tumultous early fighting in August 1914. Doors open c13.40 for a 14.00 start. As ever, all members and guests are most welcome to attend. We do ask for a donation of £4.00 on the the door …