Mons, Belgium
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Mons is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Panorama of the old town
Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church and the Belfry of Mons
Troops of the paramilitary Garde Civique fire on strikers near Mons during the Belgian general strike of 1893 (Le Petit Journal, May 1893)
Canadians entering Mons in 1918
Battle of Mons
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The Battle of Mons, or the First Battle of Mons to differentiate it from another battle later in the war, was the first big engagement of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War. It was
Mons, Belgium
…was made to dismantle the fortifications, allowing the creation of large boulevards and other urban projects. In 1914, Mons was the location of the Battle of Mons. The British were forced to retreat by a numerically superior German force and the town remained occupied by the Germans until its liberation by the…
Royal Fusiliers resting in the town square at Mons before the Battle of Mons. The Royal Fusiliers faced some of the worst fighting in the battle and earned the first Victoria Cross of the war.
Alexander von Kluck, commander of the German 1st Army at Mons
Lieutenant Maurice Dease, 4th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the first of the war.
Sidney Godley VC