Mons 1914: The BEF's Tactical Triumph (Campaign)

This is an good overview of the not only the Battle of Mons but also the Battles of Le Cateau and Villers-Cotterets and the desperate but sucessful retreat of the BEF in which they avoided annilihation by Von Kluck's army. The maps ,color plates and pictures are all very good quality. Sir Horace Smith - Dorrien the commander of the BEF's 2cd Corps emerges as an outstanding commander that most sucessfully navigated the " fog of war " in the defense postioning and fighting his Corps at Mons and Le Cateau against the far superior numbers of the German 1st Army. The German 1st and 2cd Armies had their chances to destroy the 11 Corps but the inexperience of their commanders Von Kluck and Von Bulow,initial faulty attack tactics by their infantry, exhaustion due to hard marching and stout defensive stands by a well trained British infantry firing up to 30 aimed shots per minute allowed the 2cd Corps and BEF to survive and ultimately play a critical role in winning the battle of the Marne less than a month later. It is a pity that Smith - Dorrien was hated by the incompetent BEF Commander in Chief, Sir John French because his command insight and audacity was vital in the preventing German victories AND YET it was Smith - Dorrien who was ultimately was relieved of command due to French's anger and jellously. The British made some costly mistakes - inefficent communications left battalions and companies to be surrounded by overwhelming numbers and fighting their field artillery in the open resulted in 24 field guns being lost at Le Cateau {and 36 pieces overall} due to more effective German indirect artillery fire. The German army displayed reckless courage and took heavy casualties but also showed that they could and did} adjust their tactics to use their superior #s to envelope British defensive positions. Still, the long service / professional BEF acquitted itself with a military competence that was sorely lacking in the Kitchener " new army " that fought at the Somme in 1916. The narrative is an " easy read " and even the minor actions are mentioned even if briefly . This is a lucid, informative if brief telling of a legendary battle. I give this book 4 stars and recommend it to both the casual reader and World War 1 enthusiast.

Lots of pictures in this book that I'd never seen before and excellent maps throughout as well as the usual great Osprey artwork. Von Schlieffen said to "keep the right wing strong" but needs of the German army in other areas necessitated a reduction on the Belgian front.The British who were responsible for carrying the defense of Belgium were able to pick apart the German schlieffen plan at Mons and surrounding areas.The Germans absorbed high casualties using frontal assaults little removed from the Franco-Prussian war while the British retreated giving the Germans a "Pyrric victory".Lots of human interest stories of Victoria Crosses.At Mons field manuevers and infantry and cavalry assaults were used and marked a ray of hope for the German army that it could still remain quick and mobile. Things rapidly changed as the British use of artillery and machine guns indicated that the face of warfare was rapidly changing.I'm sure the Germans must have lost alot of confidence with anywhere from 12,000 to as high as 30,000 casaulties estimated.(German record keeping was not real good),and the British approximately had 8,000.The German army grossly outnumbered the BEF at Mons but due to imperfections of scouting and reconaissance information,they were unaware of it.A skeleton crew of British made splinters of Schlieffen's slamming door at Mons.Already at Mons you can see a division between France and Britain over placement of troops.The northern front(Belgium) is seen as Britains'responsibility while the French take the southern front(France itself).The area between these 2 fronts were squabbled over with each country saying the other was responsible for its defense.