Hi my name's Kevin Hicks, welcome to my YouTube channel The History Squad. Now
today's video is another one from the First World War, World War One. 23rd of August 1914,
Battle of Mons. This is focusing on the extraordinary courage, bravery of Lieutenant
Dease and also Fusilier Godley who were both awarded the Victoria Cross for their brave action.
As you can see I've been busy making models again, so this, this model is important. I've actually
been to this location a few times in Mons where the Fourth uh Royal Fusiliers made their stand on
the Nimy Railway Bridge. So what I've done is I've stolen a Railway Bridge off my railway layout.
Now it's difficult when you're trying to make these models you try and make them as
accurate as possible. Some of the pictures I've seen there was a double railway,
others I've seen there was no railway. Well on this one you've got one railway,
so it's just a model to show you. The, the canal here, the Mons to Conde canal,
60 foot wide 7 foot deep. In itself not a major obstacle, and there were 18 bridges,
17 or 18 bridges around Mons where the British Expeditionary Force is going to make their stand.
Unfortunately they're going to be exposed because it's a salient, it arcs around, so the British
said are going to be under fire from uh three separate directions and something I've found
quite interesting when doing some more research, as I do, is the Germans didn't know we were there.
22nd of August 1914, they thought that the British Expeditionary Force were actually landing,
um on the channel coast, they didn't realize they were in Mons. What had happened is, there'd been a
forced march, Sir John French there, pushing the, the BEF forward, the British Expeditionary Force
forward and they actually went across the canal into the woods but they found that the dense woods
on the opposite side were indefensible, so they came back and they started to dig their trenches.
From what I understand they only had time, some of them, to dig their trenches about two foot deep,
so you know filling sandbags doing all the things, these soldiers, this British Expeditionary Force
must have been exhausted. Now you had the Fourth Fusiliers and next to them you had
the Fourth Battalion, the Middlesex Regiment the Die-Hards were there too. Now that makes
2,000 British soldiers on this little salient, but there’s 6,000 German soldiers coming towards them
with extra divisions following close up. Problem the British had, their artillery was ineffective.
Mons, the city, was in the way. You can't fire your cannons through the buildings, so the British
they're going to have problems, but what the Fusiliers did was they set up a defensive
position on this bank on the south bank, they dug in and they waited for the Germans to arrive.
So the reason the British Expeditionary Force is, is right out on this salient,
a real exposed position and they're digging in there on that on the banks of the canal
trying to hold for instance the Nimy railway bridge was that our General, Sir John French,
had actually promised a French General Charles Lanrezac with his Fifth French Army,
that the British would hold the line for at least 24 hours whilst the French retreated.
Now this will leave the British Expeditionary Force greatly exposed, but promises have been
made and we've got to make a stand, so there's a full company of uh the Fourth Fusiliers,
Captain Ashburner commanded the company but there's a machine gun section there which
is uh commanded by Lieutenant Dease. Uh he's got two Maxim machine guns. I've actually got
Vickers I'm afraid, they're the only ones I could get, and they set them up on the
railway bridge. And this is where it sometimes gets confusing, when you're looking at these
various films that are shot and the machine guns here or it’s there or there's one machine gun,
but what I've found from my research… machine gun section, two and the problem with these machine
guns in those days was the way they drilled the men. Don't forget this is brand new warfare,
the men sat up behind the gun, they didn't crouch down. I mean in the Army when I learned to fire
the GPMG, was right down there. These guys they sat there, so they're vulnerable. But they've
set up, they've got their sandbags, they've got their ammunition and now they're gonna wait.
So to add to the misery of the British Expeditionary Force who were there on the Nimy
Canal on the railway bridge was overnight there was a thunderstorm and everybody's soaking wet,
fed up and shimfing only like a British soldier can shimf. Just to let you know this is the first
battle the British will have fought in Europe since 1815, the Battle of Waterloo. Now our
army stands to, they get ready at four o'clock. No bugles, quiet, word of mouth. They know the
Germans are across the canal because there's been patrols have clashed, but now the British
are waiting when two children turn up, only little with a basket of, of bread rolls, croissant maybe
and some coffee. Sydney Godley, Fusilier Sydney Godley, he talks to them has a bread roll and a
drink of coffee with them. Just to let you know a little thing here, private soldier normal you
know in the ranks you're private, but if you're in the Fusiliers it's Fusilier so when I say Fusilier
Sydney Godley he's basically a private soldier, but a Fusilier don't get too confused. Well,
the artillery starts to fire from the Germans side so the children are ushered out and we are
ready. The Germans advance onto the bridge not knowing what's waiting for them around about
eight o'clock in the morning, 23rd of August 1914. The Battle of Mons is about to begin.
So the Germans advance across the bridge, actually in column of route. They don't
know what's waiting for them and then the British open fire and
those in the lead of the German advance simply dropped to the floor. They were scythed down.
The accurate rifle fire from the British there, with their rapid fire and the two machine guns
literally scythed right the way through this German Army. One uh Fusilier commented, he
says you didn't have to aim, you just pointed your rifle and just kept shooting at the gray uniforms
and then he says and it was horrible to see all of those young German soldiers down.
The Germans retreated, regrouped, 30 minutes later they attack again but this time in open order, but
the British soldiers there, they hold their own and they are mowing these Germans down.
It must have been horrendous. But the Germans are understanding now what's going on so they're
getting their artillery to range in and also their men are shooting from the opposite bank,
so now the British are taking casualties and very quickly they realize the two machine guns,
that's the key to the British defense. Lieutenant Dease at this stage is shot through the knee.
He won't go to the rear. He bandages his leg or he gets a field dressing on his leg,
this is absolute courage isn't it,
you know? And then uh there's reinforcements coming. Second Lieutenant Joseph Mead
advances, but his troops are being cut to pieces. He gets shot in the head but when he recovers he
carries on in the battle to be shot again in the head and killed. Ammunition is running short,
supplies are running short, the situation on this bridge is deadly, so Captain Bowden Smith,
Lieutenant Everard Smith bring up reinforcements with ammunition. Both of them are wounded within
minutes. This is a desperate situation, but the British are digging in, holding their own.
So what I've done with the model is, is try to give you a machine gunner’s eye view,
their field of fire along that bridge and also a view of the Germans, they've got to run into
that machine gun fire. It must have been sheer hell. The only way the Germans are going to take
out our machine gunners is with artillery, their own machine gunners and the accurate rifle fire.
But of course, you advance, the Brits are going to shoot you to pieces. This is quite
an extraordinary fight. So things on the bridge are getting desperate with the Germans uh using
their machine guns, rifle fire, artillery. Casualties amongst the British are growing,
officers and men. Captain Ashburner is wounded in the head, Lieutenant
Dease he's already wounded in the knee. He is dragging ammunition up to his two machine guns,
he knows he's got to keep them firing. Then his left-hand gun is taken out of action,
artillery shell shrapnel through the, the cooling jacket. He notices that the machine gunner
on the right gun, the only gun still firing, has been wounded so Lieutenant Dease,
fully exposed to enemy fire, runs over to the gun, drags the wounded gunner out, rolls him down the
other side of the bank out of harm’s way, possibly saving his life. He then gets in behind the gun,
all the time he's been wounded in the leg hasn't he? Then he's wounded in the neck. One of his
officers crawls over to him and says “You've got to get out of here you've got to get outta here”.
But he will not go. He keeps that gun firing. By the way the loader to that gun, Fusilier Godley.
So this is now one gun and it's really going some when Lieutenant Dease is hit again,
I understand in the head, and then finally in the chest. He's pulled away from the gun and Godley
gets down behind it. But then an incredible thing. Godley is told “You've got to stay at the gun,
we've got to get the men out. You understand what I'm saying?” Can you imagine that?
And he stays there behind that gun, so I've read for two hours he mans that gun and keeps
it rattling across that railway bridge. He's wounded several times he gets a bullet in the head
and he carries fragments of that bullet with him for the rest of his life and you know this guy,
he destroys the machine, he then walks away.
He ends up in hospital in Mons and he's captured, prisoner of war. It's not till 1915 that he finds
out he's been awarded the Victoria Cross for his action at the bridge at Nimy. The German officers
at the prisoner of war camp are so impressed by this, they hold a dinner for him. Wow!
He lived a full life, he married after the war, became a school caretaker. What a guy.
Lieutenant Dease though, he died of his wounds. He's buried at St Symphorien Cemetery in Mons.
I've been there many times and each time I bow my head at the grave of Lieutenant Dease VC.
So before I actually wrap this all up, it was on a recent visit back to the UK when I went
into the Tower of London, and of course being an ex-soldier, I had to go into the Fusiliers Museum.
That's my county regiment, the Fusiliers. And um there was the citation for the Victoria Cross for
Lieutenant Maurice Dease, and you feel quite humbled you know and putting the whole picture
together having visited his grave, and I'll go again, and then the story of Fusilier Godley it's,
it's, it's quite fantastic. So if ever you are in the Tower of London, there is this little Museum
in the far right hand corner, the Fusiliers the Royal Fusiliers. Um a great regiment, one
of our old ones and I'm very proud to have served alongside them in Northern Ireland in the 70s. So
if you're at the Tower of London pop in. But for now if you enjoyed our little film like, share
and subscribe and don't forget to turn on the all notification buttons because we've got so many
different types of film coming down the line. I do hope you like me model, I worked hard on this.
And uh now we got a special mention for some of our Patreons, Sandy Higgins, Peter Bush and David
Strother, hey guys thanks a million, because of you I'm able to do this. Thanks a million.