Wrong-Direction
Well-known member
- Mar 10, 2013
- 13,544
Think this could be quite a good series!
Think this could be quite a good series!
Sidney Godley awarded the VC for staying behind to man the machine gun whilst the regiment withdrew, was a Sussex man. Very good viewing last night, will watch the rest of the seris.
Thanks CS for that post. I totally agree about the importance of the Battle of Mons. The French withdrawal left the BEF horribly exposed on it's right flank. A brilliantly executed retreat to the Marne enabled the Allies to deliver a blow to the Germans that, by and large, finished the Schleiffen Plan as a sustainable route to victory (if it ever was) and forced von Kluck to turn in front of Paris instead of encircling the city.
A very good book on this is Riding the Retreat by the late Prof Richard Holmes who, with a group of friends and a couple of horses rode the route of the retreat giving an account of what happened from the view of the cavalry, and also an insight as to what you might still see today.
just watched this on iplayer, cant say i enjoyed it but gripping stuff so pleased i saw the thread title which made me look on iplayer, having read this thread after, its even more interesting, the fighting starts with a headbutt from one englishman to another! i have driven past mons so often driving from germany to sussex or vice versa, i will think twice before driving past next week ...
Sidney Godley awarded the VC for staying behind to man the machine gun whilst the regiment withdrew, was a Sussex man. Very good viewing last night, will watch the rest of the seris.