CANADA HISTORY - War-WWI

Mons

The Battle of Mons, fought on November 10-11, 1918, holds a unique place in the annals of Canadian military history. It was the final engagement for the Canadian Corps in the First World War and, symbolically, the last battle of the war before the Armistice went into effect on November 11, 1918. What makes the Battle of Mons so remarkable is not only its timing—on the very eve of peace—but the poignancy of the fact that the Canadians, who had entered the war in the heat of 1914, came full circle by liberating the very Belgian town where the British had fought their first major engagement of the war in August 1914. For Canada, Mons was not just a battle, but the closing chapter in a long and bloody saga that had seen the country rise to international prominence as a formidable military power.

To understand the significance of the Battle of Mons, one must first appreciate the broader context of the First World War as it entered its final phase. By the autumn of 1918, the Central Powers, particularly Germany, were teetering on the brink of collapse. The German Army had been worn down by four years of relentless fighting, and their strategic reserves were depleted. The failed German Spring Offensive of 1918 had exhausted much of their remaining strength, and the arrival of American forces on the Western Front tipped the balance in favor of the Allies. Following the success of the Hundred Days Offensive, during which the Allies broke through the formidable Hindenburg Line, German morale began to crumble, and their capacity to wage war was rapidly diminishing.

The Canadian Corps, under the command of the brilliant and meticulous Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Currie, had been at the forefront of the Allied advance during the Hundred Days Offensive. From the Battle of Amiens in August to the capture of Cambrai in October, the Canadians had played a decisive role in pushing the Germans back across northern France. By early November, the Allies were poised to deliver the final blows that would force Germany to sue for peace. As the Canadian Corps advanced toward Belgium, their immediate objective was the liberation of Mons, a town that had fallen into German hands during the early days of the war and had become a symbol of occupation and oppression for the Belgian people.

Mons had considerable symbolic significance for the British Empire. In August 1914, it had been the site of the first major engagement between British and German forces, known as the Battle of Mons. The British Expeditionary Force, outnumbered and forced into retreat, had inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans before withdrawing, and the town had remained under German control ever since. For the Canadians, liberating Mons in the final hours of the war represented a powerful narrative of redemption and closure. It was fitting that the Canadian Corps, which had evolved into one of the most elite fighting forces on the Western Front, would be tasked with liberating the town where the war had begun for the British and Commonwealth forces.

On November 10, 1918, as rumors of an imminent armistice circulated, the Canadian Corps prepared for what would be their final assault of the war. The Germans, though weakened and increasingly demoralized, still held strong defensive positions around Mons, and the Canadians expected stiff resistance. Currie, who was acutely aware of the impending armistice, was careful in his planning. His objective was to capture Mons with as few casualties as possible, but he was determined to see the town liberated before hostilities officially ended. The liberation of Mons, in Currie’s view, would be a fitting conclusion to the Canadian Corps’ remarkable journey from the beaches of Gallipoli and the trenches of Ypres to the fields of northern France and Belgium.

The attack on Mons began on the night of November 10, with Canadian forces advancing under the cover of darkness. The 3rd Canadian Division, under Major-General F.O.W. Loomis, spearheaded the assault, with support from the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions. The Canadians faced sporadic resistance as they advanced toward the town, but the German forces were in disarray, with many soldiers surrendering rather than continuing to fight in a war they knew was all but lost. Nevertheless, there were pockets of fierce resistance, particularly from German machine-gun nests that had been positioned to defend key roads and bridges.

As the Canadians moved closer to Mons, they encountered fierce street fighting in the outskirts of the town. The Germans, though largely in retreat, had set up defensive positions in some of the buildings, and the Canadian infantry had to engage in house-to-house combat to clear them out. The streets of Mons were narrow and winding, which made the advance slow and dangerous. Despite this, the Canadian troops, seasoned by years of trench warfare and urban combat, pushed forward with determination. By the early morning of November 11, the Canadians had successfully entered Mons and were securing the town.

At approximately 5:00 AM on November 11, word reached the Canadian command that the armistice had been signed and that hostilities would cease at 11:00 AM. For the Canadians, the knowledge that the war would soon be over spurred them on to complete the liberation of Mons before the official ceasefire. As dawn broke on that final day of the war, Canadian troops moved through the streets of Mons, greeted by the jubilant citizens of the town who had endured four years of German occupation. The liberation of Mons was complete by the time the armistice took effect at 11:00 AM.

The Battle of Mons was not a large-scale engagement in terms of opposing troop strength or casualties, but it held immense symbolic importance. The Germans, by this point, had been retreating on all fronts, and their ability to mount a coordinated defense had been significantly diminished. Still, the Canadians faced pockets of stiff resistance, and tragically, several Canadian soldiers lost their lives on that final day of the war. One of the most poignant stories from the battle is that of Private George Lawrence Price, a soldier from Saskatchewan, who was killed by a German sniper just two minutes before the armistice took effect, making him one of the last Allied soldiers to die in the First World War.

The liberation of Mons had a profound impact on the morale of the Allied forces and the Belgian people. For Belgium, which had been ravaged by four years of occupation and destruction, the liberation of Mons was a symbol of the country’s resilience and the beginning of its recovery. For the Canadian Corps, the capture of Mons was the final chapter in a series of remarkable victories that had defined their participation in the war. From Vimy Ridge to Hill 70, from Passchendaele to Cambrai, the Canadians had proven time and again that they were a force to be reckoned with, and their role in liberating Mons was a fitting conclusion to their wartime service.

The Battle of Mons, while not a large-scale confrontation in terms of casualties, was strategically significant because it represented the final blow to the German occupation of Belgium and the end of hostilities on the Western Front. The liberation of Mons by the Canadians demonstrated the determination and professionalism of the Canadian Corps, who had fought tirelessly through some of the most grueling battles of the war. The Canadian capture of Mons, coming in the final hours of the war, was a victory that underscored Canada’s emergence as a significant military power within the British Empire and on the world stage.

The fallout from the battle and the end of the war had lasting consequences for Canada. The country, which had entered the war as a dominion within the British Empire, emerged from the conflict with a new sense of national identity and independence. The achievements of the Canadian Corps during the war, including their role in the final battles of 1918, helped to solidify Canada’s status as a nation capable of standing on its own in international affairs. The leadership of General Currie and the heroism of Canadian soldiers were celebrated not just in Canada, but across the Commonwealth and beyond.

In the aftermath of the war, the soldiers of the Canadian Corps returned home to a country that had been forever changed by the conflict. Canada had sacrificed over 60,000 men during the war, with many more returning home wounded or scarred by the horrors of the trenches. The Battle of Mons, though a moment of triumph, was also a reminder of the immense cost of the war. The war had left deep scars on Canadian society, but it had also brought the country closer together and fostered a sense of national pride that would endure for generations.

The Battle of Mons was more than just a military engagement—it was the final act of a war that had reshaped the world. For Canada, the capture of Mons symbolized the end of a long and arduous journey, one that had seen the country grow from a dominion within the British Empire to a nation capable of making its own mark on the world stage. The legacy of Mons, like the battles that had come before it, became part of Canada’s national memory, a symbol of the sacrifices made by Canadian soldiers and the role Canada played in shaping the outcome of the First World War.

As the guns fell silent at 11:00 AM on November 11, 1918, and the people of Mons celebrated their newfound freedom, the Canadian Corps could reflect on their hard-fought journey. Mons was a fitting end to their participation in the war, a battle that symbolized both the tragedy and the triumph of the Great War. The liberation of Mons, on the very day the war ended, was not just the end of a battle—it was the end of an era.