Firstly I must give an apology for the lack of posts. however I have not been idle, there has been a lot of digging into archives and war diaries and planning for the coming spring and summer while I am here in Mons.
My last blog post focused on the blowing of bridges and crossings on the canals at Mons. In that post I highlighted the first Royal Engineer fatalities of the Great War – 2Lt HW Holt RE.
2Lt Holt RE was one of the Section Commanders (a Troop Commander in modern parlance) of 56 Field Company Royal Engineers. His Section was tasked to carry out the demolition of the bridge on the Rue Des Bragnons over the Mons Canal. This crossing connected the villages of Nimy (south side of Canal) with the village of Maisieres (North side of the Canal). 56 Fd Coy RE had the problem that they were ordered to not start the demolition work on the crossings until 0600hrs on the 23rd of August, despite being in location on the 22nd August. The Company was further hindered by the limited amount of explosives that they had in their possession.
By the time the Sections of the Field Company started their work to prepare the crossings for demolition it was clear that the German Army was a lot closer that anyone expected and the eastern crossing at Obourg were actively under fire from Germans on the high ground above the crossings.
At the Rue Des Bragnons crossing 2Lt Holt and his men had started their task to install the explosives on the bridge. At this time German troops had infiltrated into the village of Maisieres, and once they had suitable number they rushed the bridge and attacked the sappers as they worked. In the melee 2Lt Holt was shot and killed and 21 NCOs and Sappers were captured.
It is interesting to note that the 56 Field Coy RE War diary states that “Lt Holt believed to be wounded”.
I also feel it is important to clarify something that often causes confusion when looking at war documents such as War Diaries, when the term casualties are used it is not just deaths, it cover a number of categories:
- Dead
- Wounded
- Captured
- Missing
There is no other indication of other wounded or killed from 56 Fd Coy RE at the time.
To the best of my knowledge Lt AF Day RE of 57 Fd Coy RE is the second Royal Engineer fatality of the Great War, he received a head injury while attempting to get onto the Nimy Railway bridge to place charges. He would wait to the rear of the bridge in the vain hope that there would be a gap in the fighting that would allow him to get back onto the bridge unfortunately he would later die of his wounds while still waiting to get back onto the bridge. Again there are no other deaths listed in the 57 Fd Coy RE War Diary for the 23 Aug 1914.
So we have 2 RE Officers listed as being wounded and killed, the thing that is interested there are 2 other Sappers that are in the Military Cemetery at St Symphorien (East side of Mons) that died on the 23 Aug 1914. It is possible that these Sappers – Spr F Johnson RE and Spr H Rodford RE may be from 59 Fd Coy RE as they list “3 sappers lost wounded”. The use of the word “lost” in the war diary would indicate that they were left behind as the unit withdrew under fire and as such it is possible that two of them died of their wounds.
Coming back to Lt Holt RE, as stated, he was killed at the bridge at Maisieres and along with the infantry that were killed in the Nimy area it appears that they were initially buried in the village of Maisieres. There is a stone plaque at the village church, St Martins, that commemorates this fact.
In 1916, The German Army decided that they wanted to create a centralised Military Cemetery for the area and with the agreement of a local Belgian Landowner, Jean De Lehaie, who provided the land at no cost on the proviso that the land would be used for the dead of both sides and “were commemorated with honour”. On 6 September 1917 the cemetery was formally opened by senior German Officers and several local Belgian Dignitaries, The German also placed a large obelisk on the high ground of the site to commemorate the dead buried in the cemetery.
After the Great War, the responsibilities for the Cemetery passed to the British and the Imperial War Graves Commission. As part of this process the British/ Imperial dead had their wooden crosses replaced with headstones, The British also added the Cross of Remembrance . Also between 1924 and 1952 efforts were made to bring in the dead from many of the local grave sites. it is during this period that I believe that 2Lt Holt’s body was moved from Maisieres.
With the lack of details of other casualties/ fatalities listed in 56 & 57 Fd Coy RE War Diaries I can only surmise that Johnson and Rodford may well be 2 of the wounded that were lost from 59 Fld Coy RE. The other Sapper units involved in the fight at the Mons Canal on 23/24 Aug 1914 were 17 Field Company RE who appear to only have one death – Cpl Marsden, killed at the Ghislain Railway Bridge, and 2&3 Field Troops of the Field Squadron RE who state no losses or wounded. (However the 17 Fd Coy RE War diary does not start until 27 August 1914).
The St Symphorien Cemetery has two other Sappers buried there, one is unknown and the other is from 1919.
I have still to locate where Lt AF Day RE and Cpl Marsden RE are buried, but that may well be a good excuse to get out for a few more local walks. As part of the research for this post I’ve come across the main CWGC cemeteries but I’ve also found it has been worth looking in some of the smaller village cemeteries as there are often the odd one or two military graves in them.
So there you have a bit of a follow up post on my previous blog post. With the weather starting to get better my aim is not to get out and start looking at some of the other battle sites from a Sapper perspective.