Journey To The Belgian Frontier

On August 16th the first corps, which included the 40th battery, boarded a ship that would take them to France.
We embarked at Southhampton on the ship 55 City of Chester. It was an uneventful trip over the channel to where we disembarked the next morning at Boulogne, France.


Fred knew that they had landed in France because of the grand reception they received when the ship docked. Once they were off the ship, they fell into formation and marched to their assigned rest camp that was located outside of Boulonge.

On the 20th of August they boarded a train that would transport them to an unknown destination. Fred recalled looking out the train's window as it passed through several towns including Amiens. When the train stopped at a station, all the inhabitants of the town would be waiting to greet them. Fred wrote in his journal.
Every station was crowed with people that showered us with flowers, chocolate, smokes, and drinks of all kinds, and some chaps even got kisses from French ladies.


That night they de-trained at Macquigny, France and from there they started their march to the Belgian Frontier. Every village they passed through gave them a splendid reception, especially the fortified city of Maubeuge, France.
Everywhere the French people gave the troops a hearty welcome, and then it occurred to me that just perhaps the people may have realized more than the British Tommies what events were impending.


At 9 am on August 23rd, the German artillery opened fire on the British army at their most northern positions, near the city of Mons, Belgium. The 40th artillery battery was ordered to take a position outside of the city to support the infantry in their attempt in repelling the attacking Germans. Since most of the men in the battery were reservist, this was their first battle which enlisted a mixture of exhilaration and fear.
We dropped into action at Mons and as we moved into position, I could hear the sounds of heavy artillery guns. I could feel my excitement grow as I sensed the urgency in the voices and movements of the battery crews rushing about to get their guns into firing position. When the guns were ready, I felt a calmness settle over the area and I took this moment to take in all the sights and sounds around me, as if painting a panoramic scene, suddenly I was jolted back into the present when our batteries started to fire.


It was evening before the guns fell silent, we moved forward towards a ridge that offered a decent view of the continuing battle in and around Mons. I stood on the ridge and stared at the battle below and thought to myself how thrilling it all seemed. Then as the day faded into darkness, I was enchanted, like a child viewing a fireworks display, as I watched the German shells bursting above the battlefield. We fired a few more rounds before we packed up and returned to where we had bivouacked the previous night.