Morning At dawn on 23 August, a German artillery bombardment began on the British lines; throughout the day the Germans concentrated on the British at the salient formed by the loop in the canal. At the first German infantry assault began, with the Germans attempting to force their way across four bridges that crossed the canal at the salient. Four German battalions attacked the Nimy bridge, which was defended by a company of the 4th Battalion,
Royal Fusiliers and a machine-gun section led by Lieutenant
Maurice Dease. Advancing at first in close column, "parade ground formation", the Germans made easy targets for the riflemen, who hit German soldiers at over , mowing them down by rifle, machine-gun and artillery fire. So heavy was the British rifle fire throughout the battle that some Germans thought they were facing batteries of machine-guns. The German attack was a costly failure and the Germans switched to an open formation and attacked again. This attack was more successful, as the looser formation made it harder for the Irish to inflict casualties rapidly. The outnumbered defenders were soon hard-pressed to defend the canal crossings and the Royal Irish Fusiliers at the Nimy and
Ghlin bridges only held on with piecemeal reinforcement and the exceptional bravery of two of the battalion machine-gunners. At the Nimy bridge, Dease took control of his machine gun after the rest of the section had been killed or wounded and fired the weapon, despite being shot several times. After a fifth wound he was evacuated to the battalion aid station, where he died. Private
Sidney Godley took over and covered the fusilier retreat at the end of the battle but when it was his time to retreat he disabled the gun by throwing parts into the canal then surrendered. Dease and Godley were awarded the
Victoria Cross, the first awards of the First World War. An equally brave attempt was made by Captain
Theodore Wright of the Royal Engineers, who attempted to blow up five of the bridges that crossed the canal in a three-mile run. He managed to destroy the Jemappes pass but while setting up charges at Mariette he was struck in the head by a projectile fragment and had to retreat. Having retreated for a small while, he nonetheless tried again protected by the cover fire of the Northumberland Fusiliers. However, he slipped and fell in the canal, being saved by a comrade and forced to give up the whole endeavour. For this action he was also awarded a Victoria Cross. Wright would be killed in action the following month at
Vailly. To the right of the Royal Fusiliers, the 4th Battalion,
Middlesex Regiment and the 1st Battalion,
Gordon Highlanders, were equally hard-pressed by the German assault on the salient. Greatly outnumbered, both battalions suffered many casualties but with reinforcements from the
Royal Irish Regiment, from the divisional reserve and support from the divisional artillery, they managed to hold the bridges. The Germans expanded their attack, assaulting the British defences along the straight reach of the canal to the west of the salient. The Germans used the cover of
fir plantations that lined the northern side of the canal and advanced to within a few hundred yards of the canal, to rake the British with machine-gun and rifle fire. The German attack fell particularly heavily on the 1st Battalion,
Royal West Kent Regiment and the 2nd Battalion,
King's Own Scottish Borderers, which despite many casualties, repulsed the Germans throughout the day.
Retreat By the afternoon, the British position in the salient had become untenable; the 4th Middlesex had suffered casualties of and killed or wounded. To the east of the British position, units of the German IX Corps had begun to cross the canal in force, threatening the British right flank. At Nimy, Private
Oskar Niemeyer had swum across the canal under British fire to operate the machinery of a swing bridge to close it before he was killed. He re-opened the bridge and allowed the Germans to increase pressure against the 4th Royal Fusiliers. Having returned from Valenciennes, the British Commander-in-Chief, Sir John French, was still convinced that an advance could soon be made; by the 3rd Division was ordered to retire from the salient, to positions a short distance to the south of Mons and a similar retreat by the 5th Division was ordered near the evening to conform. By nightfall, II Corps had established a new defensive line running through the villages of Montrœul,
Boussu,
Wasmes, Paturages and
Frameries. The Germans had built pontoon bridges over the canal and were approaching the British positions in great strength. News had arrived that the Fifth Army was retreating, dangerously exposing the British right flank and at on 24 August, II Corps was ordered to retreat south-westwards into France, to reach defensible positions along the
Valenciennes–
Maubeuge road. French finally accepted that a swift retreat was necessary, else the consequences would be irreparable for the BEF. The unexpected order to retreat from prepared defences meant that II Corps was required to fight a number of sharp rearguard actions against the Germans. For the first stage of the withdrawal, Smith-Dorrien detailed the
15th Brigade of the 5th Division, which had not been involved in much fighting on 23 August, to act as rearguard. On 24 August they fought holding actions at Paturages, Frameries and Audregnies. During the engagement at Audregnies the 1st Battalions of the
Cheshire Regiment and
Norfolk Regiment halted the German advance from Quiévrain and Baisieux until the morning of 25 August, despite being outnumbered and suffering ruinous losses; with the support of the 5th Brigade artillery, they inflicted many casualties on the advancing German regiments. An evening roll call of the 1st Cheshire, that had not received a withdrawal order, indicated that their establishment had been reduced by almost 80 per cent. Their refusal to fall back without orders led Smith-Dorrien to later state that on reflection the 1st Cheshire together with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment had "saved the BEF". At Wasmes, elements of the 5th Division faced a big attack; German artillery began bombarding the village at dawn and at infantry of the German III Corps attacked. Advancing in columns, the Germans were immediately met with massed rifle and machine-gun fire and were "mown down like grass". For a further two hours, soldiers of the Northumberland Fusiliers, 1st
West Kent, 2nd Battalion,
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 2nd Battalion,
Duke of Wellington's Regiment and the 1st Battalion,
Bedfordshire Regiment, held off German attacks on the village, despite many casualties and then retreated in good order to St Vaast. On the extreme left of the British line, the
14th and 15th brigades of the 5th Division were threatened by a German outflanking move and were forced to call for help from the cavalry. The
2nd Cavalry Brigade, along with the 119th Battery
Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and
L Battery RHA, were sent to their aid. Dismounting, the cavalry and the two artillery batteries screened the withdrawal of the 14th and 15th brigades in four hours of intense fighting.
German 1st Army On 23 August, the 18th Division of IX Corps advanced and began to bombard the British defences near Maisières and St Denis. Part of the 35th Brigade, which contained large numbers of Danes from Northern Schleswig, got across the canal east of Nimy with few casualties and reached the railway beyond in the early afternoon but the attack on Nimy was repulsed. The 36th Brigade captured bridges at Obourg against determined resistance, after which the defenders of Nimy gradually withdrew; the bridges to the north were captured at and the town stormed. Quast ordered the 18th Division to take Mons and push south to Cuesmes and Mesvin. Mons was captured unopposed, except for a skirmish on the southern fringe and by dark, the 35th Brigade was near Cuesmes and Hyon. On higher ground to the east of Mons, the defence continued. On the front of the 17th Division, British cavalry withdrew from the canal crossings at Ville-sur-Haine and Thieu and the division advanced to the St Symphorien–St Ghislain road. At the divisional commander ordered an enveloping attack on the British east of Mons, who were pushed back after a stand on the Mons–Givry road. By reports from the IV, III and IX corps revealed that the British were in St Ghislain and at the canal crossings to the west, as far as the bridge at Pommeroeuil, with no troops east of Condé. Intelligence reports from 22 August, had noted heading through Dour towards Mons and on 23 August, had been seen on the road to Genlis south of Mons, with more troops arriving at Jemappes. To the north of Binche, the right flank division of the 2nd Army had been forced back to the south-west by British cavalry. In the early afternoon, the II Cavalry Corps reported that it had occupied the area of Thielt–Kortryk–Tournai during the night and forced back a French brigade to the south-east of Roubaix. With this report indicating that the right flank was clear of Allied troops, Kluck ordered III Corps to advance through St Ghislain and Jemappes on the right of IX Corps and for IV Corps to continue towards Hensies and Thulies; IV Corps was already attacking at the Canal du Centre, II Corps and IV Reserve Corps were following on behind the main part of the army. III Corps had to advance across meadows to an obstacle with few crossings, all of which had been destroyed. The 5th Division advanced towards Tertre on the right, which was captured but then the advance on the railway bridge was stopped by small-arms fire from across the canal. On the left flank, the division advanced towards a bridge north-east of Wasmuel and eventually managed to get across the canal against determined resistance, before turning towards St Ghislain and Hornu. As dark fell, Wasmuel was occupied and attacks on St Ghislain were repulsed by machine-gun fire, which prevented troops crossing the canal except at Tertre, where the advance was stopped for the night. The 6th Division was counter-attacked at Ghlin, before advancing towards higher ground south of Jemappes. The British in the village stopped the division with small-arms fire, except for small parties, who found cover west of a path from Ghlin to Jemappes. These isolated parties managed to surprise the defenders at the crossing north of the village, with the support of a few field guns around after which the village was captured. The rest of the division crossed the canal and began a pursuit towards Frameries and Ciply but stopped as dark fell. IV Corps arrived in the afternoon, as the 8th Division closed on Hensies and Thulin and the 7th Division advanced towards Ville-Pommeroeuil, where there were two canals blocking the route. The 8th Division encountered the British at the northernmost canal, west of Pommeroeuil and forced back the defenders but then were forced to stop in front of the second canal, under machine-gun fire from the south bank. The attack was suspended after night fell and the British blew the bridge. The 7th Division forced the British back from a railway embankment and over the canal, to the east of Pommeroeuil but was pushed back from the crossing. Small parties managed to cross by a footbridge built in the dark and protected repair parties at the blown bridge, which allowed troops to get across and dig in south of the canal, on either side of the road to Thulin. Late in the day, II Corps and IV Reserve Corps rested on their march routes at La Hamaide and Bierghes, after marching respectively, behind the front, too far behind to take part in the battle on 24 August. In the mid-afternoon of 23 August, IV Corps was ordered to rest, as reports from the front suggested that the British defence had been overcome and the 1st Army headquarters wanted to avoid the army converging on Maubeuge, leaving the right (western) flank vulnerable. In the evening, Kluck cancelled the instruction, after reports from IX Corps reporting that its observation aircraft had flown over a column long, moving towards Mons along the Malplaquet road. Two more columns were seen on the Malplaquet–Genly and the Quevy–Genly roads, a large force was seen near Asquillies and cavalry was found further east, which showed that most of the BEF was opposite the 1st Army. It was considered vital that the second canal crossings were captured along the line, as had been achieved by IX Corps and part of III Corps. IV Corps was ordered to resume its march and move the left wing towards Thulin but it was already engaged at the canal crossings. The III and IX Corps' attack during the day, had succeeded against "a tough, nearly invisible enemy" but the offensive had to continue, because it appeared that only the right flank of the army could get behind the BEF. The situation remained unclear at the 1st Army headquarters in the evening, because communication with the other right flank armies had been lost and only fighting near Thuin by VII Corps, the right-flank unit of the 2nd Army, had been reported. Kluck ordered that the attack was to continue on 24 August, past the west of Maubeuge and that II Corps would catch up behind the right flank of the army. IX Corps was to advance to the east of
Bavay, III Corps was to advance to the west of the village, IV Corps was to advance towards Warnies-le-Grand further to the west and II Cavalry Corps was to head towards Denain, to cut off the British retreat. During the night there were several British counter-attacks but none of the German divisions was forced back over the canal. At dawn IX Corps resumed its advance and pushed forwards against rearguards until the afternoon, when it stopped the advance due to uncertainty about the situation on its left flank and the proximity of Maubeuge. At cavalry reports led Quast to resume the advance, which was slowed by the obstacles of Maubeuge and III Corps congesting the roads. On III Corps' front to the west, the 6th Division attacked Frameries at dawn, which held out until and then took La Bouverie and Pâturages, after which the British began to retreat; the division turned west towards Warquignies and the 5th Division. St Ghislain had been attacked by the 5th Division behind an artillery barrage, where the 10th Brigade had crossed the canal and taken the village in house-to-house fighting, then reached the south end of Hornu. A defensive line had been established by the British along the Dour–Wasmes railway, which stopped the German advance and diverted the 9th Brigade until when the British withdrew. The German infantry were exhausted and stopped the pursuit at Dour and Warquignies. During the day Kluck sent liaison officers to the corps headquarters, stressing that the army should not converge on Maubeuge but pass to the west, ready to envelop the British left (west) flank. IV Corps' headquarters had ordered its divisions to attack over the canal at dawn but found that the British had blown the bridges and withdrawn. Repairs took until and the 8th Division did not reach
Quiévrain until noon; the 7th Division reached the railway at Thuin during the morning and then took Élouges late in the afternoon. As the 8th Division moved on, the vanguard was ambushed by British cavalry before an advance to Valenciennes could begin and then attacked a British rearguard at Baisieux, which then slipped away to Audregnies. The rest of the division skirmished with French Territorials south-west of Baisieux. The IV Corps' attack forced back rearguards but inflicted no serious damage, having been slowed by the bridge demolitions at the canals. The cavalry divisions had advanced towards Denain and the had defeated troops of the French 88th Territorial Division at Tournai and then reached Marchiennes, after a skirmish with the 83rd Territorial Division near Orchies.
Air operations German air reconnaissance detected British troops on 21 August, advancing from Le Cateau to Maubeuge and on 22 August from Maubeuge to Mons, as other sources identified halting places. Poor communication and lack of systematic direction of air operations led to the assembly of the BEF from Condé to Binche being unknown to the Germans on British reconnaissance flights had begun on 19 August with two
sorties and two more on 20 August, which reported no sign of German troops. Fog delayed flights on 21 August but in the afternoon German troops were seen near Kortrijk and three villages were reported to be burning. Twelve reconnaissance sorties were flown on 22 August and reported many German troops closing in on the BEF, especially troops on the Brussels–
Ninove road, which indicated an enveloping manoeuvre. One British aircraft was shot down and a British observer became the first British soldier to be wounded while flying. By the evening, French was able to discuss with his commanders the German dispositions, near the BEF, that had been provided by aircraft observation, the strength of the German forces, that the Sambre had been crossed and that an encircling move by the Germans from
Geraardsbergen was possible. During the battle on 23 August, the aircrews flew behind the battlefield looking for troop movements and German artillery batteries. ==Aftermath==