WWI Trilogy

Navigating the Heartache WWI Brings

the capture of Mons

The Capture of Mons: Town Liberated on the Final Day of the War

May 27, 2016 By Melina Druga Off

The capture of Mons, Belgium, took place November 11, 1918.  It was part of the Hundred Days Offensive, Allied attacks forcing the German Army into defeat.

The nations involved were Canada and Germany.

“The Germans had occupied the town for four years,” Encyclopedia Britannica says. “Mons was a regional centre for coal mining, and its resources had been used throughout the war to fuel Germany’s war effort. Recapturing Mons now, at the end of the war, was of huge symbolic importance to the Allies.”

Major Battle Events

  • The Canadian Corps was ordered to take the city of Mons, which had been under German occupation for the entire war.
  • The village of Valenciennes was taken on Nov. 9.
  • The Canadians planned to take the city without destroying it; however, they were met with constant German machine gun fire.
  • Within hours the city was liberated, and citizens poured out onto the streets to welcome their liberators.
  • The city was captured on the same day as the Armistice. The majority of the fighting was over by the time the news reached the troops.

End Result

Canadian casualties totaled 280.

The penultimate Allied soldier to die in the war was Canadian Private George Price. He was killed by a sniper at Mons two minutes before Armistice.

Where to Purchase the WWI Trilogy

This post is a companion piece to Melina Druga’s WWI Trilogy: Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year.  The trilogy focuses on Hettie and her family as they navigate the challenges and heartbreak World War I brings.

Angel of Mercy:  A nurse reluctantly sacrifices her career for marriage. An impending war will change her, and her husband’s, life forever.  Available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.  Click here for a full list of retailers.

Those Left Behind:  The brewing winds of war will soon rip the family apart. Available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.  Click here for a full list of retailers.

Adjustment Year:  A war nurse returns home. Society expects her to carry on as if the Great War never happened. But how can she?  Available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.  Click here for a full list of retailers.

CategoryGreat War Battles
TagsCanadian Expeditionary Force

About The Author

Melina Druga writes about the past because although school history classes may have been boring, the past was not.  Her era of expertise, and obsession, is 1890-1920 with a particular focus on the Great War and how it affected the lives of ordinary people.  Druga is the author of the WWI Trilogy.