St Symphorien Military Cemetery,Mons, Belgium. February 2014 The cemetery contains British,German and Commonwealth WW1 dead.
St Symphorien Military Cemetery,Mons, Belgium. February 2014 The cemetery contains British and Commonwealth WW1 dead who lie under white headstones, the German dead are under grey granite headstones. Both friend and foe are buried together in the same cemetery. The cemetery at St. Symphorien was established by the German Army in August 1914 as the final resting place for British and German soldiers who were killed at the Battle of Mons. Among those buried here is Private John Parr of the Middlesex Regiment who was fatally wounded during an encounter with a German patrol two days before the battle, thus becoming the first British soldier to be killed in action on the Western Front. The cemetery remained in German hands until the end of the war and also contains the graves of Commonwealth and German soldiers who were killed in the final days of the conflict, including George Ellison of the Royal Irish Lancers and George Price of the Canadian Infantry. Ellison and Price were killed on November 11, 1918 and are believed to be the last Commonwealth casualties of the First World War. In total, there are 284 German and 230 Commonwealth casualties buried in this site. The Battle of Mons There were several clashes between small British and German units on the afternoon of 22 August and by that evening the men of II Corps under General Smith-Dorrien had taken up defensive positions along the Mons-Condé Canal in preparation for a major German attack expected to come from the north the next day. The opening shots of the Battle of Mons were fired at dawn on the morning of Sunday 23 August, as the men of the 4th Middlesex Regiment repulsed German cavalry who were attempting to the cross the canal via the bridge at Obourg. During the first hours of the battle, the weather was misty and wet and the British were still uncertain of the numbers of enemy units massed on the far side of the canal.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: St Symphorien Cemetery, Mons, Belgium
Photo credit: © BRIAN HARRIS / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1917, battlefield, belgium, brian, carnage, cemetery, ellison, fallen, george, great, harris, hero, honor, honour, john, landscape, mons, parr, place, resting, st, symphorien, trees, war, world, ww1
