Hello Dear Friend,
This week, I am writing this from Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden, North Wales. It is a magical place, set in grounds full of mature trees and statues, almost a mini Hogwarts, but for writers and researchers rather than wizards, and in the background the church bells chime the quarters and the hour.
There is a wonderful Theology section in the library which I am working my way through looking for information and inspiration regarding Angels, and this week’s letter has been inspired by my searches.
The Angel of Mons
Picture the scene, it was the 22-23-24 of August 1914, during the first major battle of the First World War, at Mons, in Belgium. The English troops were heavily outnumbered by the Germans, and in retreat, suffering large casualties (on both sides, it must be said). But then…
Well, no one really knows what happened.
The British Expeditionary Forces as the soldiers were known then, escaped from the overwhelming German forces, some say, aided by supernatural intervention.
The Witness
There was, apparently, a witness…
George S. Hazelhurst, Justice of the Peace for the county of Flint, North Wales, had heard rumours that a certain soldier was going about claiming to have been at Mons and seen the Angels, a soldier who “frequently spoke to his friends in the canteen of what he had seen at Mons.”
Suddenly a vision came between them and the German cavalry
Hazelhurst decided that he must find the man who had seen the Angels of Mons. He found him at Kinmel Park in the county of Flint and wrote about it to the Daily Mail on 24 August 1915:
“He said that things were at the blackest with our troops and if it had not been for this supernatural intervention they would have been annihilated. The men were in retreat and lying down behind small tufts of grass for cover. Suddenly a vision came between them and the German cavalry. He described it as ‘a flash.’ I asked him if the Angels were mounted or winged. He could say no more than that it appeared as ‘a flash.’ The cavalry horses rushed in all directions and were disorganized; the charge frittered away.”
Hazelhurst had him swear to this effect:
“I, Robert Cleaver, (No.10515), a private in the 1st Cheshire Regiment, of his Majesty’s Army, make oath and say as follows: That I personally was at Mons and saw the vision of angels with my own eyes – Robert Cleaver.”
The Spiritualist magazine Light, described this as “striking confirmation.” Harold Begbie printed Private Cleaver’s story as a factual account alongside others in his On the Side of the Angels (1915)
Did Robert Cleaver really see the Angels of Mons? Hazelhurst wanted to double-check if he had really been there. The 1st Cheshire Regiment, amongst others, had definitely been there at the battle.
The casualties were enormous - of the 25 officers and 952 other ranks of the 1st Battalion engaged in the battle, only 7 officers and 200 other ranks remained alive – only 40 men remained unwounded.
Hazelhurst wrote to the Regimental HQ of the Cheshire Regiment to check the details, Major Hicks replied that Cleaver had been mobilized in Chester on 22 August 1914 and sent with a draft to the 1st Battalion, the Cheshire Regiment, in France on 6 September 1914. He was sent back to Britain on sick leave on 8 December 1914.
So, he was not there, and could not have seen the Angels of Mons.
But why has this story stayed alive for so long?
The Bowmen of Agincourt
It all comes down to a short story written by Arthur Machen, titled The Bowmen. It was published in The Evening News on 29 September 1914, just over a month after the battle of Mons. The story can be found here, there is an introduction by Machen first, followed by the story from p35.
The story is told of a soldier who calls upon St George for help, St George calls up the ghosts of the archers of Agincourt, who loosed their arrows at the German soldiers, halting the advance and allowing the British forces to escape.
It was published as a news piece, without the clarification that it was a short story and completely fictitious. As you can imagine, it had quite an impact. A lot of people believed the tale, and it was cited in many different magazines and newspapers as truth. There were reputedly eye-witness accounts, similar to that of Private Cleaver, although none were attributed to a named soldier. The idea that St George and the archers, or a mist of angels, which was another variation of the tale, had come to the rescue of British Forces, added weight to the war effort. It added the inference that the British Forces were on the side of right, of good, and were, by extension, doing God’s work.
A Final Chapter in the Story
You would think that this story would no longer be of interest, so many years have passed, and so much of the story has been debunked.
But, in 2001, an article in The Sunday Times claimed that a diary, film and photographic evidence had been found, belonging to a soldier named William Doige, proving the Angels of Mons were real. The article told the tale of Doige and an American GI, who years later saw an angel at Woodchester Mansion. The footage and evidence was reputedly found in a trunk in an antique shop in Monmouth by Danny Sullivan.
But…
In 2002, in a BBC Radio Documentary, The Making of an Urban Myth, Danny Sullivan admitted that it was all a hoax and that the evidence and the soldier were complete fiction, to create interest in Woodchester mansion, a Gothic Revival Mansion House in Gloucestershire. The mansion has been the subject of many ghost-hunting shows and is also used as a location in many TV and film productions, including Dracula (BBC, 2006), The Crown, and His Dark Materials. So maybe the hoax achieved its end result after all.
Strange that this story started with fiction, and has been perpetuated the same way. I think it feeds into our innate need to feel protected by our guardian angels, and our loved ones who have passed into the spirit world.
There were many supposed ‘eye-witness’ statements made after the battle of Mons, why were they never attributed to anyone? It could be that the soldiers were scared of being ridiculed, or thought of as insane… Or, it could be that the whispers of the accounts were drummed up in an attempt to create some positive propaganda about the war, to encourage more men to enlist and fight on the side of God and the Angels.
What are your thoughts?
Until next time, as ever, may your angels and guides watch over you and protect you until we meet again.
Love and Light,
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Links:
AngelsInTheTrenches.com - The Soldier Who Saw the Angels of Mons
Archive.org - The Angels Of Mons: The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War
HistorySkills.com - The Angels of Mons. Divine intervention or war propaganda?
HistoryHub.info - The Angel of Mons: From Myth to ‘Fact’
Wikipedia - The Angels of Mons
Woodchester Mansion - Wikipedia page
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Fascinating research Tracy! Can’t wait to hear what else you’ve been digging into at the library.