Angels of Mons

[StefanM]

Does anyone have any period postcards illustrating "The Angels of Mons" or any related items regarding Angelic intercession on battlefields throughout history?

[Scout]

Sorry no items of that sort, but I did see a lot of blokes getting religion very suddenly, when someone started lobbing shells at us on one occasion, if that counts

Looking forward to seeing any items/artifacts.

[Wagriff]

Very strange phenomenon, the Angel of Mons. Seen by both sides too, but oddly differing accounts.

[HARRY THE MOLE]

I have no cards or images, but I do have a first edition copy of the book which started the legend. The original story of the 'angels' first appeared in the London Evening Standard as a fictional story in September 1914. It was then published again in 1915 in a book called... THE BOWMEN,AND OTHER LEGENDS OF THE WAR. The author was a gentleman by the name of Arthur Machin.

When the story came out about angels helping the British troops at Mons, Arthur Machine tried to tell people that the story was a work of fiction - and nobody would listen to him. Inside my copy are stuck several newspaper cuttings from that time, including an account from a soldier who claimed to have seen the angels. Even to this day there are people who believed this event actually happened.

[StefanM]

Apparently "the eminent British war historian, A.J.P. Taylor, wrote as late as 1963 of his conviction of the veracity of the Angel of Mons' 'supernatural intervention on the British side."

[Scout]

Interesting to read about Arthur Machen and how the 'Bowmen' story snowballed in spite of Machen's constant denial of it being anything else than a short invented story of his.

[Nigel Lesgate]

Is it possible they were all swacked on the same batch of morphine....or maybe Absynthe?

[HARRY THE MOLE]

It may have just been a case of the British trying to prove that God was on their side. The introduction to the original copy of the book extends to 22 pages as Mr Machin tries to explain the origins of the story and how it changed. He is at pains to point out that... "There is not one atom of evidence (so far) to support the current stories of the angels of Mons. For, be it remarked, these stories are specific stories. They rest on the second, third, fourth, fifth hand stories told by a 'soldier,' by an 'officer,' by a 'Catholic correspondent,' by 'a nurse,' by any number of anonymous people."

People believe what they want to believe. I have heard that there is actually a website specifically for believers of this nonsense. The only thing that saved the British army at Mons was their supreme skills at musketry, the Short, Magazine Lee Enfield No1 Mk 111 and the ability of every infantryman to be able to do the 'mad minute.'

[stuka f]

Search here;
Delcampe Auctions - buy & sell collectibles, postcards, coins, rare stamps, paper money, old paper, antiques & more
|<ris

[Gunny Hartmann]

It may have just been a case of the British trying to prove that God was on their side. The introduction to the original copy of the book extends to 22 pages as Mr Machin tries to explain the origins of the story and how it changed. He is at pains to point out that... "There is not one atom of evidence (so far) to support the current stories of the angels of Mons. For, be it remarked, these stories are specific stories. They rest on the second, third, fourth, fifth hand stories told by a 'soldier,' by an 'officer,' by a 'Catholic correspondent,' by 'a nurse,' by any number of anonymous people."

People believe what they want to believe. I have heard that there is actually a website specifically for believers of this nonsense. The only thing that saved the British army at Mons was their supreme skills at musketry, the Short, Magazine Lee Enfield No1 Mk 111 and the ability of every infantryman to be able to do the 'mad minute.'

Steve it's good to see you back mate!....