The angel of Mons - David Clarke

The officer suddenly came up to us in a state of great anxiety and asked us if we had seen anything startling ... he then pointed to the sky ... I could see quite clearly in midair a strange light ... and I could distinctly see three shapes, the one in the centre having what looked like outspread wings. World War I veteran Long after the war is over, and the facts of it have been recorded in histories, one of the most widely known events will be the appearance of St George and his angelwarriors in the defence of the British during the retreat from Mons. We say "known"; because posterity will "know" that the Saint came down. People "know" it already. The papers are full of the occurrence, and the testimony pours in from all sides. The Times Literary Supplement , 19 August 1915 The Angel of Mons is one of the bestknown legends of twentiethcentury warfare but the mystery remains. Did British soldiers really see angels, saints and bowmen leading them against the Germans? Or were the stories the result of hallucinations experienced by battleweary men, carefully planted propaganda or simply the misinterpretation of a short story in a London evening newspaper? David Clarke, an expert in supernatural belief and folklore, investigates the facts behind the legend.