How one Machine Gun held up the German Army (WW1 Documentary)

on the 23rd of August 1914 after hours of brutal fighting hundreds of German soldiers converged from all directions on a bruised and bleeding Soldier Manning a bullet riddled machine gun the last of the rear guard of the British expeditionary force that man private Sydney Godley and the many Fallen comrades who lay nearby had performed the impossible and checked the mighty schen plan this is the story of the battle of mons so how did the British find themselves in Belgium in the summer of 1914 w

ell it's an often told and fairly complex story but in short ever since the assassination of arch Duke France Ferdinand in Saro that June Europe had been set on a path for War the British at first had been unsure whether to commit but all that changed when in early August the Germans launched their famous schen plan in its most simp simple form German High command knew that if a major war was declared in Europe they would likely end up fighting on two fronts against both the French and Russians

desperate to avoid this at all costs the schen plan was born an attempt to destroy the French in just 6 weeks before then turning their entire military might eastwards to engage the Russians this plan meant attacking the French from both East and North including through neutral Belgium and because Britain had guaranteed belg neutrality when that attack came she too was bound to join the fight that's why in early August a small but highly professional Army known as the British expeditionary force

would cross the English Channel to take up the fight let's take a look at the bef in truth that early force was perilously small at just 100,000 men commanded by field Marshal Sir John French it was split into two core the first under General Sir Douglas hay and the second under General sorus Lockwood Smith Dorian the main fighting in the battle to come and so our Focus for this video would be by the men of the third infantry division of the second core more specifically two battalions who woul

d hold the point of greatest Danger first is the fourth Battalion middle sex regiment a pre-war regular army battalion raised mainly from the London area affectionately known as the die hards after a famous episode in the peninsula War when the badly wounded commander of the then 57th famously shouted Die Hard 57th die hard as the men Advanced into the attack a reputation they would continue to deserve in the Great War in the same division's ninth Brigade were the fourth Battalion Royal fusers a

nother london-based unit with a formidable reputation amongst their ranks in 1914 was Lieutenant Maurice de a 24-year-old professional soldier from a wealthy family in County West meth Ireland he joined the army in 19 1909 and on the outbreak of War commanded the machine gun section of the fourth fusers under his command was one private Sydney Godly born in Sussex but raised in London he' worked for an iron monger before joining the Army in 1910 and was de had once said that Godly was the least

technically proficient soldier in his section he certainly made up for it in sheer determination Sid had celebrated his 25th birthday 3 days after arriving in France just a final quick point about British infantry in 1914 it was by most estimates man Forman the best trained infantry force in the world as Europe's only entirely professional Army other nations employing conscription the bef prided itself on Marksmanship fieldcraft and resilience in the fight that said it was in 1914 a pitifully sm

all Force especially when we consider what was coming its way those approaching enemy formed part of the German first Army under General Alexander Von cluck thus far they had only been lightly opposed and now as they descended from the north with more than 375,000 men they were about to run into the unsuspecting bef in Truth by the time the British arrived in Mainland Europe in reasonable numbers the situation was already desperate those early German moves had shattered the Belgian national redo

ut system capturing Lia and Brussels and driving the Belgian field Army towards ANP with the route ahead clear the sidethe of the schen plan could swing southwards to envelop the French from the north at about the same time the British were advancing to join the fight but unsure of where the enemy was and in what strength so John French decided to head for Brussels it was whilst on that march on the night of the 22nd of August everything changed learning that the French army on his right flank h

ad been smashed that day at the Battle of shalawa and that they were falling back under tremendous pressure he was left with a difficult choice if he with with Drew his forces the German Army would envelop the entire Allied position falling on the open French flank and destroying them in detail if on the other hand the British held their ground they themselves risk being outflanked and annihilated in their very first fight the only option was to deal a checking blow to the enemy holding long eno

ugh for the French to withdraw but not so long that they themselves would be surrounded it was a very difficult task and for very high stakes despite the risks Sir John committed to hold the enemy right here near the little known town of moss for a period of 24 hours let's take a closer look the area he would hold covered this 16m stretch of the west east running mons con Canal an industrial Waterway serving the coal mining industry that dominated this part of Belgium anchoring his defenses on t

he southern side he aimed to deploy his forces to check the enemy Advance at key points along his Frontage with 18 Bridges Crossing crossing the canal he had hoped to destroy them all but in the rush to prepare not enough explosives could be found and so several key Crossing points remained the major risk though and our Focus was to be found on the right of the British line in this area known as the nimi Salient moving in closer we can understand why it was so dangerous here the canal made a dis

tinctive curve between the village of oberg for about 2 mil to the Village of nimi in the west here the shape of the canal itself meant that the approaching Germans could attack from multiple directions forcing a crossing and Advance through monz itself into the open ground Beyond we should remember that the men given the task of defending this area were already very tired when they arrived at M having marched 20 miles each day in scorching summer weather just to reach the town with the men of t

he royal fusers captured in this famous photo in the Old Town Square shortly before moving down to the canal let's take a look at their positions given the job of holding the left or western part of the nimi salent with the fourth Royal fusers here the troops moved up to the houses along the southern edge of the canal where they began occupying Gardens and hedg lines knocking loopholes in walls and buildings each with line of sight over the canal the key danger point was here the nimi rail Bridg

e as a heavy Goods Crossing which would allow the passage of artillery it was essential for the Germans to capture it and much easier than crossing the 60ft wide canal which by the way was about half as narrow as it is today because of this the fusers had cited their only two Vicor Maxim machine guns either side of the bridge to defend its approaches amongst those men were liutenant de and Sydney Godley who hurriedly built up a barricade of Co sacks to offer at least some protection from enemy f

ire a little further down and also of concern was an old-fashioned swing bridge in the middle of the canal one of the first actions of the Defenders was to close it to block off any Crossing from this direction holding the right side of the nimi Salan with their defenses anchored around the rail station at the Village of obber were the men of the fourth middle sex They too had a precarious position to hold not only did they need to defend another Bridge Crossing right here but they also had a la

rgely open right flank defended only by a thin screen of infantry on the edge of this wood line one key point in this sector was the railway station building itself which occupied this spot on the roof of which the best Marksman of the Battalion had been placed by the early hours of the 23rd of August in mist and light rain The Defenders were in place and peered across the canal for the first sight of the advancing enemy somewhat surprisingly the Germans had very little idea that the British wer

e in front of them when they emerged to begin their Advance around 8:00 a.m. watching on from the loop hold walls house windows and the roof of oberg station the the die hards held their fire as the enemy Drew closer 23-year-old Lance corporal Alfred Vivien recalled the following moments a solid fance Advanced Upon Our defenses in massed formation from the wood it was an a inspiring spectacle we were ordered to hold fire until they were 50 yards from the Canal bank then the order came the solid

looking field gray war was blasted Away by the hail that leapt at them no troops on Earth could to face that murderous blast and resisted they were completely shattered and thrown back to their starting point the shock of that ferocious first blow wouldn't last and quickly regrouping the German Advance began again this time with far more caution and under the cover of a withering fire from machine guns on the far Bank of the canal over the next hour the Germans advanced again and again each time

being repulsed with huge losses but also taking a heavy toll on the Defenders by 10:00 a.m. a.m. the German artillery had arrived beyond the woods to the north and added to the crack and Buzz of bullets with the explosions of 77 mm shells which slammed into the occupied buildings and further dwindled The Defenders numbers despite that ever increasing fire the middle sex held on checking every attempt to cross the canal and Advance through oberg the situation though changed around midday when mo

re German troops working to the east of obber found an unopposed passage across the canal and pouring through in tens then hundreds and eventually thousands they soon brushed aside the thin Skirmish line guarding the middle sex's right flank by 12:30 the situation at oberg was desperate hit now by fire from front and flank it was clear that the defense couldn't hold but to abandon those positions would allow the Germans to rush the bridge and swarm The Defenders a delaying action was needed the

exact sequence of what followed is unclear but it is known that at least one man positioned on the station roof volunteered to stay behind his accurate fire and stubborn resistance held the Germans at Bay for a few vital minutes whilst his comrades withdrew eventually that last resistance was crushed when a salvo of artillery destroyed the station building and the lone Marksman who had fought to the last today the sight of that building and the story of the Unknown Soldier who gave his life here

in August 1914 is commemorated by a plaque erected by the local population and recalling those events by the time the middle section got clear of oberg and began yet another holding action to prevent the British flank from being rolled up another bitter fight was underway 2 miles away at nimi the first Germans had appeared across the canal in this sector around 10:30 a.m. a little later than oberg though the sounds of that fight made it clear to the waiting Defenders exactly what was approachin

g here on the southern end of the nimi rail Bridge Lieutenant de readied his men his two machine guns were by now well in place with strong fields of fire but also very exposed either side of him were Rifleman waiting for the first enemy to come into view just before 11:00 a.m. the battle opened but this time there was no surprise artillery Machine Gun and Rifle fire swept the defender positions as the first Rush was made at the bridge directing his machine guns into action liutenant D put them

immediately to deadly use under a withering on fire the first attack failed leaving a scattering of men at the far end of the bridge but their positions now clear the Germans brought a hail of fire down onto de and his men over the next 90 minutes a fierce Jewel broke out in which both sides took heavy losses but with those two machine guns still in action and Riflemen firing all along the canal the enemy still couldn't make the much needed breakthrough the finally balanced battle would finally

begin to swing in the Germans favor when one of the two imp placed guns on the bridge riddled with bullets and with its crew killed or wounded was put out of action considerably diminishing the return Fire by now The Riflemen to were perilously low on ammunition and with ever more enemy appearing on the far side of the canal and no sign of the middle sex to their right the situation was Dire it was clear that the fusers couldn't hold and yet another Last Stand was required to save the remnants o

f the Battalion it was then that de and Godly step forward volunteering to cover the withdrawal at about this very time a few hundred yards further down the canal the Germans were mustering for another attack unable to cross here as the swing Bridge had been closed and with the controls to open it on the British side of the canal one man musketeer Oscar neire stepped forward plunging into the canal under constant rifle fire he swam to The Far Side climbed up and single-handedly wound the bridge

round locking it open in place at the very moment of victory that brave German Soldier fell dead but crucially a new route across the canal had been secured back at the rail Bridge the writing was on the wall as the last few men slipped away to the South leftenant de limping and bleeding from a leg wound settled behind the last remaining machine gun with private Godly by his side now the Germans had only one single Target left on the bank and a murderous fire was poured onto the gun from all dir

ections oblivious to the hail of lead striking around him de fired on being hit in the abdomen neck and a glancing shot to the Head incredibly he kept firing until struck in the chest he slumped dead over his gun with Germans now just yards away to his front and right private Godly took over traversing the gun and pouring a stream of bullets into the attackers he held the advanced refug few more minutes being wounded in the head in the process perilously low on ammunition he fought on with a she

ll exploding directly behind him and lodging a chunk of shrapnel in his back bleeding profusely alone and exhausted he fired his final rounds in then a last Act of defiance removed the firing pins from his gun staggered a few yards forward and threw them into the canal before collapsing not far from his Fallen officer The Bravery of De Godly and many other men whose names today are forgotten allowed the fusers to live to fight another day over the next few hours The Battered but unbroken men of

the bef made a fighting withdrawal through the town of monz itself eventually Breaking Free of the enemy to begin a withdrawal that would go down in history as the great Retreat the Battle of M was over today those visiting this remarkable Battlefield of the first first world war have many moving sights to see standing beneath the rail bridge at nimi is this plaque commemorating the heroism of leftenant De and private Godly the first two men to receive the Victoria Cross in the Great War de woul

dn't live to know it dying of his wounds just a few yards from where this plaque lies but Godly would against all expectation months after the action it was found that private Godly had not died that day at nimi rbridge but had been taken prisoner and brought back from the brink of death by German doctors he remained a prisoner until November 198 and eventually returned home to receive his VC from the king at Buckingham Palace in February 1919 Sid Godley died in June 1957 age 67 perhaps the most

powerful of all places to visit on the battlefield today can be found right here at sanoria military cemetery not far from monz this unique location is the burial place of many of those British and German alike who fought and fell here in August 1914 amongst them is Oscar neire the former Gardener from slesvig Holstein who earned Fame amongst his comrades on the banks of the canal that day in the same Cemetery lies Maurice de whose own bravery on the same Battlefield is remembered to this day i

n a strange twist of fate buried directly behind the First Victoria Cross recipient of the first world war lies George Leonard price killed at 10:55 a.m. on the 11th of November 1918 the last Commonwealth serviceman to fall on the Western Front thanks for watching if you enjoyed this video why not check out our look at the final minutes of the war on the Western Front and for those who enjoy podcasts there's not so quiet on the Western Front where each week myself and historian Dr Spencer Jones

explore many of the fascinating and controversial aspects of the Great War that's all this time we'll see you again soon