[SIR A. CONAN DOYLE AND THE BATTLE OF MONS]
In March 1915 Sir A. Conan Doyle gave an address on “The Great Battles of the War,” in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, to a vast and enthusiastic assemblage. The following extract from the Scotsman of the next morning refers to the Munsters:—
Sir Arthur, commencing with the Battle of Mons, pointed out that there the real impact of the German army fell upon two Brigades of the British. It was true that the British had fallen back from the defence of a peninsular sweep of the canal, which created “a dangerous salient” regarded from the outset as tactically indefensible; but, when the British Commander-in-Chief received from the French the fateful telegram which compelled his retirement, the battle was in a state in which it was difficult to say who had won and who had lost. The outstanding incidents in the masterly-conducted retreat were finely told—the forced marches of the fatigued troops, “who had the depression of defeat without understanding why they had to retire”; the heroic rearguard actions fought, notably by the Cheshires, the Gordons, and the Munsters; the saving of the guns by the 9th Lancers; the hopeless odds which General Smith-Dorrien encountered of three to one in men and six to one in artillery, and the dauntless defence by the remnant of L Battery. It was one of the misfortunes of a widespread action, he said, that it was very difficult to keep in touch with all units; they never knew what might become of their messengers. Three times in the course of the Mons retreat, first in the case of the Cheshires, then the Gordons, and thirdly the Munsters, regiments were left without orders. Messengers were shot down, and orders to retire never reached these gallant units, which fought on and on, long after their comrades had retired, until, utterly exhausted in strength and material, the remnants had to surrender. If ever in the world surrender was justifiable, he remarked, it was under these circumstances. In the case of the Cheshires, the Gordons, and the Munsters, the same thing happened, showing that great attention should be paid to the point as to how far troops lying at a distance should be notified as to what was going on.
Letter from Lieutenant-Colonel G. J. Ryan D.S.O., to a Friend
Yes, disaster again, eight of our best officers, including those you knew—Thomson, Durand, Day, O’Brien and Pemberton—killed while gallantly leading their men; three others, including the Colonel, wounded, and two hundred men killed and wounded. A sad story when we think of those, but a story, too, of bravery and endurance.
I will first tell you briefly what occurred, and then go on to give details which you will want to hear. The First Division marched at one hour’s notice, at 6.30 p.m., on the night of Sunday, December 20th, lay down for three hours before dawn, marched out at dawn on 21st, a halt at 9 a.m. in heavy rain and cold for breakfast, and on again.
The leading Brigade deployed at 2 o’clock for an attack in relief of the Indian Division. The Third Brigade followed, and were put in first after 2 p.m., the Welsh Regiment and the Gloucesters, supported by the Munsters and the South Wales Borderers. By dusk the Munsters were taken from support, and put out to the right to fill a gap between the Gloucesters and the next Brigade of the Division.