British Empire Memorial to the two Battles of Mons

The two Mons battles of August 1914 and November 1918 are the first and last confrontations between the forces of the British Empire during the First World War. Bergen therefore becomes an important memorial site for the British Expeditionary Force and more generally for the population of the British Empire.

To commemorate the memory of the British soldiers who took part in these two battles and of the Canadian soldiers who fought in November 1918, this monument, the work of the Bergen architect Edmond Bertiaux, was unveiled on October 11, 1952. Winston Churchill wrote the English text that was engraved on it. King Baudouin of Belgium, Field Marshal Alexander of Tunis, British Minister of Defense, and the Mayor of Mons, Victor Maistriau, attended the solemn dedication.

The pedestal contains an urn in a reliquary. It contains soil taken from the graves of every British and Canadian soldier who died during the First or Second Battle of Mons.

The monument first stood in the park around the belfry, but was demolished in 1984 to move it and was re-inaugurated here, at "La Bascule", on August 23, 1986. This place was not chosen at random as this intersection is a an important strategic location during the battle of August 1914. This area was defended by the 4th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and the 2nd Royal Irish Regiment, and was heavily bombed by the Germans in August 1914 during the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force.