Memorial 4th Battalion Royal Fusiliers Nimy

Commemorative plaque along the towpath to the railway bridge at Nimy, with the following inscription:
«To the glorious memory of the Officers, NCO and men of the 4th BN Royal Fusiliers who held this sector of the British Front in the defence of the town of Mons. August 23/8/14. This memorial marks the M.G. position where the first V.C.’s awarded during the war 14-18 were gained by Lt M.J. DEASE and Pte S.F. GODLEY».

On 23 August 1914, the Mons salient, formed by the canal around the city, was a week point in the British defences during the Battle of Mons. It was here that the first two British heroes of the Great War would emerge.
At the Nimy rail bridge, Lieutenant Maurice James Dease and Private Sidney Frank Godley of the 4th Battalion The Royal Fusiliers fought with exemplary courage. They were both members of a machine-gun company that was ordered to cover the retreat of their battalion during the afternoon of 23 August 1914. Although wounded, Lieutenant Dease maintained fire as his comrades were killed around him. He was finally evacuated from the battlefield and died of his wounds. Private Godley, the last remaining soldiers, took over the machine gun and maintained fire until he was seriously wounded, whereupon he summoned his last reserves of strength and dismantled the weapon, throwing its parts into the canal so that they would not fall into the hands of the enemy, before being taken prisoner.
Both were awarded the Victoria Cross, Dease posthumously, whereas Godley survived the War. They ware the first soldiers to be awarded the VC, the highest British military honour, in the First World War. Their bravery is commemorated by a plaque unveiled on 9 April 1939. Maurice Dease is buried at Saint-Symphorien military cemetery.

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Source

• Text: Luc Van Waeyenberge & Informatiebord
• Photos: Luc Van Waeyenberge