It was at Mons, Belgium that the British Army first confronted German forces in August 1914. The enemy advance was checked for one day, and the British then retreated in good order. The area remained under German occupation for more than four years. In November 1918, however, the Allies were driving the enemy back. The Canadian Corps, then in the final stages of its participation in the First World War, was assigned the task of liberating Mons. The attack began on November 10th, and the city was taken by dawn of the following day.
At St. Symphorien, a village on the eastern outskirts of Mons, a strange and touching incident occurred. Soldiers of the 29th Battalion encountered a shy little Belgian girl who, having heard the troops singing, remarked in French that she knew an English song. She was asked to sing it, and after some coaxing proceeded to do so. The song was "Tipperary", and the soldiers were amazed to find a child knowing this famous army ditty in territory that had so long been under German control. Overcoming her shyness, the girl told how, years before, some English soldiers had stayed at her house and had taught her the song. When the men were leaving they told her to remember the song because they would return some day and ask her to sing it. The Canadians, of course, wore what were essentially British uniforms, and to the child they represented the soldiers who had paused at Mons in August 1914.
Although Inglis Sheldon-Williams (1870-1940) was born in Britain and died in that country he was associated with Canada from time to time. Between 1887 and 1891 he lived near Cannington (in what is now Saskatchewan) before going to Europe to study art. He later painted from memory scenes of Prairie farming and ranching. As an artist he covered the South African and Russo Japanese Wars. He resided again in Canada from 1913 to 1917 and established a close relationship with Norman Mackenzie, a prominent patron of the arts in Regina and later a trustee of the National Gallery of Canada. Through Mackenzie the artist was invited to contribute to the Canadian War Memorials Collection. Sheldon-Williams subsequently returned to Europe to continue his career. This huge (302 x 452 cm) oil on canvas is laid out almost like a frieze. Very stylized figures in conventional poses are arranged so as to draw the viewer's gaze towards the soldier with the raised arm in the centre of the painting.
Courtesy: Canadian War Museum, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada (8969)
