The Advance from Mons, 1914: The Experiences of a German Infantry Officer

by Walter Bloem

Here is an outstanding personal memoir penned by a German infantry officer recalling his experiences during the initial days and weeks of the war in the West, July-September 1914.

Walter Bloem was a Captain in the German 12th Grenadier Regiment (Royal Prussian Grenadier Regiment Prinz Carl von Preußen, 2nd Brandenburg, Nr 12 - to give his unit its full title). His narrative gives a superb insight into the outbreak of war and his regiment's mobilisation, followed by the advance through Belgium and France, including the author's participation at the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne and the Aisne. His account of what it was like to face Britain's 'Old Contemptibles' at Mons is particularly valuable.

Before the war, the author was a novelist, and The Advance from Mons clearly shows this - it is written with a great eye for detail, careful yet vivid descriptions abound and importantly, from a historical perspective, the book was penned whilst Herr Bloem convalesced from a wound he received at the battle of the Aisne. Such was the quality of his writing, that J.E. Edmonds, the British official historian of the Great War "Some of the scenes … are so truly and vividly depicted that I gave translations of them in the Official History, feeling that they could not be bettered."

Genres: History, World War I, Nonfiction, Military History

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1930

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

First hand account written by a Captain in the 12th Brandenburg Grenadiers chronicling in great detail the German attacks on Mons and afterwards until his wounding Chivres Spur. This account is made extra special by the addition of footnotes telling who and what Allies were opposite Bloem and his Grenadiers during his battle description. A good companion book to "The First Three Months" written by a Subaltern in the BEF which gives the British perspective of this fight.

[Sean Bunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting account from a German perspective



Short but vivid in its description of the western front in the first months of the war. I would give it 5 stars but I felt I must take into account any bias. Bloem 's writing really brings home the personal experiences of the German.soldiers

[David]

Extolled in Keegan’s The Face of Battle”

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by a German officer, this book says a lot more about the the German soldier's attitude, and the social/economic class distinctions in the army than it does about the actual war. Bloem describes some battles, but it's all the other stuff about life in the army he happens to mention that ends up being the most interesting.