The Angel of Mons: Phantom Soldiers and Ghostly Guardians

“Well researched and authoritative…fascinating” Yorkshire Post

`The officer suddenly came up to us in a state of great anxiety and asked us if we had seen anything startling . .  he then pointed to the sky . . I could see quite clearly in mid-air a strange light . . . and I could distinctly see three shapes, the one in the centre having what looked like outspread wings.’ WWI veteran

Under the extreme circumstances of a vastly outnumbered and seemingly futile battle at Mons many of the wounded and dying soldiers were said to have seen strange angelic forms in the sky that protected them from slaughter. Since then The Angel of Mons has remained one of the best-known legends of twentieth century warfare, but the mystery remains. Did British soldiers really see angels, saints and bowmen leading them against the Germans? Or were the stories the result of hallucinations experienced by battle-weary men, carefully planted propaganda or simply the misinterpretation of a short story in a London evening newspaper? David Clarke, an expert in supernatural belief and folklore, examines the history of such wartime legends and explores the likely truth behind the myth.