Over by Christmas

The Retreat from Mons

Harry Thatcher runs away from home after a fight with his father. His brother is in the army, and so Harry finds a new home with the cavalry as a bugler. A year later, Britain is at war, and Harry’s regiment is advancing on the Germans through France and Belgium. In a clash of steel on steel, they meet the German First Army at Mons, and Harry has his first taste of the reality of modern warfare. Outnumbered, the British Army is forced to retreat, and Harry and his friend, Douglas Thomson, get separated from their regiment after a disastrous cavalry charge. Along with a downed airman, Lieutenant Carmichael, the three must get back to friendly lines. Between them and their colleagues are a hundred miles and two hundred thousand German soldiers. When they are finally reunited with the remnants of their regiment, they find themselves surrounded by an entire German Cavalry Division. In a field near the village of Néry, just forty miles from Paris, in a bitter fight in which a regiment is lost and 3 VCs are won, Harry finally leaves his boyhood behind.