The 2nd Battalion The Suffolk Regiment was part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), which found itself in retreat with French and Belgian armies from the Battle of Mons in late August 1914...with the German army in hot pursuit. On the August 25 the Suffolks bivouacked just west of Le Cateau, but in the morning they moved to high ground where they came under heavy shell, machine gun and rifle fire from advancing Germans. While trying to dig in on exposed ground, the battalion took heavy casualties and lost its commander, Lt. Col C.A.H Brett, at the outset. The Suffolks held this defensive rear-guard for more than eight hours, despite relentless shelling and gunfire. Outnumbered and outgunned, they sold their positions dearly, and inflicted enormous casualties with accurate rifle and artillery fire on the surrounding enemy. Even though the Germans entreated the Suffolks to surrender (and even blew the British cease fire order on their bugles) they refused and carried on fighting until they were overran, which brought their resistance to an end.
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