An exhibition exploring the importance of supernatural phenomena during wartime opens on Saturday 6 July at the Mons Memorial Museum.
The exhibition, titled 'The Angels of Mons: Beliefs and Appearances in 14-18' will run until 11 May 2025.
It will focus on examining faith and institutional propaganda during warfare, and commemorates the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Mons in the First World War.
Central to this is the legend of the 'Angels of Mons,' a narrative revolving around alleged celestial appearances, including Saint George and the angelic archers, said to have supported British soldiers in their battle against German cavalry on 23 August 1914.
“The goal is to question the need to believe in times of conflict, examining why angels played such a significant role in the collective imagination of the period,” the Mons museum explained in its press release.
This research, a blend of artefacts and imagery, has been curated by French historian Annette Becker, Belgian historian Laurence Van Ypersele, and Corentin Rousman, the Mons Memorial Museum’s curator.
