For those who have not been following David’s AH work, here is a brief summery. Based around a POD that involves an alien invasion in the late 1970’s, the Human Time Line (HTL) sees the human race expand into space and become on of the most unusual species around, eventually becoming non-corporal beings, while abandoning the Earth which has started to produce other intelligent species. The SSS, the god-like beings that appear here as ‘angels’, were created due to an accident, as they attempted to shield Earth from attack by a powerful alien race in their non-corporal forms. Blasted into another dimension and their relative time moved backwards, the SSS became the guardians of Earth and the Human Race.

Prelude

This alternative history is an attempt to explain the phenomenon known as the Angels of Mons, which took place at the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914. Do note that both are historical events. The myth of the Angels arose not long after the battle thanks to an article written by Arthur Machen called The Bowmen. From an historical aspect, all this is fact as is the public’s reaction to The Bowmen & the soldier’s stories which began to be heard not long after publication of the article.

Enter this alternative history article. In Of Angels & Men, the Angels of Mons have been explained away as aliens called Spiritous Sanctus Sapien (SSS). For those of you who do not know about The Human Time Line, please let me explain. The SSS are an extremely powerful specie who have evolved from present day Homo Sapiens - in other words us. Their full story can be found at my website for what, who & how they come about. It is an extremely complicated story & we do not have the space here to explain it all.

The essentials, however, about the SSS are: 1) They are non-corporal beings, although they see themselves very much as Human; 2) They can travel between different universes of existence without any equipment or ships; 3) SSS are immortal; 4) There are three classes which make up SSS society - Guardian, Explorer, Civilian; 5) Guardians are the most powerful of the SSS - one Guardian has enough power to destroy a city of 5 million people; & 6) The Explorers are the creators of all life on Earth including Homo Sapiens.

Now, with this brief introduction to the SSS over, it is onto Of Angels & Men.

Introduction

When one looks back at the numerous things that we have done, the Intervention at the Battle of Mons 1914 must rank as the most foolhardy venture ever undertaken in our history. Even at the time it was controversial & has fuelled much debate ever since as to its effects let alone necessity. It had been decided, long before, that any intervention in the affairs of our ancestors be kept secretive & subtle. Yet at Mons, the Intervention was anything but that. What was even worse was the fact that within days, reports of the Intervention were published in the British press. And from there it was as if the entire Homo Sapiens specie knew of our actions. But by far, the more important issue, was that Homo Sapiens had become aware of our existence.

The Battle of Mons

The Battle of Mons took place near the beginning of, then known as, the Great War or World War One. Although the name would change in later centuries, as a result of the redefinition of the term ‘World War’ (a World War involves conflict on three or more continents - Macquarie Dictionary, Standardised English Edition, 2875), it was nevertheless truly the first war wherein millions of Homo Sapiens were sadly slaughtered. To us, of course, this conflict is known as World War Three, somewhat ironic considering the peoples of Earth, from 1945 onwards, always feared that the Third World War would mean nuclear holocaust. Consequently, as a result of the new definition, the Seven Years War was renamed ‘World War One’; the French Revolutionary/Napoleonic Wars renamed ‘World War Two’; & the 1939-1945 conflict was renamed ‘World War Four’. Thankfully there was never a fifth.

On 23 August 1914, the armies of Great Britain & Germany would fight a desperate action in & around the Belgium town of Mons. The fighting would carry on for several hours until the weight of numbers, which the Germans enjoyed, would finally tell & force the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to retreat. This was the most dangerous part of the battle, but something would take place which would ensure that the British would escape destruction. All the same, from 06:00 hours, until late in the afternoon, the fight was continuous.

The Germans, from the commencement of battle, though, hardly had anything go their way. Regardless of their high levels of training, nothing could have prepared the soldiers for the onslaught that they were about to experience. Attacking the British line in massed formations, the British over the years had had much experience in dealing with such tactics. The British skill with the rifle appeared, to the Germans, to be like massed machine guns. Instead of machine guns, though, it was the professionalism of the British soldier; combined with the worst tactics which the Germans used, that against the attackers.

For hours, all along the British line, the Germans varied little with their tactics. The results were the same almost everywhere. Considering the great bulk of the British line utilised the ‘Canal du Centre’ which acted as a moat, the defeat of the German attacks were more or less guaranteed. In fact any German attack, on this section of the British line, was clearly impossible to succeed. It was not until the Germans shifted their attack to the east of Mons that they discovered the BEF’s weak spot. Here, there were, other than the town of Mons itself, few geographical features which could help in the defence. By the afternoon the British, due to the German shift of attack, decided that their line was now rightly untenable & that a withdrawal had to take place.

The withdrawal, however, was not all they easy to commence let alone be successful. In fact the commander of I Corps, General Haig, was fully aware that, even at this point in time, any breakthrough by the Germans would be a disaster for the British. And yet as he was organising the withdrawal, it appeared that his fear may come to pass.

The German IX Corps attacked in full. Thousands of troops were descending upon the right of the British line & the defenders were greatly outnumbered. Although the Germans were paying an enormous cost in casualties, it appeared that nothing could stop the attackers. Then, for some unknown reason, not only had the Germans stopped, but they retreated in panic. The BEF was saved & allowed to escape relatively intact to fight another day.

The Intervention

The events of 1914 caused much debate in Spiritous Sanctus Sapien society. It was believed by many, as exemplified by Sarah, that if something was not done to avert the coming Homo Sapiens war, then disaster would surely follow. For her, of course, there was special meaning in preserving Homo Sapiens, as it had been her long involvement in Operation Archangel which had seen all life on planet Earth had evolved to what it had become. She was determined that Homo Sapiens would not destroy everything which had been created thus far.

It was a close vote by the Assembly, but consent was given for intervention. There were, however, many conditions. The first was that the Germans & their allies were not to be helped under any circumstances. The next was that any intervention could only take place at the height of a crisis. Next, no contact whatsoever, regardless of how subtle this might be done, was to be made with anyone, regardless of who they were. And finally, the presence, let along the existence, of Spiritous Sanctus Sapien was not to be revealed to anyone.

Thus under such instructions, the Intervention Team, began observing in secret the events of August 1914. It did not take long for the crisis to arrive. On 23 August, as the British & Germans armies bean to fight it out at Mons, it soon became obvious the that British around the actual town itself were in trouble. As entire German divisions attacked the defenders, it appeared there was nothing which the British did could do to stop the attack. If the British were overrun, the entire British Army would be defeated & possibly wiped out. With such a hole in the Allied lines, the Germans would march onwards & defeat France. History would change forever & the outcome would not be the one which the Spiritous Sanctus Sapien’s wanted.

With the cries of the death & the dying in her ears, Sarah could take no more of the horror before her. Even though Michael argued with her, there was no stopping Sarah when she had made her mind up. Furthermore, in forcing the issue with her fellow team, she came forth out of hiding & advanced to place herself between the British & German lines. Soon afterwards, the rest of the team joined her. The Germans, although at first somewhat surprised, continued with their attack. The Intervention Team, though, by placing themselves between the two armies shielded the British from the German bullets & shells. The British, noting a sudden drop in German firepower began to withdraw in safety, whilst the soldiers watch in awe as to the sight before them.

The Germans, regardless of the sight in front of them, continued to advance, especially after seeing the British troops withdrawing. By now Michael, who could see at first hand the carnage of humanity around him, let loose his frustration unlike the others. Retribution was thus leased out upon the attacking Germans. Within seconds 10 000 Germans troops lay dead before him. The German attack fell apart & those Germans who were lucky enough to survive, fled in panic.

The others in the Intervention Team was shocked by Michael’s actions & immediately left the area. Michael soon afterwards followed them. Not long after Sarah reported the event, the Assembly immediately ordered the Intervention Team to cease all activity & return to the Elysium Universe. There would be no further intervention missions. The ramifications for Operation Archangel, however, would be massive. After much heated debate, the Assembly decided to close for good the almost eternal mission.

The ‘Angels’ Become Myth

To the soldiers at Mons, there was no denying that they saw something unexplainable. Even officers reported to their seniors on both sides that something angel like was seen in the sky. Knowing that battle can sometimes play tricks with a soldiers mind, the senior German officers, namely General von Quast, rejected such reports as “kindisch Quatsch” (childish rubbish). The British officers, namely General Haig, General Smith-Dorrien & General French, did not know what to make of the reports. Not willing to give into superstition, but at the same time not wanting to cut their troop’s morale, it was agreed to send a note to London requesting advice over “… the battlefield phenomena known to the troops as ‘angels’” .

The response from London was all but universal. There could be no such thing as these ‘angels’. Clearly some of the troops had gravely mistaken, either the effects of artillery or cloud shapes, as something religious during what was without doubt a dreadful experience. There was to be no mention of this ‘phenomena’ in the official reports. Hence, as instructed, all the reports, regardless of rank, were either censored or deliberately edited. It appeared that the reporting of the Intervention would be forgotten there & then.

Alas this was not to be the case. The Director of Military Operation, Henry Wilson, was a firm believer in the paranormal. Being part of the committee which advised the BEF commanders to omit the ‘phenomena’, he believed that the story should be told. If not proving that God was on the side of the British, it would be a great morale booster for the population at home. Even so, he was in a minority of one when the committee made their decision. Nonetheless, that did not stop him from getting his way. Knowing a journalist, who had similar interests in the paranormal as he, Wilson sent a short note to Arthur Machen on 20 September 1914.

Although Machen would state time & time again that his article “The Bowmen” was nothing more than a story that he had come up with, & there was much truth in this statement, he nevertheless privately believed that Wilson was honest when he said in his note:

The British Amry has just escaped a major scrap with the Germans. I cannot say much as I do not know a lot of the details, but it appears that God intervened for us & saved the day. No one else here believes it, but I do. I swear it is something like a miracle, akin to those stories told at a Regimental Church Service from the Old Testament.

Machen’s article, published in the Evening News on 29 September 1914, immediately caught the public’s imagination. The effect was exactly what Wilson had hoped would happen. Everyone across the nation believed this article at face value, even though, in fact, Machen made most of it up. All he had to go on was the fact that Wilson believed that God intervened in a manner as told in the Bible. From there, Machen updated those Biblical stories & made them British. St George & the Bowmen from Agincourt were the obvious theme to use considering the impact that such images would have on British morale.

The story, however, may have faded from the public’s interest not long afterwards except a ‘letter’ was published, from a ‘Catholic Officer’ deployed in the BEF, in a Catholic publication The Universe. Although the story was different to Machen’s, it nonetheless gave more credibility to the Bowmen of Mons by the fact that the Catholic Church appeared to endorse the story.

Not long afterwards, more articles began to appear, which brought to light more witnesses claiming to have seen St George & the angelic army. The Society for Psychical Research, in its Journal for December 1915, wrote that they had sources who could confirm that several officers in II Corps were fully aware of the ‘angels’ & that:

… the intervention of spirit helpers at Mons … is well worth investigation. It has reached me through three different channels having no connection with each other.

It went further:

… she met a young soldier, a private who had been wounded. Directly she heard he had been at Mons she asked, "Oh, did you see the vision, and hear the shout?" He answered, "I did not hear the shout, but I did see the vision and, he added very emphatically, the Germans saw it too, they couldn't get their horses to come on!" He said that on comparing notes with his comrades afterwards they found that some had seen the vision, and some heard the shout

Throughout 1915 & beyond, the British press continued to write article after article on the matter. The only consolation for the Spiritous Sanctus Sapiens was the fact that the truth had gotten caught up in all the myth making. Yet it was quite clear that the Homo Sapiens were even more so now aware, thanks to all the discussion on the issue, that an intervention did take place. Furthermore, even the Germans got in on the act, although they did not attribute it to The Bowmen.

Instead the Germans came up with an elaborate explanation involving spotlights & poison gas. Hundreds of the dead Germans were inspected by doctors who, at first, announced that they could not find any wounds to explain how the men died. They then, at first, concluded that the British had must have used gas to kill the soldiers of the German IX Corps. However, further examination of the dead proved that no gas was found. Although this was kept very quiet at the time for morale purposes, it did nonetheless finally become known & only further fuelled the believers against the sceptics.

An unexpected & unwanted development of the Intervention at Mons, was that supernatural intervention had become a common place event among the troops. Many now claimed that some event or other was in fact Divine intervention usually on behalf of the Allies. Instead of the attention given to the Intervention at Mons finally fading away it, instead, became Homo Sapiens lore for an entire generation. Even the Germans claimed several such events, but it was more of an excuse of a defeated attack rather than supernatural intervention: for it had already become Spiritous Sanctus Sapien policy that there were no more interventions after Mons.

It would not be until the 1930s when the Intervention of Mons would become more or less forgotten in the Homo Sapiens scheme of things. A few, however, kept up an interest, but time now had turned the event into myth & one hardly believable. All the same, Brigadier-General Charteris would write on the eve of the Fourth World War:

Then there is the story of the 'Angels of Mons' going strong through the 2nd Corps, of how the angel of the Lord on the traditional white horse, and clad all in white with flaming sword, faced the advancing Germans at Mons and forbade their further progress. Men's nerves and imagination play weird pranks in these strenuous times. All the same the angel at Mons interests me. I cannot find out how the legend arose.

As far as Spiritous Sanctus Sapien are concerned, we hope Homo Sapiens never do.

Aftermath

Although in the long run, the knowledge of our Intervention did not overly effect the attitudes of Homo Sapiens, it did, one must admit, ensure that the right outcome took place in Homo Sapiens history. For that Sarah was justified. But Michael’s action in cutting down at least 10 000 of them ensured that the Assembly forbade all future interventions in Homo Sapiens affairs, regardless of how secret or subtle. Homo Sapiens would, of course, make war only worse. Alas, this only made things harder for them in the overall scheme of things.

The most damning criticism of Homo Sapiens behaviour during the Twentieth Century, which one could argue began with Mons, came in the form of an update to the Encyclopaedia Galactica. To quote:

Homo Sapiens: A junior barbaric savage specie from the planet, which they call, Earth. Although they are fully sentient, highly intelligent, & above all innovative, they are nonetheless often extremely violent. Many times they have been known to run amok, & in doing so, have caused much destruction to themselves & their planet. Even in times of peace they do all they can to pollute their environment with little concern for future ramifications. They have recently discovered the power of the atom & have, as a result, destroyed two cities with this power in the form of crude nuclear weapons. Due to their destructive nature, along with their recent & alarming development of nuclear & thermonuclear weapons, their entire solar system has been officially quarantined. As a consequence it has been ordered, by the Traveller’s Guild, to avoid all contact with this highly dangerous species. The phrase “Do not feed the animals or Sapiens” has been a common saying among local merchant captains, ship’s crews, & most others in this region of space for many centuries.

When one considers the history of our ancestors, it can only be considered a miracle that they went on to achieve so many great & fantastic achievements: let alone one day to eventually evolve beyond all others.

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