Cheshire Ancestor Volume 50 issue 1- September 2019- Page 53- The Hidden Flag- Thrilling History of Cheshire's Miniature Colour- A tiny flag occupies a place of honour in the Officer's Mess at the Depot of The Cheshire Regiment in Chester Castle. On each anniversary of Mons Day (August 24th) a telegram is sent by the Regiment to Monsieur Dupont, Communal Secretary of the Mons District, to commemorate his part, and that of his collaborators, in the preservation of the Miniature Colour. And thereby hangs a thrilling tale. The little colour, a replica in miniature of the Regimental Colour, was made and embroidered by ladies of the 1st Battalion at Londonderry in 1912. It was a shooting trophy to be competed for annually. In August 1914, it was taken by B Company to Mons. When retirement was ordered, part of B Company was left behind by mistake, and taken prisoners. A wounded soldier handed the Colour for safety to a nursing Sister, who in turn sought the aid of the local priest. The good priest first concealed the trophy in his presbytery, but later, felling that it was hardly safe there from prying German soldiers, he placed it in the inviolate sanctuary of his church. Months went by and the Cure of Audregnies began to fear for the safety of the little sunken flag. Even the sanctity of his Church might be violated by invaders seeking materials for munitions. Monsieur Georges Dupont, the Communal Secretary, advised that the Colour should be bricked up in a garret of the Girls' School. The little flag and its staff, in a waterproof case, were enclosed in an iron pipe sealed with wooden plugs. From some mysterious source, the German officer in command of the district received an anonymous letter informing him that a British Regimental Colour was concealed somewhere in Audregnies. Realising the value of such a trophy the commander offered a reward of two thousand Marks for information leading to its capture, and he ordered a systematic search which took five days. Many people must have known about the little flag yet not a soul betrayed that trust. Four years passed. Six days after the recapture of Mons, the 1st Battalion of The Cheshire Regiment found itself once more only twelve miles from Audregnies. Few of those who had been with the Battalion in its early battles in France were with it then, but the Colonel had been told of the fate of the little flag. Alas, shell-fire had reduced the school to ruins. Nevertheless, willing hands cleared away the debris, and the sealed pipe was found. When it was opened, the little Colour was found to be perfectly preserved. A deputation from the Cheshire Regiment later presented Pere Sudan and Monsieur and Madame Dupont each with a silver rose bowl as a token of gratitude and appreciation.