Postwar Developments
After the war the story continued to be frequently repeated but no evidence to support the claim that the Angels existed was ever given by those who were there. The best evidence provided was in Brigadier-General John Charteris' memoirs At G.H.Q., published in 1931, which said the story of the Angels of Mons was a popular rumour amongst the troops in September 1914, this was the earliest any account said the rumour was in circulation. However it appears from examination of his original letters he wrote those entries after the war and falsified the dates. Given his association with pieces of allied propaganda like the story of the “German Corpse-Rendering Works” (Kadaververwertungsanstalt) this might indicate Charteris had been behind an attempt to use the Angels for propaganda purposes.
Machen was associated with the story for the rest of his life and grew sick of the connection, as he regarded “The Bowmen” as a poor piece of work. He made little money from the story then or later.
The sudden revival of interest in appearances of angels from the 1980s onwards, especially in the United States, not only amongst Christians, but those interested in the New Age, has caused uncritical accounts of the story of the angels who saved the British army to be regularly published in books and magazines. Similarly, the story is also often used by sceptics as a good example of how believers in the supernatural can become convinced of fantastic things by slender evidence. References to the story can be found in World War I set novels and films like FairyTale: A True Story. The Friends of Arthur Machen frequently publish articles on developments in the case.
Read more about this topic: Angels Of Mons
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