Battle at Néry
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Monument in Néry in memory of the British fallen
| date | September 1, 1914 |
|---|---|
| place | Néry, Oise department |
| output | British victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| Parts of the 4th Cavalry Division (approx. 5,200 men) | 1st Cavalry Brigade (approx. 2000 men) |
| losses | |
|
unknown, 78 prisoners |
134 dead and wounded |
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A clash between German and British cavalry forces in the First World War is called a battle at Néry . It took place in the course of the German advance on the Marne .
procedure
After the battle of Mons , the British expeditionary force was on the retreat to the Marne , this was covered by weak rear guards made up of cavalry units.
On the morning of August 31, the Higher Cavalry Command 2 operating in the area of the 1st Army was advancing southwards via Noyon and Compiegne .
On the morning of September 1, the commander of the 4th Cavalry Division, Lieutenant General von Garnier, received reports of an English artillery bivouac near Nery. The 17th Cavalry Brigade under Major General von Schimmelmann took up position to the southeast on the heights, behind which two batteries of field artillery drove up. The division's artillery and machine-gun division opened fire on the enemy camp at a distance of about 800 m.
The British 1st Cavalry Brigade, bivouacked, and the L Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery were ambushed in their control room . Reinforced by the division's hussars, the German horsemen had succeeded in advancing close to the edge of the village. The attack was supported by 12 artillery pieces, which concentrated fire on the British battery. Only a 13-pounder gun returned fire and, in conjunction with rifle and machine gun fire from the Welsh Regiment 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays), held down the German attack forces until parts of the British 1st and 4th Cavalry Brigades were able to counterattack and the threw back German troops. Thereupon they tried to surround the German dragoons. The situation of the 17th Cavalry Brigade was to worsen as the hoped-for reinforcement by the 2nd Cavalry Division did not materialize. When it got dark, the breakout finally succeeded, and surrounded by the enemy troops, the German unit managed to get into the forest near la Chapelle unnoticed.
The gunners Edward Kinder Bradbury, George Thomas Dorrell and David Nelson were awarded the Victoria Cross , the "Néry gun" of the L-Battery was given to the Imperial War Museum in London . The 4th Cavalry Division reached Nanteuil on September 3rd and had to be used as an army reserve to refresh.
literature
- Maximilian von Posek: The German cavalry 1914 in Belgium and France. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1922, p. 77 f.
Web links
- Battle of Néry on britishbattles.com (engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
