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    Nery, 1914: The Adventure of the German 4th Cavalry Division
    Nery, 1914: The Adventure of the German 4th Cavalry Division
    Nery, 1914: The Adventure of the German 4th Cavalry Division
    Ebook110 pages1 hour

    Nery, 1914: The Adventure of the German 4th Cavalry Division

    By Major A. F. Becke

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    About this ebook

    Fascinating account of the apparently minor chance encounter between German and British cavalry, supported by artillery, in the opening stages of the First World War as the German army wheeled through Belgium and Northern France. The engagement was a tenacious struggle and L Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery won three VCs and the honour title “Nery” during this clash.

    Illustrated with 4 sketches and 4 photographs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVerdun Press
    Release dateAug 9, 2016
    ISBN9781787200999
    Nery, 1914: The Adventure of the German 4th Cavalry Division
    Author

    Major A. F. Becke

    Major Archibald Frank Becke (1871-1947) was a Major in the Royal Artillery, a noted author on military history and contributor to the British Official History of the First World War.

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      Book preview

      Nery, 1914 - Major A. F. Becke

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.pp-publishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books—picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1927 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2016, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      NERY, 1914:

      THE ADVENTURE OF THE GERMAN 4TH CAVALRY DIVISION ON THE 31ST AUGUST AND THE 1ST SEPTEMBER

      BY

      MAJOR A. F. BECKE

      (LATE R.F.A.)

      (With 4 sketches and 4 photographs)

      "....From black defeat and crimsoned dust,

      See golden victory rise!"

      —Whyte Melville.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 6

      PART I.—THE PURSUIT. 8

      THE OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN. THE INVASION OF BELGIUM. 8

      THE INVASION OF FRANCE. 8

      THE EASTWARD SWING OF THE GERMAN RIGHT WING. 10

      SITUATION OF THE FIRST ARMY AND OF H.K.K.II. AND H.K.K.I. ON THE 30TH. 10

      THE B.E.F. ON THE 30TH AND 31ST. 11

      THE GERMAN RIGHT WING ON THE 31ST. AUGUST. 14

      THE GERMAN CAVALRY ON THE 31ST. AUGUST. 15

      PLANS FOR THE 1ST. SEPTEMBER. 18

      A NIGHT OF RUMOURS. 18

      A DAY OF ALARMS, 1ST. SEPTEMBER. 20

      PART II.—THE CHANCE ENCOUNTER. 23

      NERY. 23

      THE ATTACK. 26

      ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH REINFORCEMENTS AND THE CLOSE OF THE ACTION. 32

      PART III. THE ESCAPE AND THE RESULT. 38

      WITHDRAWAL OF THE 4TH CAVALRY DIVISION. 38

      THE DIVISION BREAKS UP. 42

      THE SOUTHERN PARTY. 42

      SCHIMMELMANN CAPTURES A SECTION OF THE 4TH DIVISIONAL AMMUNITION PARK. 43

      THE FINAL WANDERING OF HEYDEN-RYNSCH’S COLUMN. 45

      THE EXODUS FROM DAMMARTIN. 49

      SOME COMMENTS ON THE NERY OPERATION. 50

      APPENDIX 1.—ORDER OF BATTLE OF THAT PART OF THE GERMAN RIGHT WING WHICH WAS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF NERY ON THE 31ST. AUGUST AND THE 1ST. SEPTEMBER. 53

      APPENDIX 2.—ORDER OF BATTLE, 4TH CAVALRY DIVISION. 54

      APPENDIX 3.—THE LOSSES AT NERY, 1ST. SEPTEMBER, 1914. 56

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 57

      PART I.—THE PURSUIT.

      THE OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN. THE INVASION OF BELGIUM.

      Sketch 1.

      AT the opening of the war, the 4th Cavalry Division, forming part of Marwitz’s II Cavalry Corps (H.K.K.II.), advanced through Belgium to clear the way for the advance of the First and Second Armies towards the line Antwerp—Brussels—Charleroi.{1} In this advance there were several sharp fights with the slowly retiring Belgian Army. Among these engagements perhaps the most notable was the fight at Haelen on the 12th August, in which the 4th Cavalry Division was hotly engaged, four of its regiments being badly mauled.{2} As well as taking part in the fight the division on this day covered no less than thirty miles.

      On the day of Mons, the 23rd August, Marwitz’s Cavalry was halted on the Scheldt, thirty miles away to the north-westward, guarding against an imaginary British advance from Ostend, Dunkirk, and Calais. The fog of war having been dissipated by the fighting at Mons, H.K.K.II. on the 24th marched rapidly southwards to overtake the First Army now engaged in the pursuit of the B.E.F. The advance of the First and Second Armies through Belgium was completed, the country had been overrun, and only one of its fortresses, Antwerp, was left unviolated in the long ruin-strewn path of the conquerors.{3}

      THE INVASION OF FRANCE.

      Early on the 26th H.K.K.II. struck into the centre and left wing of General Smith Dorrien’s force which was holding the le Cateau position. As the 4th Cavalry Division, in the centre near Bethencourt, was soon reinforced by the infantry of the right wing of the 8th Division (IV Corps), it never became so heavily engaged as its sister divisions, the 2nd and 9th, and thus its losses were comparatively light. After le Cateau the B.E.F. withdrew in a southerly direction, but the First Army and H.K.K.II. swung away south-westwards. As the Second Army continued to follow Lanrezac’s Army, a widening gap was created between Kluck and Bülow, and this gap happened to cover the front on which the B.E.F. was retiring.

      On the 28th Kluck’s advance collided with the leading troops of the French Sixth Army, and the feeble resistance offered to the German onrush, coupled with the sudden disappearance of the B.E.F., tended to make Kluck believe that final victory was in sight and that he could race on, taking almost any risk. The pace of the pursuit became almost that of a hunt.

      THE EASTWARD SWING OF THE GERMAN RIGHT WING.

      On the 30th, to ensure that full advantage was obtained from the supposed victory just gained at Guise by the Second Army over Lanrezac, Kluck decided to open an energetic pursuit heading in a south-easterly direction for the line Noyon—Compiègne, and Supreme Command approved this alteration. It was at this moment, as Stegemann declares, that the German operations had reached the highest point of strategic success. But within ten days occurred a dramatic change in the course of the war.

      SITUATION OF THE FIRST ARMY AND OF H.K.K.II. AND H.K.K.I. ON THE 30TH.

      Sketch 1.

      By the evening of this day the corps of the First Army had reached the following line:—the IV Reserve halted about 8 miles north-east of Amiens, the II about Moreuil, the IV about le Quesnoy, the III around Roye; and the 18th Division (IX Corps) to the east of Roye; whilst the 17th Division (IX), which had been co-operating with Bülow during the Battle of Guise, halted to the south of St. Quentin. The Second Army on this day occupied a line astride the Oise stretching from Essigny le Grand through St. Gobert.

      The responsibility of protecting Kluck’s left flank on the 30th fell on Marwitz’s Cavalry Corps. Hostile troops had been reported to be at Noyon and H.K.K.II. pushed on to cover Kluck’s advance from this direction, but no serious action with the retiring enemy took place, and the three cavalry divisions, with the 4th leading, halted for the night to the north-west of Noyon.

      Richthofen’s I. Cavalry Corps (H.K.K.I.), co-operating with Bülow, was faced with the Oise valley. The proximity of La Fère and the breadth of the valley near Chauny caused Richthofen to consider that a crossing was inadvisable in this neighbourhood. He decided, therefore, to capture Noyon, break through there, and then operate against the French left. But when H.K.K.I. reached Noyon the town had already been evacuated and most of the Oise bridges had been blown up. The river here is a considerable obstacle,

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