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| L Battery RHA at Néry |
Harry Thatcher runs away from
home after a fight with his father. His brother is in the army, and so Harry
finds a new home with the cavalry as a bugler.
A year later, Britain is at war,
and Harry’s regiment is advancing on the Germans through France and Belgium. In
a clash of steel on steel, they meet the German First Army at Mons, and Harry
has his first taste of the reality of modern warfare.
Outnumbered, the British Army is
forced to retreat, and Harry and his friend, Douglas Thomson, get separated
from their regiment after a disastrous cavalry charge. Along with a downed
airman, Lieutenant Carmichael, the three must get back to friendly lines.
Between them and their colleagues are a hundred miles and two hundred thousand
German soldiers.
When they are finally reunited
with the remnants of their regiment, they find themselves surrounded by an
entire German Cavalry Division. In a field near the village of Néry, just forty
miles from Paris, in a bitter fight in which a regiment is lost and 3 VCs are
won, Harry finally leaves his boyhood behind.
I believe that the Action at Néry, as the battle at the end of this story is often called, was pivotal to the outcome of the Great War, despite the relatively small numbers of troops and casualties involved. The damage inflicted by the British 1st Cavalry Brigade on the German 4th Cavalry Division meant that the latter could no longer participate in the advance on Paris.
The temporary loss of the German division weakened the German II Cavalry Corps and slowed its advance. Consequently, the French Fifth Army were able to avoid destruction and escape across the Marne. In addition, the defenders of Paris had time and resources to build-up their defences.
As Lyn Macdonald says in her book, 1914: The days of hope:
“Néry was destined to be the ‘horseshoe nail’ which in the course of a very few days would puncture the balloon of (German) plans and aspirations and decide the final outcome of the Battle of the Marne.”
It was at the Marne that the Allies halted the German advance and stopped the headlong allied retreat. Had they failed to do this, Germany would almost certainly have won the war in those opening weeks. As it was, the war against Germany was not won; rather, it was not lost.
I believe that the Action at Néry, as the battle at the end of this story is often called, was pivotal to the outcome of the Great War, despite the relatively small numbers of troops and casualties involved. The damage inflicted by the British 1st Cavalry Brigade on the German 4th Cavalry Division meant that the latter could no longer participate in the advance on Paris.
The temporary loss of the German division weakened the German II Cavalry Corps and slowed its advance. Consequently, the French Fifth Army were able to avoid destruction and escape across the Marne. In addition, the defenders of Paris had time and resources to build-up their defences.
As Lyn Macdonald says in her book, 1914: The days of hope:
“Néry was destined to be the ‘horseshoe nail’ which in the course of a very few days would puncture the balloon of (German) plans and aspirations and decide the final outcome of the Battle of the Marne.”
It was at the Marne that the Allies halted the German advance and stopped the headlong allied retreat. Had they failed to do this, Germany would almost certainly have won the war in those opening weeks. As it was, the war against Germany was not won; rather, it was not lost.
