The Battle of Néry

Having read Professor Gary Sheffield’s recent battle report, I decided to find out more about this small but significant early Great War battle.

The Battle of Néry was fought on 1st September 1914 during the from Mons. The British 1st Cavalry Brigade were in the process of leaving their overnight bivouac when they were attacked by the German 4th Cavalry Division.

The British 1st Cavalry Brigade (commanded by Brigadier-General Charles James Briggs) comprised the following units:

• 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays)
• 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards
• 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars
• 1st Signal Troop, Royal Engineers
• L Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (6 x 13-pounder guns)
• 1st Cavalry Brigade Machine Gun Squadron Machine Gun Corps

The German 4th Cavalry Division (commanded by General Otto Wladislaus Eduard Konstantin von Garnier) comprised the following units:

• 3rd Cavalry Brigade
• 2nd (Pomeranian) Cuirassiers Queen
• 9th (2nd Pomeranian) Uhlans
• 17th Cavalry Brigade
• 17th (1st Grand Ducal Mecklenburgian) Dragoons
• 18th (2ndGrand Ducal Mecklenburgian) Dragoons
• 18th Cavalry Brigade
• 15th (Hannover) Hussars Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
• 16th (Schleswig-Holstein) Hussars Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, King of Hungary
• Horse Artillery Abteilung of the 3rd (1st Brandenburg) Field Artillery General-Feldzeugmeister Regiment
• 2nd Guards Machine Gun Detachment
• Pioneer Detachment
• Signals Detachment
• Heavy Wireless Station
• 18 Heavy Wireless Station
• 19 Light Wireless Station
• 10 Light Wireless Station
• 12 Cavalry Motorised Vehicle Column

The Germans unknowingly approached the British position through the early morning fog and were spotted at 5.25am by a patrol of the 15th Hussars. Fighting started fifteen minutes later when the advanced units of the German division were engaged by British machine guns and horse artillery. In response, the German commander ordered his troops to dismount and make an assault on the village of Néry.

During the battle, most of the cavalry fought dismounted. All but one of L Battery, Royal Horse Artillery's guns were knocked out early during the fighting, but the remaining one stayed in action for two and a half hours and engaged the German Horse Artillery. (The gun is now on display at the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth, London.) Three of that gun's crew (Captain Edward Kinder Bradbury, Battery Sergeant Major George Thomas Dorrell, and Sergeant David Nelson) were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions during the battle and the battery was subsequently awarded the honorific title 'Néry'.

The last gun of L Battery, Royal House Artillery in action at Néry.

British reinforcements (the 4th Cavalry Brigade – which comprised Household Cavalry Composite Regiment, 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers), and 3rd (King's Own) Hussars – with I Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, and 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment) arrived at around 8:00am and counter-attacked the Germans. This forced the Germans to retreat and the German 4th Cavalry Division was unfit to return to combat for several days.

---

The Victoria Cross recipients were:

• Captain Edward Kinder Bradbury (16th August 1881 – 1st September 1914) was given the award posthumously.
• Battery Sergeant Major George Thomas Dorrell (7th July 1880 – 7th January 1971) rose to the rank of brevet Lieutenant-Colonel.
• Sergeant David Nelson (3rd April 1887 – 8th April 1918) rose to the rank of Major by the time he was killed in action at Lillers, France.

---

L (Néry) Battery was formed in India in 1809 as 3rd Troop, Bengal Horse Artillery. It served with distinction during the Indian Mutiny, and Gunner William Connolly (c. 1816 – 31st December 1891) was awarded a Victoria Cross on 7th July 1857 for his heroism during the Battle of Jhelum, India.

After the mutiny, it formed part of the Bengal Army (the largest of the three Presidency Armies in British India), and it was renamed L Battery Royal Horse Artillery in 1889.

The battery is currently equipped with light armoured vehicles and is 1st Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery's Tactical Group Battery.