Page 93 - QDG Vol. 9 No. 2 CREST

1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards
91
the British
Expeditionary
Force and changed
the course of WW1. A bold claim, I know. Let me explain why.
Néry is remembered for the unbeliev- able bravery of L Battery of the RHA where three Victoria Crosses were awarded. But the Bays’ actions were the real show stopper and at the forefront of this was their Machine Gun Troop and their Troop Leader, Lt Algie Lamb.
In August 1914, things were not going well. The British and French forces had been driven back across the River Aisne, with the French reserve division having been decimated, and the Allies were in full retreat. The Commander of the BEF, Sir John French, decided to withdraw behind Paris, citing the need for six times the number of infantry and four times the number of cavalry. He also had no confi- dence in the French General Lanzerac, who commanded the forces on his right flank. Whilst awaiting instructions from London, the British fell back to a ‘stopping action’ at Le Cateau. Unfortunately, there was a gap between the II and III Corps
which left the British
forces vulnerable to being surrounded. Protecting this gap was 1st Cavalry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Sir Charles Briggs, originally a KDG. This brigade was made up of three regiments of cavalry: the Queen’s Bays, the 5th Dragoon Guards and the 11th Hussars. Each of these regiments had a strength of about five hundred men. In support was L Battery, Royal Horse Artil- lery, with six thirteen-pounder guns and
two hundred officers and men.
The 1st Cavalry Brigade arrived at
Néry on 31 August, a small stone village built in the twelfth century, only 63 km from the centre of Paris and 190 km from Mons. At the time, it had a population of six hundred people.
Most found billets in the village, but the Bays and L Battery, being the last to arrive just after 6pm, were not so fortu- nate. A and B Squadrons were billeted in a series of houses on the west side of the main street. Due to the lack of
accommodation, C Squadron with the full complement of the Regiment’s horses along with L Battery, had been allocated a field on the south side of the village, adjacent to a sugar beet factory.
Here, they set up their bivouacs. Standing orders that night made each regiment responsible for the defence and security of their positions around Néry, patrolling the roads leading into their sector. On their front left flank, it was still believed that the French Provi- sional Cavalry Division were positioned and II Corps immediately to their front. In fact, neither was the case. As darkness fell, the issue of a detailed protective screen was deemed out of the question, as that role was held by the French and elements of II Corps. In addition, the men of the Brigade had had no proper sleep for ten days, averaging three hours per night, and they had been ordered to start very early the next day. So, it was decided to hold the village that night and not put out any patrols or pickets until early the following morning. This would allow some sleep all round and there was
a general feeling of security.