Page 41 - Last Chargers example

SQMS Tomkins
The injured Lance Corporal Knight was moved, most probably in the same ambulance, to Moÿ de l’Aisne where he and others were treated along with the German casualties131. The Germans, perhaps understandably, were given a hostile reception, with French of cers and soldiers trying to gain access to them even while they were being treated by the Doctor. They remarked that they were glad to be cap- tured by the British (as opposed to the French) as it meant that they would be ‘protected from any brutality132’.
A wagon from the Field Ambulance133, con- taining two wounded Germans, dropped their charges at La Guinguette and reached La Fère at 10.30 pm134. This wagon was accompanied by two Chaplains and sixteen men135.
131 Bushell
132 Gayling p21
133 5 Fd Amb
134 Whelan may have been in this party
135 There is no explanation why this party of men did not move
with the rest of the Regiment directly to Chauny after the charge.
Lt Leche
The British soldiers clearing the dead and wounded were surprised to nd that the German cavalry bore the badge VRI, like the British 21st Lancers.They were in fact Queen Victoria’s Regiment, the 1st Garde Dragoner and the King had been their Colonel in Chief until the outbreak of war. It was possibly equally confusing to the Germans who were being attended by British soldiers whose sil- ver plumes bore the words ‘Ich Dien’ – the German for ‘I Serve’
The charge had a profound effect on the Germans. A prisoner later remarked:
‘Mein Gott, it is hell let loose when your English lancers charge,’ he said, ‘and I will never face them again. Never again! We were outside Mons in open country with a clump of hills before us, and it was as we neared them that a Troop of howling, yelling devils with lances, but no jackets or hats came racing round a hill and then straight for us like what you call a typhoon! Never before have I seen anything like them in our army or in my sleep. Your artillery and your infantry, yes; they are like ourselves, and
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