Page 43 - Last Chargers example

The Return from the Charge of the 12th Lancers at Moÿ by GeorgeWright
moments of semi-consciousness, everyone was supremely happy. The day that the British Expeditionary Force had lived for had come – the British cavalry had got home with their lances and swords. The state of mind was very similar to that of a school football team driving home after a victorious encounter with a rival school who had always prided themselves that they were invincible144.
At dusk, the Regiment arriving in Chauny to take up their billets145, the people of the town gave a great ovation for the news had preceded their appearance. The Regiment passed through this welcome before billeting in var- ious buildings on the other side of the town where they found Major Crawley waiting with the transport. To his ‘great disgust146’ he had been sent off the previous morning from Hanappes with the entire Brigade’s transport, though his reward was to assume command of the Regiment until the injured Wormald could return147.
144 Darling p20
145 Lawrence
146 Charrington – 1 (Part 3, p13) 147 26th September 1914
Conclusion
The day had not been a walkover for the Brigade and might have ended differently. German casualties, although signi cant, were not as high as the British reported and there was the real chance that the German Garde Dragoner Brigade (which was not engaged at its full strength) might have been reinforced by an un-quanti ed number of infantry and cavalry that were in position to the rear. Von Richthofen had a number of Jäger battalions available and had ordered the 5th Cavalry Division to go to the assistance of the Garde Dragoner Brigade. Had they arrived, the potential for the 5th Cavalry Brigade to be overmatched was a serious possibility which was not lost upon Brigadier Chetwode. In addressing his Brigade that evening he stated that, but for J Battery’s timely co-operation and accurate re, ‘things might have gone badly148’.
While tempting to speculate about ‘what ifs?’ there is little doubt that the action at Moÿ de l’Aisne on the 28th August 1914 was a
148 WO95/1135/2 J Battery RHA
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