Battle of Landrecies

The action on 25^th August 1914 in the First World War, in which the British 4^th (Guards) Brigade kept the pursuing German army at bay, in a night of fighting in the French town of Landrecies

The previous battle in the British Battles sequence is the Battle of Mons (2^nd Day): Elouges

The next battle in the First World War is the Battle of Le Cateau

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Date of the Battle of Landrecies: 25^th August 1914.

Place of the Battle of Landrecies: In the North of France

War: The First World War also known as ‘The Great War’.

Contestants at the Battle of Landrecies: 4^th (Guards) Brigade, with supporting units of artillery (XLIV Howitzer RFA Brigade), of the 2^nd Division of I Corps of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF): against German troops of the General von Kluck’s First Army.

The German units involved in the attack on Landrecies were: 14^th Infantry Brigade under Major-General von Oven, comprising 6 battalions of 27^th and 165^th Regiments, of 7^th Division, of IV Corps, with a squadron of 10^th Hussars and 4^th Field Artillery Regiment. Only the 27^th Regiment and some guns took part in the assaults in the early part of the night of 25th August 1914.

Generals: 
Brigadier-General Scott-Kerr commanded 4^th (Guards) Brigade.

Size of the Armies at the Battle of Landrecies:
The BEF, on 25^th August 1914, comprised 2 corps of infantry, I and II Corps, and an independent 19^th Brigade, with the recent addition of the 4^th Division, and a cavalry division; 95,000 men and 320 guns.
The 4^th (Guards) Brigade, the formation in action at Landrecies, consisting of 2^nd Grenadier Guards, 2^nd and 3^rd Coldstream Guards and 1^st Irish Guards, comprised around 5,000 men.

General von Kluck’s First Army comprised 4 corps and 3 cavalry divisions (160,000 men) and 550 guns. The German formations in action at Landrecies comprised an infantry brigade of 6 battalions, cavalry and a battery of artillery from IV Corps; around 8,000 men.

Winner of the Battle of Landrecies: 
The 4^th (Guards) Brigade held the German attack on Landrecies during the night of 25^th August 1914, and then retreated in good order.

Uniforms and equipment at the Battle of Landrecies:

See this section in the ‘Battle of Mons’.

Background to the Battle of Landrecies:

See this section in the ‘Battle of Mons’.

Account of the Battle of Landrecies:

Following the fighting along and behind the Mons Canal on 23^rd and 24^th August 1914, the BEF retreated south before the oncoming German First Army; the British II Corps and the Cavalry Division taking the route to the west of the Forest of Mormal, a dense area of woodland, 10 miles from north to south and 6 miles across; the British I Corps marching down the route of the Sambre River to the east of the forest (see map on the Battle of Le Cateau).

The fortress of Mauberge prepared to resist the German advance, with its French garrison. The British I Corps marched through the gap between Mauberge and the Forest of Mormal, sharing the congested roads with French army formations, and the flood of French and Belgian civilian refugees moving south, with all the belongings they could carry, to avoid the advancing German army.

On the night of 25^th August 1914, units of the British I Corps, 2^nd Division, halted at the villages of Noyelles (5^th Brigade and XXXVI Brigade RFA), Maroilles (6^th Brigade and XXXIV Brigade RFA), and Landrecies (4^th (Guards) Brigade, XLI Field and XLIV Howitzer Brigades). A troop of the 15^th Hussars, the divisional cavalry of 2^nd Division, occupied the bridge at Maroilles.

The British Guards reached Landrecies during the afternoon of 25^th August 1914, at the end of a ‘hurried and painful march’. 3^rd Coldstream was the first battalion into Landrecies, and took up quarters in the French infantry barracks to the north of the town.

The pursuing Germans pushed forward to seize the crossings over the Sambre River at Ponts de Sambre, Maroilles and Landrecies, the German III and IV Corps moving south-east, through and around the Forest of Mormal. The Germans were not expecting the BEF still to be on the Sambre River and were pressing on to spend the night in comfortable billets in those towns.

The battle at Landrecies was as much a surprise for the Germans as it was for the British Guards; the German regimental transport was one of the leading formations when the fighting started, hurrying forward to ensure that there was a hot meal for the exhausted infantry, when they reached their destination.

The Grenadier Guard’s history states that a 15^th Hussar rode into Landrecies at 4pm, with information that German troops were approaching. The 4^th Guards Brigade turned out and took up positions throughout the town, but stood down when no attack materialised.

In Maroilles, which was occupied by the British 6^th Brigade, at around 5.30pm, there were rumours among the French civilian population that German troops were in the vicinity. The rumours were discounted, to the extent that the local mayor refused permission to the troop leader of the 15^th Hussars, to destroy a house near the bridge that obstructed the hussars’ field of fire.

In Landrecies, the information from the French civilians was more specific: the Germans were advancing on the town from the north-west.

The rumours of the German approach caused the battalions of the 4^th (Guards) Brigade to adopt defensive positions around Landrecies: 3^rd Coldstream at the northern end of the town, 2^nd Grenadiers on the western side, 2^nd Coldstream on the eastern and southern edges of the town, and 1st Irish Guards fortifying the centre.

Number 2 Company of 3^rd Coldstream Guards, commanded by Captain Heywood, was in position at the northern end of the town, where the road to the north-west forked into two routes, both leading around the southern end of the Forest of Mormal. The battalion machine gun section deployed at the forks, with one gun aimed down each road.

2^nd Grenadiers were posted with Number 2 and 3 Companies, under Major Lord Bernard Lennox, at the railway level-crossing, deployed to either side of the road. Number 1 Company, under Major Hamilton, occupied positions on the left of these companies. Number 4 Company, under Captain Colston, held the bridge over the Sambre River. The battalion was directed to barricade the main street leading north, which they did using the battalion’s tool carts, leaving them immobile and thereby depriving the battalion of the tools for the rest of the campaign. Houses along the road were occupied and put in a state of defence.

During the afternoon, Number 2 Company of 3^rd Coldstream Guards engaged German mounted patrols and drove them off, thus confirming the French reports.

One German Uhlan patrol was reported as penetrating, unopposed, into the centre of Landrecies (in fact they were Hussars: but the British tended to describe all German cavalry as ‘Uhlans’). These various attacks and the Uhlan incursion made the point forcibly to the brigade, that they could not assume, as they had until then, that there were other British infantry brigades between them and the Germans; the assumption being that the Germans would pursue the I Corps down the east side of the Forest of Mormal, rather than marching diagonally north-west to south-east through the forest, or around it to the south.

At 7pm, Heywood’s Number 2 Company of 3^rd Coldstream was relieved by Captain Monck’s Number 3 Company. Monck received reports that French troops were expected through his position. In due course, a body of troops approached in the dusk, singing in French. Monck shouted a challenge and was answered in French. A flashlight was shined on the approaching troops. The leading files seemed to be in French uniforms, but they were followed by German troops (this seems likely to have been a misidentification in the dark, perhaps arising because the German troops in question were wearing forage hats and not helmets). Before the Coldstreamers could open fire, the Germans rushed the forward piquet, bayoneted the gunner at the machine gun, and dragged his gun away. Monck was knocked over in the rush. The piquet opened fire and the machine gun was recovered, the Germans falling back in the face of the British retaliation.

With this attack, the brigade resumed the defensive positions prepared earlier in the evening.

During the night, the Germans launched repeated attacks down the two roads from the North West, all of which were held and driven back by 3^rd Coldstream. The position of a farm building at the right hand end of the British line enabled the Germans to enfilade the Coldstream with a machine gun. The Germans were supported by a field gun, firing up the road. This gunfire set a haystack near the Coldstream line on fire. The sudden blaze illuminated the British troops, and made them easy targets. Private 5854 G. H. Wyatt rushed forward and put out the blaze, under fire from the Germans, who were within 25 yards. Again, the stack was ignited and again Wyatt put the flames out.

One of the German attacks, infiltrating round the left flank of 3^rd Coldstream, reached as far as the railway station, where it was repelled by the Grenadiers of Number 2 Company, commanded by Major Lord Bernard Lennox.

The Grenadiers machine gun section, commanded by Lieutenant Cecil, moved forward and provided additional support to the 3^rd Coldstream, who were suffering from the fire of the single German field gun, directed down the street.

The 3^rd Coldstream Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Fielding, brought up a howitzer from the supporting RFA battery. The howitzer was manhandled up to the level-crossing and opened fire on the German gun. The third round put the German gun out of action.

German attacks had also fallen on the east of the town. 1^st Irish Guards launched a counter-attack in that area, at around 3am. The German attacks on the town lost their momentum and finally ceased in the early hours of 26^th August 1914.

3^rd Coldstream fell back into the town; their positions being taken over by 1^st Irish Guards.

At dawn, the 4^th (Guards) Brigade marched out of Landrecies to the south, heading for Étreux, unimpeded by the Germans. Instead of much needed rest, the brigade had spent the night fighting.

Many of the soldiers had left their kit in billets and were unable to retrieve it in the hurried withdrawal. During the next day the soldiers fell asleep, whenever there was a pause in the march and could only be roused with difficulty.

As the brigade left Landrecies, the brigade’s field ambulance, Number 4, was ordered into the town to bring out the wounded left behind from the battle.

B and C sections of the ambulance moved back into Landrecies, passing the battalions as they marched south. The Germans occupied the town, while the British RAMC troops were still collecting the wounded and the British medical staff and wounded were taken prisoner (10 medical officers up to the rank of colonel were captured). Only A section of the divisional ambulance escaped capture.

Casualties at the Battle of Landrecies:
Most of the British casualties were suffered by 3^rd Coldstream Guards, which lost 2 officers, Lieutenants Viscount Hawarden and Lieutenant Windsor-Clive and 12 soldiers killed, and 3 officers, Captain Whitbread and Lieutenants Keppel and Rowley and 105 soldiers wounded, with 11 soldiers missing, presumed killed or captured (Lieutenant Keppel was captured by the Germans). 2^nd Grenadier Guards lost 1 officer killed, Lieutenant Vereker and 6 soldiers wounded. Overall British casualties were given as 200, the balance being from the 2nd Coldstream, 1st Irish Guards and other units.

GHQ BEF estimated German casualties at between 700 and 1,000 men.

In fact, the Germans lost 4 officers and 48 soldiers killed, 4 officers and 69 soldiers wounded, with 2 soldiers missing: a total of 127 casualties.

Aftermath to the Battle of Landrecies: 
During the 26^th August 1914, the 4^th (Guards) fell back to Étreux, where the brigade dug in. During the day’s march, the soldiers could hear firing from the West, where II Corps was fighting the Battle of Le Cateau.

A German aeroplane flew over the positions of 2^nd Grenadiers, and dropped a bomb. Every soldier in the area, who had a weapon, opened fire on the aeroplane, which crashed about a mile away. A cavalry patrol found the crew to be 3 German officers, 2 dead and 1 wounded.

The 3^rd Coldstream Guards claimed that it was their Number 3 Company, under Captain Monk, that brought the aeroplane down.

Decorations and campaign medals for the Battle of Landrecies:
Private 5854 G.H. Wyatt of 3rd Coldstream Guards received the Victoria Cross for putting out the burning hay on two occasions, and also for his valour at the subsequent Battle of Villers Cottérêts

Anecdotes and traditions from the Battle of Landrecies:

• Landrecies was the first action for the 3^rd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards, re-formed in 1910, having been disbanded in 1892.

 

References for the Battle of Landrecies:
Official History of the Great War Volume 1
History of the 2nd Division 1914-1918 Volume 1 by Wyrall
The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918 Volume 1 by Ponsonby
The Coldstream Guards 1914-1918 Volume 1 by Ross of Bladensburg
The Irish Guards in the Great War 1st Battalion by Kipling

The previous battle in the British Battles sequence is the Battle of Mons (2^nd Day): Elouges

The next battle in the First World War is the Battle of Le Cateau

To the First World War index