Action at Néry The Action at Néry was a skirmish fought on 1 September 1914 between the British Army and the German Army , part of the Great Retreat from Mons during the early stages of the First World War . A British cavalry brigade preparing to leave their overnight bivouac were attacked by a German cavalry division of about twice their strength shortly after dawn . Both sides fought dismounted ; the British artillery was mostly put out of action in the first few minutes , but a single gun of L Battery , Royal Horse Artillery successfully kept up a steady fire for two and a half hours against a full battery of German artillery . British reinforcements arrived at around 8 am , counter - attacking the German forces and forcing them to retreat ; the German division was routed and did not return to combat for several days . Three men of L Battery were awarded the Victoria Cross for their part in the battle , and the battery itself was later awarded the honour title of " Néry " , the only British Army unit to have this as a battle honour . Background . After the British and German armies first encountered each other at the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914 , the outnumbered British Expeditionary Force had begun to fall back in front of a stronger German army . The two clashed again at the Battle of Le Cateau on 26 August , after which the British again retreated towards the River Marne . The retreat was orderly and disciplined ; the German command mistakenly believed the British force was shattered and so neglected to aggressively harass them as they withdrew . As a result , the bulk of the Expeditionary Force was able to retreat for several days without engaging in any major fighting ; the German pursuit was leisurely , and most engagements were skirmishes between rearguard units and cavalry patrols , rarely more than a battalion in strength . On the 31 August , the Expeditionary Force continued falling back to the south - west , crossing the River Aisne between Soissons and Compiegne , with a rear guard provided by the brigades of the Cavalry Division . The day ' s march was cut short by the warm weather , which exhausted the already fatigued infantry , and they halted for the night just south of the Aisne . The I Corps bivouacked north of the forest around Villiers - Cotterets , with the II Corps to their south - west at Crepy - en - Valois , and the III Corps further to the west around Verberie . This left a gap of around five miles between the II and III Corps , which was filled by the 1st Cavalry Brigade , stationed at the village of Néry . The brigade had spent the day scouting for the German vanguard to the north - west of Compigne , and did not reach its rest area until dusk , around 8 . 30pm . The British plan for the following day was for a march of ten to fourteen miles southwards to a new defensive line , which called for an early departure from their rest areas ; the III Corps rearguards were expected to pass through Néry by 6 am , which would already have been vacated by the cavalry . However , most units had reached their overnight stations quite late on the 31st , and so General Pulteney , the corps commander , ordered a later departure . Behind the retreating British forces , the German First Army on the right wing had begun to swing south , aiming to cross the river Oise around Compiegne , with the goal of cutting off the retreat of the French Fifth Army and isolating Paris . On the afternoon of the 31 August , the 5th Division was identified about eight miles north - west of Compiegne and heading southwards , whilst the leading cavalry divisions of the army crossed the Oise north of Compiegne around the same time . The German units were on a forced march , ordered to reconnoitre towards Paris with all possible speed , and had begun moving at 4 am that morning . Many would continue through the following night ; some prisoners at Néry said that they had been travelling for twenty - six hours without sleep . However , they pressed on regardless of fatigue ; one regimental commander responded to complaints that his men were being pushed too hard with the curt remark that " sweat saves blood " . The first contact between the armies that evening was just after nightfall , when the 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers of III Corps encountered a patrol of the 8 . Husaren - Regiment , of the 9th Cavalry Division , outside Verberie , on the extreme west flank of the British force . Prelude . On the British side , the 1st Cavalry Brigade bivouacked at Néry consisted of three cavalry regiments under the command of Brigadier - General Sir Charles Briggs : the 2nd Dragoon Guards ( Queen ' s Bays ) , 5th ( Princess Charlotte of Wales ' s ) Dragoon Guards , and 11th ( Prince Albert ' s Own ) Hussars . Each had a nominal strength of 549 men in three squadrons , with two Vickers machine - guns ; They were supported by L Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery , which had a nominal strength of 205 men with six 13 - pounder guns . Both units were part of the Expeditionary Force ' s Cavalry Division , and had seen action throughout the Retreat from Mons , including fighting at the Battle of Mons and the Battle of Le Cateau , but neither had taken heavy casualties , and were still close to establishment size . The German forces were screened on their southern flank by five cavalry divisions . One of these , the 4th Cavalry Division , had crossed the Oise during the 31 August and moved towards Néry , apparently unaware of the presence of British forces in the area . Commanded by General Otto von Garnier , the division consisted of six 722 - man cavalry regiments in three brigades , along with a divisional artillery battalion of twelve guns , a battery of six machine - guns , and two " Jäger " ( light infantry ) battalions , each with a further six machine - guns ; the total strength was around 5 , 200 men . The divisional units were the " 3 . Kavallerie - Brigade " ( " 2 . Kürassier - Regiment " and " 9 . Ulanen - Regiment " ) commanded by Karl Leopold Graf von der Goltz , the " 17 . Kavallerie - Brigade " ( " 17 . " and " 18 . Dragoner - Regiment " ) commanded by Ernst Graf von Schimmelmann , and the " 18 . Kavallerie - Brigade " ( " 15 . " and " 16 . Husaren - Regiment " ) commanded by Walther von Printz . Battle . Néry is set in a north - south oriented valley around a small river , which feeds into the River Autonne to the north ; it is overlooked from the east and west by high bluffs . The main landmark was a sugar factory , just south of the village , where L Battery were billeted ; the cavalry regiments were stationed in and around the village proper . Dawn on 1 September came with heavy fog lying in the valley ; the force had been awakened and prepared for a move at 4 . 30 am , but due to the terrible visibility it was decided to wait an hour and a half for the mist to clear , and the men stood down to rest , water the horses , and prepare breakfast . The teams for the artillery were left harnessed to their guns , but with the limbers lowered to take the weight off the horses . At 5 . 25 am , a patrol from the 11th Hussars , which had been sent out to the south - east , encountered a strong force of enemy cavalry and escaped back to the village ; the regiment quickly took up dismounted defensive positions along the eastern edge of the village , though the commander of the 5th Dragoon Guards refused to believe an attack was imminent . At 5 . 40 am , firing began from the heights overlooking the village from the east , supported by machine - guns and light artillery . This was the advanced guard of the 4th Cavalry Division , which had been surprised to encounter a British force , and signalled that it had unexpectedly " been surrounded by considerable hostile forces " . However , the commander , General von Garnier , sized up the situation and quickly ordered a dismounted attack on the village . The effects of the fire from the heights were dramatic ; the riderless horses of the 2nd Dragoon Guards took fright and bolted along the road northwards , whilst the artillery was immobilised and forced to remain in the firing line . One of the first casualties was the commander of the battery , Major Sclater - Booth , who was knocked unconscious as he ran towards the guns ; the second - in - command of the battery , Captain Bradbury , took charge , and managed to get three guns moved into firing positions , facing twelve field guns on the ridge to the east . Two were quickly knocked out , leaving only one gun , under the direction of Captain Bradbury assisted by Sergeant Nelson and three other men . It kept up a steady fire , drawing the attention of the German artillery away from the cavalry , until its ammunition was almost exhausted ; Bradbury was hit by a shell whilst trying to fetch more ammunition , and fatally wounded . The gun continued firing under Nelson and Battery Sergeant - Major Dorrell , but finally fell silent sometime before 8am , when reinforcements arrived . Whilst Bradbury kept the gun in action , the men of the cavalry regiments had moved into position , on foot , along the eastern edge of the village to prevent an attack by the dismounted German cavalry . At 6am , two squadrons of the 5th Dragoon Guards were sent north to try to outflank the attackers , looping around to the east and pressing in to hold them in place . By the time Bradbury ' s gun stopped firing , the first reinforcements from III Corps had arrived ; the 4th Cavalry Brigade with I Battery RHA , and two battalions of infantry . I Battery began firing directly on the German guns , now exposed by the clearing mist , as did the machine guns of the 1st Middlesex Regiment ; the German horses took heavy casualties , and when the artillery withdrew eight of the guns had to be abandoned for lack of horses to pull them . A squadron of the 11th Hussars passed through to pursue the retreating Germans for a mile , taking seventy - eight prisoners , from all six regiments of the German division . Aftermath . L Battery was almost destroyed as an operational unit in the engagement , losing all five officers and a quarter of its men , and was withdrawn to England in order to reform . It did not see active service again until April 1915 , when it was sent to Gallipoli . The three cavalry regiments of 1st Brigade suffered less , taking eighty - one casualties between them , one of whom was Colonel Ansell , the commanding officer of the 5th Dragoon Guards . The brigade major of 1st Brigade , Major John Cawley , was also killed . Three men of L Battery were awarded the Victoria Cross for their services at Néry ; Captain Edward Bradbury , Battery Sergeant - Major George Dorrell , and Sergeant David Nelson . Bradbury was fatally wounded at the end of the fighting , dying shortly afterwards ; Nelson was killed in action in April 1918 , whilst Dorrell survived the war . Both Dorrell and Nelson were also given commissions as second lieutenants ; they would later reach the rank of Lieutenant - Colonel and Major respectively . The VCs awarded to all three , along with the surviving gun which they had used , are now on display at the Imperial War Museum in London . Lieutenant Giffard of L Battery , who survived , was awarded the French Croix de Chevalier of the Légion d ' honneur , and two men from the battery were awarded the Medaille Militaire . The lieutenant commanding the machine - gun section of 2nd Dragoon Guards was awarded the Distinguished Service Order , with two of his men receiving the Distinguished Conduct Medal . L Battery was later awarded the honour title of " Néry " ; it was the only unit to be awarded this as a battle honour , although it was applied for by both the 5th Dragoon Guards and the 11th Hussars . The other participating units received the honour Retreat from Mons . The 4th Cavalry Division , conversely , was almost completely routed . Its actual casualties are unknown , though were thought to be greater than the British losses , and eight of their twelve guns were captured by the counterattack of the Middlesex Regiment . The brigades were ordered to disperse – according to one officer , they " had to withdraw or be destroyed " when the strength of the British reinforcements became apparent , and scattered in various directions . The Germans either moved north into the Compiègne Forest or east towards Crépy - en - Valois , but hearing fighting at Crepy doubled back to the south - east . They halted in the forests around Rosières , south of Néry ; however , they were forced to abandon their remaining four guns , and most of their food and ammunition in the process . That afternoon , the cavalry observed the British columns retreating south along the roads , but were unable to attack them because of their lack of supplies . They left Rosières in the evening of 1 September ; a patrol of the 1st Rifle Brigade entered the village at 7pm and found it had just been abandoned by a cavalry unit , leaving in such haste that they had abandoned a machine - gun . The bulk of the units managed to rejoin the First Army by the morning of 3 September , but the division was left behind with a reserve corps on 4 September when the II Cavalry Corps began to advance again .