The Battle of treux

The memorable rear-guard action by 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers, in which the battalion held
up the German advance for much of the day
Date: 27th August 1914.
Place: In North East France, to the east of St Quentin.
War: The First World War also known as The Great War.
Contestants: The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) against the German First Army. This
battle was an action by a small British force, acting as rearguard for the BEF I Corps, against
the pursuing German formations from the German First Army.

C Company 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers marching to PT in Aldershot before leaving
for France. Within 1 month of arriving in France in August 1914, all the members of C
Company were either dead or prisoners following the Battle of treux on 27th August
1914
Generals: Field-Marshal Sir J ohn French commanding the British Expeditionary Force
(BEF) with Lieutenant-General Sir Douglas Haig commanding I Corps and General Sir
Horace Smith-Dorrien commanding II Corps, against General von Kluck commanding the
German First Army and General Blow commanding the German Second Army.
Size of the Armies:
The BEF comprised 2 corps of infantry, I and II Corps, the 4th Division, the 19th
Independent Infantry Brigade and the Cavalry Division; 110,000 men and 330 guns.
The British formation engaged in the Battle at treux was: 1st Guards Brigade of the 1st
Division of I Corps: 1st Coldstream Guards, 1st Scots Guards, 1st Black Watch and 2nd
Royal Munster Fusiliers with 1 troop from 15th Hussars and 1 section comprising 2 guns
from 118th Battery RFA.
2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers comprised A, B, C and D Companies and the battalion Machine
Gun Section.
The German troops engaged were from X Reserve Corps of the 2nd Army.
The BEF at this stage in the Great War comprised around 30% current regular soldiers and
70% reservists with previous service in the Regular British Army. The British Army was the
only major European army with recent experience of active service; in South Africa in the
Boer War from 1899 to 1901 and on the North West Frontier of India. The German Army
had not fought a war since the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-1.
In these early battles of the Great War, the British soldiers outfought the Germans, although
forced to retreat by pressure of numbers and the withdrawal of the French armies on their
flanks. The British units ability to move about the battlefield in cover, and their facility to
deliver high rates of accurate rifle fire repeatedly enabled them to repel attacks by massed
German infantry. The British artillery units consistently provided support to the infantry with
accurate gunfire, while manoeuvring about the battlefield with speed and resource.
This was the force the Kaiser described as a Contemptible Little Army. German officers
were stunned by the way the British troops brought the German attacks to a standstill time
and again.
During the course of 1914, the old British army melted away as the casualties caused by
artillery, machine gun and rifle fire mounted, until the Contemptibles were largely gone, to
be replaced by the new mass British Army of war-time volunteers and conscripts.
The courage and technical ability of the units in the BEF during 1914 is striking.

Battle of treux 27th August 1914 at 1pm : Map by John Fawkes
Account:
The II Corps of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) spent the 26th August 1914 contesting
the area to the west of Le Cateau with the pursuing Germans, assisted by the Cavalry
Division, the 19th Infantry Brigade, and the newly arrived 4th Division.
During the 26th August, the I Corps, comprising 1st and 2nd Divisions, commanded by
Lieutenant-General Sir Douglas Haig, marched south from the area of Landrecies, on the
edges of the Forest of Mormal, towards the town of Guise. This route was essentially down
the east bank of the Sambre and the Oise Rivers and canal.
An
aerial photograph showing the field layout on either side of the Sambre and Oise Canal
at Oisy
In order to pass through Guise, the only available route south lying on the east side of the
Oise River, the I Corps transport was channelled through the town in 2 streams under careful
supervision by corps staff officers. Only once the transport was clear of the town could the
fighting formations pass through to the south.
The pursuing Germans were reported to be in significant strength and closing in on I Corps
from the north and the north east.
An erroneous report put the Germans just to the north of St Quentin, to the west of I Corps,
adding to the urgency to pass the Corps through Guise as quickly as possible.
The fighting formations of I Corps were due to pass through the town of treux, 5 miles to
the north of Guise, where they were to be re-supplied. These formations spent the night of
the 26th/27th August 1914 in the area around and to the north of treux.
The I Corps rear guard was deployed to the north of treux, in order to keep the Germans off
the high ground between Wassigny, to the west of the Oise Canal, and Fesmy, just east of the
road to Guise. The rear guard was expected to keep the Germans to the north of treux until
the 1st and 2nd Divisions were clear of this town and heading south towards Guise, which
was expected to be during the course of 27th August.

The Sambre and Oise Canal north of Oisy
The covering units for I Corps, all taken from the 1st Division, were 1st (Guards) Brigade as
the rear-guard, 2nd Brigade posted to the west of the canal, in the area of Wassigny, and the
2nd Welch Regiment, from 3rd Brigade, with 46th Battery RFA, as a guard to the east. The
5th Cavalry Brigade was marching down the west bank of the Oise.
With this cover, the Corps moved, with the 2nd Division leading the 1st Division, through
treux and on through Guise south-west down the east bank of the Oise River.
Of the 4 battalions of 1st (Guards) Brigade; 1st Coldstream Guards, 1st Scots Guards, 1st
Black Watch and 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers, the Royal Munster Fusiliers were given the
post of ultimate rear guard for the Corps.

D Company 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers at Tidworth in 1912 (this D Company will not
have been the same D Company that fought in 1914, as in 1913 the companies in
infantry battalions were doubled in size and halved in number, so that each battalion
had 4 companies instead of the previous 8; each new company absorbing 2 of the
previous companies, with a company sergeant major as the senior non-commissioned
rank in place of the colour-sergeants)
The Royal Munster Fusiliers bivouacked on the night of 26th/27th August at Fesmy, on the
road that ran south east from the main Landrecies to Guise road. D Company of the
battalion, commanded by Captain Simms, was positioned at the cross roads at a village called
Hautrve. This village is called in all the main accounts Chapeau Rouge (and will be in this
account from here on), although Chapeau Rouge is in fact a village some quarter of a mile
west of the cross roads.
1st Scots Guards lay in positions towards Wassigny on the west side of the canal. 1st
Coldstream Guards held positions on both sides of the canal, at the point where the road
crossed the canal to the west bank and ran south for about 2 miles, before crossing back to the
east bank at treux.
The Machine Gun section of 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers at Aldershot immediately
before the outbreak of war in August 1914. Lieutenant Chute is in the centre with
Sergeant Johnson to his right
1st Black Watch lay in reserve on the west bank of the canal at treux, where they dug
entrenchments along the railway embankment; entrenchments later used by German troops to
hold back the Royal Munster Fusiliers.
2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers comprised A, B, C and D companies and a 2 gun Machine Gun
Section. With the Royal Munster Fusiliers was a 2 gun section from 118th Battery, RFA, and
a troop of the 15th Hussars, the divisional cavalry regiment (the Official History refers to 2
troops, but accounts from officers present refer to only 1 troop).
The Royal Munster Fusiliers and the accompanying units were commanded by Major Paul
Charrier, the acting commanding officer of the battalion. Charrier was a large, lively
personality, who wore a hot weather service topee helmet, with a green and white Munsters
hackle on the side, rather than a conventional service cap.

The memorial marking the grave of the Royal Munster Fusiliers officers killed on 27th
August 1914, erected soon after the battle.
The Welch Regiment, with its accompanying battery, lay to the south east of Bergues, the
next village to the south east of Fesmy. Bergues itself was occupied overnight by French
troops.
The countryside was agricultural and divided into small fields, bordered by thick hedges inset
with wire. For the troops of both sides this was extremely difficult countryside to cross,
forcing attacks to be made principally down the roads. Considerable use was made of the
drainage ditches along the roadsides for movement in cover.
The weather on the morning of the 27th August was misty, with heavy rain storms following
during the day.
At 4am on 27th August, Major Charrier sent D Company, under Captain J ervis, to re-enforce
C Company at the Chapeau Rouge cross-roads.
The Royal Munster Fusiliers got under arms at dawn, as did the rest of the brigade.
At 8am, battalion scouts reported to Major Charrier that the French had left Bergues and that
the village was unoccupied. Charrier sent of A Company, under Captain Woods, to hold
Bergues.
At 9am German cavalry vedettes came down the Landrecies road towards the Chapeau
Rouge cross roads. However they fell back without engaging.
At around the same time, a German column of all arms was seen advancing from Le Sart to
the north east of the main battalion positions, but also retreated.
By 9.30am, all was again quiet on the battalions front. Charrier received a message from the
commanding officer of the 2nd Welch, that his battalion was retiring to Bou to the south of
Fesmy.
Charrier also received orders from Brigadier-General Maxse, commanding 1st (Guards)
Brigade, that the Royal Munster Fusiliers were to stay in place around Fesmy until
specifically ordered to retreat or they were forced out.
At 10.30am, the German attacks on the Royal Munster Fusiliers began. The first attack was
on A Company at Bergues. There was also a build up of German troops on the road
approaching the Chapeau Rouge cross roads. The 2 gun section from 118th Battery, RFA,
began firing to the north west on the German concentrations menacing Chapeau Rouge. At
the Chapeau Rouge cross-roads B and D Companies were well dug in.

Major Paul Charrier, officer commanding
2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers at
the Battle of treux on 27th August 1914.
Major Charrier was killed in the action. Charrier
habitually wore his pith helmet, from tropical
service, rather than a conventional service cap.
Charrier sent the troop of 15th Hussars to reinforce A Company at Bergues. He also sent
further platoons from A Company. Of these only the cavalry and Captain Emmerson with
some of the A Company men managed to get through to Bergues.
At 11am, 3rd Brigade moved south from Oisy towards treux, as part of the 1st Divisions
continuing retreat towards Guise. At around this time 2nd Welch reached Bou on their way
south.
In the centre of the Royal Munster Fusiliers positions the Germans began what was described
at the time as a brisk attack. The Munsters replied with heavy rifle, machine gun and gun
fire. This attack continued to build up from the direction of Le Sart in the north east.
At midday, instructions arrived from Brigadier-General Maxse, directing that the battalion
could withdraw via Bou, when the time came. Charrier had informed Maxse that this was
his preferred route. No time was given for the withdrawal.
Also at around midday, a German aeroplane flew over the battalion positions, attracting a
considerable amount of small arms fire which did it no apparent damage. It began to rain
heavily.
At 12.20pm, treux finally cleared of transport and the I Corps fighting formations were free
to continue the retreat. At 1pm Brigadier-General Maxse sent out orders to his 4 battalions to
retreat at once. 2 copies were sent to each battalion, apparently by cyclist, but neither copy
reached the Royal Munster Fusiliers.
At 1pm the Germans began a heavy attack on the Chapeau Rouge cross-roads. B and D
companies fell back down the road to the main battalion positions around Fesmy, without
suffering loss. The guns of 118th Battery were now firing on the German troops in the area
Le Sart.
At around 1.15pm the Germans launched an attack on Fesmy from the direction of Le Sart
with artillery support. The Royal Munster Fusiliers responded with gun and rifle fire and
with the fire of their 2 gun machine gun section, commanded by Lieutenant Chute.
During the ensuing battle, Chutes machine guns were at the forefront in holding off the
repeated German attacks, firing down the roads at the advancing columns.
To try and shield themselves from the heavy small arms fire from the Munsters, the German
infantry advanced down the Le Sart road behind herds of cows. All the Germans who
penetrated into the Munsters positions became casualties or prisoners.

Transport section 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers in Tidworth in 1912
At 1.15pm Charrier sent a message to Brigadier-General Maxse: Am holding on to position
north of Fesmy village, being attacked by force of all arms. Getting on well. The Germans
are driving cattle in front of them up to us for cover. We are killing plenty of them.
At this time Charrier despatched a platoon from A Company to join the Munsters/15th
Hussars at Bergues. The platoon was driven back by the Germans and failed to reach
Bergues. By this time the party in Bergues was itself being driven out of the village and was
falling back towards Bou.
At around 1.50pm Charrier sent a message to Brigadier-General Maxse saying: We have
German wounded prisoners, who say that about two regiments are opposing us and some
guns. They belong to the 15th Regiment.
In fact the German regiment was the 15th Reserve Infantry Regiment.
At around 2pm, 2nd Brigade marched from Wassigny to Hannapes, to the south of treux,
taking the road down the west bank of the canal. This left the 1st (Guards) Brigade as the last
units facing the Germans advancing on treux.
At 2.30pm, although neither of the messages from Maxse had reached the Munsters, Charrier
made the decision to withdraw towards Oisy. His original plan, approved by Maxse, to take
the route through Bergues and Bou was no longer possible due to the German occupation of
Bergues.

2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers at Tidworth in 1912
The withdrawal began with D Company out as a left flank guard and B Company out on the
right. Munster casualties at this stage were still light. Progress was slow due to the difficult
hedging surrounding each of the small fields in the area.
C Company brought up the rear and was subject to vigorous German attacks. The rear guard
was engaged closely and fell well behind the rest of the companies, finally catching up at
around 5.45pm.
At 3pm, the cyclist from 1st (Guards) Brigade Headquarters reached Oisy, after a substantial
Odyssey around the countryside looking for the Munsters, pursued and shot at by various
parties of German troops. The cyclist delivered Maxses retreat at once order of 1pm to 2nd
Coldstream Guards and the Coldstream prepared to march south towards treux.
At around this time, the A Company of the Munsters arrived from Bergues with the troop
of the 15th Hussars at Oisy. The Coldstream handed over the guard on the 2 canal bridges, 1
permanent and 1 built by the Royal Engineers, to the A Company Munsters, before marching
south to treux. The 2 bridges had been prepared for demolition, but were not destroyed as
this was now the only route for the main body of the Munsters, the Bergues-Bou road being
occupied by the Germans.

The machine gunners of 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers
The withdrawal and march south from Oisy by the Coldstream began at 3.30pm.
At around 4pm, strong German cavalry forces were seen to the west of Wassigny and were
engaged by the British guns at Maison Rouge. The Germans were now hard on the heels of
the 1st (Guards) Brigade.
It is not clear at precisely what time Charriers main body of Munsters (B, C, D Companies
and the remainder of A Company and Chutes Machine Gun section with the 2 gun section of
118th Battery, RFA) crossed the canal and reached Oisy. It was probably around 5pm.
C Company was left as the bridge guard, with a detachment under Lieutenant Awdry holding
the north of Oisy.
Charrier continued south towards treux with A, B and D Companies, the machine guns, and
the 2 RFA guns. To his rear, C Company withdrew down the road from Oisy, under covering
fire from Chutes 2 machine guns.

Battle of treux 27th August 1914 at 6.30pm : Map by John Fawkes
At around 6pm, Charriers leading troops approached the outskirts of treux. German
soldiers were in the road ahead of them. It was clear that the Munsters were cut off.
The road into treux was blocked by 6 battalions of the German 73rd and 77th Reserve
Infantry Regiments supported by a number of machine guns. The German infantry had
occupied and loop-holed the first house in treux, on the west side of the road, and were
positioned in and around the other houses in the northern outskirts of treux. Several
German battalions were holding the trenches dug by the Black Watch earlier in the day along
the railway embankment, which cut across the road. There were further German infantry and
guns on the far bank of the canal a mile to the east. More German infantry and cavalry were
closing in from the west. Substantial German forces were following up behind C Company
from the North.
A farmhouse on the east side of the Oisy-treux road burst into flames. This seemed to act as
a signal to the various German forces surrounding the area. It would be a fair description to
say that all hell was now let loose as the German troops opened fire on the Munsters from
south, east and west.
The 2 guns of 118th Battery came into action against the German batteries on the far side of
the canal, but after a full day of firing they were low on ammunition. Positioned on the road
the guns had no cover, and a number of British gunners and horses were quickly shot down.
To escape to the south, Charrier decided that his only course was to attack into treux, and
try to clear the Germans from his path to the bridge and into the main part of the town.
Second Lieutenant OMalley was sent to direct C Company to hold the rear, which he did by
bicycle, managing to avoid the storm of fire being laid on the road. 2 ammunition carts were
sent back to re-supply C Company with ammunition.
Lieutenant Chute brought his machine guns up from the rear to support the attack and D
Company moved into an orchard on the east side of the road.
Charrier, with his adjutant Captain Wise, led B Company in an attack on the loop-holed
house. of A Company came up in support. B Company was heavily engaged with fire
from both sides of the road. The attack failed and Charrier was wounded. Wise managed to
reach the house and fired his revolver through a loop-hole before being stunned by falling
masonry.
In spite of his wound, Charrier led a second attack on the loop-holed house. This attack also
failed, under the heavy fire from the house and the German infantry around the house and in
the entrenchments along the railway embankment. Captain Simms, the company commander
of B Company, was killed.
Company Sergeant Major McEvoy, the CSM of B Company, went back to bring up re-
enforcements, calling Come on boys. The Irish never lost a Fridays battle yet.
Charrier led a third attack on the loop-holed house which also failed in the face of the heavy
fire.
The Munsters were now suffering heavy casualties under the relentless fire from all sides by
rifles, machine guns and field guns.
While directing his machine guns, Lieutenant Chute ran across the road. He was struck by 2
bullets and killed. Sergeant J ohnson continued in command of the 2 machine guns, firing
until all the ammunition was exhausted, whereupon J ohnson and his gunners smashed the
guns.
1 of the 118th Battery field guns was knocked out by the gunfire from the east side of the
canal. Charrier brought the second gun up to fire on the loop-holed house, but all the gun
crew and team horses were shot down by rifle and machine gun fire from the town.
Charrier now ordered C Company up in support of B and A Companies, in their assault on
the loop-holed house, and directed D Company, under Captain J ervis, to launch an attack on
the Germans in the entrenchments along the railway embankment.
It may be that Charrier hoped to clear an alternative route to the bridge, or still intended to
capture the loop-holed house, once its support was driven off.
J ervis took his men along a sunken lane towards the embankment and launched his attack
from the cover of the lane, moving forward by alternate rushes to within 70 yards of the
Germans, and then charging, supported by the fire of one of the A Company platoons. All
the officers and soldiers in D Company were shot down in the attack, except J ervis himself,
who was captured.
Charrier was wounded for a second time as he directed his troops from the road. Shortly
afterwards he was in the road by the disabled gun, when he was shot again and killed.
The time was 7pm. The Munsters were under heavy attack from the south, east and
west. The battalion, under the command of Captain Hall, fell back to the orchard, where Hall
was wounded.
Command now fell on Lieutenant E.W. Gower, the senior unwounded officer. The battalion
resisted repeated attacks on the orchard until 9.15pm, when, with ammunition virtually spent,
the battalion was overwhelmed and the survivors taken prisoner.

Colours and the battalions colour sergeants of 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers with the
then commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Boyle, in Tidworth in 1912
Casualties:
The casualties in the battle on the British side were substantially from 2nd Battalion Royal
Munster Fusiliers.
Of the Munsters, 4 officers and 256 soldiers, wounded and unwounded, were captured in the
orchard, when the battalion was finally overrun. In the whole battle, 6 officers and around
500 soldiers of the battalion were made prisoner, many of them incapacitated by wounds.
It is not known what casualties were suffered by the 15th Hussars troop or the section of
118th Battery. Probably most, if not all, of the hussars and gunners were either casualties or
captured.
The next day the Germans caused parties of Munsters to collect the battalions dead and
wounded from across the battlefield. The Germans permitted the Munsters to create a
graveyard in the orchard and a memorial was built for the dead officers.

Tug of War team of 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers in Tidworth in 1912
The Munsters officers killed in the battle and buried in the orchard were: Major Charrier,
Captains Simms MVO and Barrett, Lieutenants Styles, Chute, Phayre and Awdry and Second
Lieutenants Crozier and Sullivan. 82 soldiers from the battalion were buried in the orchard.
The soldiers from 118th Battery buried in the orchard comprised Battery Sergeant Major
Strutt and 6 others. 1 private from the 15th (Kings) Hussars is buried in the orchard.
The Musters officers wounded in the battle were Captains Hall, Wise and Rawlins,
Lieutenant Deane-Drake and Second Lieutenants Moseley, Thomas, Green and White
Haddon.

A platoon of 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers in Tidworth in 1912
Munsters reported that, after the battle, many buildings in treux were used to house German
wounded, which seemed to number around 1,500. It would be reasonable to assume that the
Germans suffered around 2,000 casualties in all during the battle. This would have been
more than double the size of the Munster force.
The Munster prisoners reported that the German Corps Commander was furious when he
realised the size of the force he had been fighting. Lower ranking German soldiers were
complimentary of the conduct of the Munsters in resisting for so long and with such vigour.

Lieutenant Harry Newsom, 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers, an unwounded officer
captured at the Battle of treux: photographed after his capture and while a prisoner of
war in Torgau, Saxony
After the battle, 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers assembled 5 officers and 196 soldiers.
Aftermath:
Brigadier Edmonds, the British Official Historian of the Great War, records that the Munsters
fight at treux delayed the German pursuit of the BEF I Corps for 6 hours, enabling the rear
formations to get through the Guise bottleneck and retreat south.
treux is not a battle honour. Decorations for the battle were awarded after the War, in
1920. Little was known of the circumstances of the battle on the British side at the time, as
everyone involved was either killed or captured, although reports began to be sent to Britain
by captured officers and soldiers. Captain Wise received the Military Cross. A number of
soldiers, including CSM McEvoy, received the Military Medal.
It would be reasonable to suppose that Major Paul Charrier would have received the DSO,
had he lived. The DSO is an order, not strictly a decoration for bravery, and there is no
provision for its award posthumously.

A German poster announcing the execution of Private George Lay of 1st Royal
Berkshires