A Most Valiant Action

     It was a little after 4:30 in the morning when 33 year old Captain Edward Bradbury roused the men of “L” Battery, Royal Horse Artillery from their slumber just outside the French village of Nery. It was September 1^st, 1914 and the British and French troops were engaged in a long, fighting retreat to the River Marne on the Western Front. The German army, acting under the Schlieffen Plan, had plowed through the allied attempt to stop their push to Paris. In what was to become known as the Retreat from Mons, the British and French troops were engaged in a desperate fighting retreat to stop the marauding Germans from reaching the capital city. The conflict known as The Great War had begun on July 28^th, 1914 with a declaration of war by Austria-Hungary against Serbia. Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4^th after Germany ignored a British ultimatum that Belgium be kept neutral. War had now come and the world would never be the same again.

     The men of “L” Battery were stood down to rest due to the fact a thick fog had enveloped the town of Nery and the surrounding countryside. Visibility was down to nothing, so the men were ordered to rest, prepare breakfast, and water their horses. At this time, horses were used to transport the quick firing thirteen pounder guns of the Royal Horse Artillery. Although the men were stood down, they kept the horses harnessed to the guns, but with the limbers lowered to ease their burden. At 5:25 a.m., a patrol from the British 11^th Hussars encountered a large force of German cavalry just outside the village and raced back to alert the gun crews. About 20 minutes later, machine-gun and artillery fire began from the heights overlooking the village. The German 4^th Cavalry Division had signaled it was surrounded by a “considerable hostile force” and were now trying to counter-attack what they thought was a large number of British cavalry. The German commander, realizing what was going on, ordered a dismounted attack on the village itself.

      Down in the village of Nery, the German gunfire caused panic amongst the horses of the cavalry and artillery, many of which bolted leaving the guns immobilized where they now stood.  The overall commander of “L” Battery was knocked unconscious by a shell blast and it was Captain Bradbury who now took command. He managed to get three guns into position to counter the twelve or so German guns up on the ridge. Two of the thirteen pounders were knocked out almost immediately, which just left the one remaining gun. That one remaining gun, under direction of Captain Bradbury, Sgt David Nelson and Sergeant-Major Thomas Dorrell kept up a steady fire, which drew the German artillery fire away from the British cavalry. Captain Bradbury was acting as an ammunition bearer when a shell fragment tore off one of his legs. Although bleeding to death, he continued to direct the gunfire until he died. Sgts Dorrell and Nelson continued to fire the gun until reinforcements arrived around 8 a.m. As a result of the gunfire from the single thirteen pounder gun of “L” Battery, the British cavalry regiments were able to outflank the German cavalry which was attempting an attack on the village itself and were able to force them to retreat taking approximately seventy eight German prisoners. Three Victoria Crosses were awarded to “L” Battery that day, one going to Captain Edward Bradbury who was killed in the action, the other two going to Sergeant-Major George Dorrell and Sergeant David Nelson. Nelson was killed in April 1918 while Dorrell survived the war and would reach the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He served in the Home Guard during the Second World War and died at the age of 90 in 1971. The three Victoria Cross medals as well as the actual thirteen pounder gun used in the engagement, now called the “Nery Gun”, can be seen today at the Imperial War Museum in London. In an unusual honor, L Battery had the title of “Nery” added to their official name. They are now known as “L (Nery) Battery, RHA Tactical Group Battery”.