25 August, 1914
SAVING HAIG'S CORPS at LANDRECIES
Captain Wolrige Gordon was with the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards from 12 August to 16 September 1914. He was present at the fighting at Landrecies on 25 August, which, but for the quick action he describes, might have resulted in a serious blow to I Corps under Sir Douglas Haig
On 25 August we marched on past Maroilles to Landrecies. Here we were told we were quite safe and could get a good rest. We were billeted in a school, the officers all provided with nice clean beds, but no sooner were we comfortable than the alert was sounded. And so we had to stand to arms.
I remember seeing the man who brought the message riding through the streets. A French gendarme, he galloped on shouting ‘Les Allemands! Les Allemands!’ and never stopped even to answer questions. We again turned-in, but we were cautioned to be ready to fall in at a moment’s notice. By this time it was almost dark and we proceeded to get on with our dinner, when suddenly heavy machine-gun fire broke out from the northwest side of the town. The alarm – the only time I ever heard the bugle during the entire war – was sounded and we had to fall in – alas, without our dinner.
The 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards went forward at once and were forced to occupy the outposts in the town where the shots appeared to be coming from. Their Nos. 2 and 3 Companies went across the canal and railway bridges to support, if required, and formed two sides of a square. No. 1 Company occupied the canal bridge and banks, while 4 Company went to guard the roads to the east – the one by which we had come in and the one leading south to Etreux and Guise.
The story of Landrecies is roughly this:
When the Coldstream arrived at the outskirts of the town, one of their companies under Captain Monk went forward with their machine gun to establish out-posts. They heard in the distance men coming along singing ‘La Marseillaise’. Monk and his sergeant-major and runner went forward to meet them. They appeared to be French. Directly they saw Monk they advanced, and two or three of them gathered around shouting ‘Vivent les Anglais!’ Something or other warned the sergeant-major, who went back in front to the company. The supposed Frenchmen followed. Directly they reached the machine-gun they knocked Bingham, the officer in charge, into the ditch and seized the machine gun. The company bayoneted them.
They turned out to be Germans dressed up as Frenchmen who intended to creep unawares into the town. It was just getting dark, and all the Coldstream could do was to put a bell on a rope 150 feet distant across the road. It was not long before the Germans attacked in force, coming down the road in fours.
The Coldstream waited until the bell tinkled and then all fired five rounds rapid fire. The German losses must have been colossal. The Germans did this three times. Then they brought up two field guns and started shelling right down the road. These shells were taking some Coldstreamers' heads off and bursting in the town 2,000 yards away. The situation was most serious. The Coldstream were in three ranks, lying, kneeling and standing in this road, and were having heavy casualties. I can see General Fielding to this day with his sword drawn, drawing a line on the ground, calling, ‘Remember, not one man of the Coldstream goes back over this line.’ Luckily, two of our guns happened to get direct hits on the guns of the Germans, and the Germans fell back.
Meanwhile, everything was confusion behind us. Houses had all been put into a state of defence and barricades were across the streets, most of the officers' kits forming a considerable part of some of the barricades. We were considering what was to be done when the Germans suddenly cleared off. About 3 am the Irish Guards came up to make a counter attack at dawn, but the artillery supporting the enemy having retired, we started evacuating the town. First the 3rd Coldstream went, then the Irish Guards, and finally the Grenadiers, The 2nd Coldstream was sent on some time before to take up a position to cover the retirement of the rest of the brigade.
No. 12 Platoon was the last to go. Such was our night's rest. The 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards lost two officers killed and three officers wounded. Also ninety men killed and wounded. We lost Second Lieutenant Vereker and ten men wounded. The German casualties were about 800 killed, almost entirely from rifle and machine-gun fire.
The brigade retired down the Guise road and we discovered that we had lost our food cart. The march was very slow, as the men were dead tired. Why the Germans let us get away so easily is difficult to understand; they did not shell Landrecies heavily until long after we had left the place. They missed the opportunity to annihilate the brigade as it withdrew.