Current Information:

Born-Stepney

Le Cateau 26th August 1914

By the evening of the 25th August, after their withdrawal south following the Battle of Mons on 23rd August, II Corps of the BEF, commanded by General Smith-Dorrien, had reached Le Cateau, in France. They had been retreating, but still fighting rearguard actions for two long days and they were done in. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir John French ordered them to continue the next day but Smith-Dorrien chose instead to stand and fight.  He reasoned that with the Germans on their heels a retreat would be disastrous without first halting the enemy advance. So, on the next day II Corps turned and faced the enemy. The town of Le Cateau saw little of the actual fighting on 26th August, the main actions taking place along the line of the road running between Le Cateau and Cambrai. A fierce battle ensued when the Germans began an artillery bombardment at dawn. Their infantry followed up in the wake of this barrage and became the targets of both the British artillery and infantry. The Germans were held at bay until the afternoon but by then they were threatening the flanks of II Corps which withdrew, whilst the enemy reorganised. British casualties for the day, killed, wounded or taken prisoner, were nearly 8,000.

During the battle on 26 August, 1914, the British artillery fired air bursting shrapnel shells at the advancing German infantry. In order to do this they were employed out in the open, just behind the infantry and firing over open sights. This meant that they were in full view of the German guns and as a consequence they suffered many casualties. In contrast, the German artillery were in concealed positions and relied on forward observers to direct their fire. In the afternoon when II Corps fell back, some of the guns were lost.

15 Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery, which included the 11th Battery, were part of 5th Division and were positioned immediately to the west of Le Cateau. When, around mid-morning, the enemy brought up their artillery to the high ground to the east of the town, they came under fire from both flanks. Nevertheless they managed to drag two of their guns round to face the east and were able to return fire and when the German infantry advanced a second section of guns was manhandled into position. Their fire was effective but they were simply overwhelmed by the massive enemy fire power to the extent that all their officers had fallen and there was only enough men left to fire one gun. By the afternoon the British line came under such severe pressure that a withdrawal was ordered. The battery teams came up to bring back the guns and were met with a hail of shrapnel and rifle fire which caused many casualties as a result of which only some of the guns could be saved but five out of the six guns of 11th Battery were among them. One of their casualties during this day of heavy fighting was Arthur Jarman.