Skirmish at Joncherey
Skirmish at Joncherey | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the outbreak of World War I | |||||||
Photograph of Joncherey at the end of the 19th century | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
France | German Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Jules-André Peugeot † | Albert Mayer † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
5 men | 7 men | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 killed 1 injured |
1 killed 3 injured (1 captured) 1 missing 2 escaped | ||||||
Joncherey |
The Skirmish at Joncherey was a clash in the Territoire de Belfort, on the border between France and Germany, and was the first military action of the Western Front of World War I. It occurred in the village of Joncherey near the 1871 French–German border in Alsace-Lorraine. The skirmish took place a day before the German declaration of war against France on 3 August 1914.
Skirmish[]
At around 6:00 a.m. on 2 August 1914, Leutnant Albert Mayer and his small cavalry patrol illegally crossed the French border. They did not meet resistance, as the French had moved their troops back 10 km (6.2 mi) from the border, to avoid provoking the Germans and to show good faith in their attempts to avoid war.[1] Twice that morning as the German party advanced further into France, they exchanged fire with small groups of French infantry. At 9:50 a.m., Mayer slashed with his sabre at (but did not injure) a French sentry, who was on lookout at the entrance to Joncherey. Jules Andre Peugeot and four other soldiers were at their billet eating breakfast at the time. The daughter of the owner of the house, Adrienne, came back inside from fetching water and reportedly said "The Prussians! The Prussians are coming!"[2][3]
Around 10:00 a.m., Peugeot and his four comrades went to arrest the Germans. Upon meeting, Mayer fired three shots at Peugeot. One hit his shoulder and Peugeot fired back as he was falling. Peugeot's comrades fired at the patrol with pistols. Mayer was shot in the stomach but seconds later was killed by a shot to the head. Peugeot stumbled back to the billet house where he died at 10:37 a.m.[4] Three more Germans were injured and one managed to escape for a few days, by hiding in the woods but was eventually captured. One of the German soldiers was never seen again and two escaped to Germany.[2]
References[]
- ^ "Jules André Peugeot – Second Person Killed in WWI". www.silvermedals.net. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Jordan, Daniel (11 March 1916). Ochs, Adolph (ed.). "First to Fall for France" (PDF). The New York Times. 65 (54). New York. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522.
- ^ Émile, Hébrard; Frank-Puaux, M. (25 February 1916). Hébrard, Émile; Hébrard Jr., Émile-Adrien; Mills, Louis (eds.). "Au jour le jour: Le premier soldat français tué à l'ennemi en 1914". Le Temps (in French). 55 (19956). Paris, France. p. 3.
- ^ The First to Fall: Peugeot and Mayer
- Conflicts in 1914
- 1914 in France
- Battles of World War I involving France
- Battles of the Western Front (World War I)
- Battles of World War I involving Germany
- Causes of World War I
- August 1914 events
- France–Germany military relations