Néry

Néry is a commune in the Oise department in northern France.

The commune includes the hamlets of Huleux, Vaucelles, and Verrines. The Church of Saint-Martin in Néry dates from 1140 with later additions. The Manoir de Huleux was built in 1550. In 719 AD, Néry was the scene of a battle in which Charles Martel defeated the Neustrians. At the start of World War I in 1914, a delaying action was fought in the village by part of the British Expeditionary Force.

The Affair at Néry

At dawn on 1 September 1914, the British 1st Cavalry Brigade and L Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery who had bivouaced at Néry, were surprised by the advancing German 4th Cavalry Division. The German attack was supported by 12 guns which devastated the British battery. However a single 13 pounder gun was kept firing, and together with the rifles and machine-guns of the Queen's Bays, held off the Germans long enough for elements of the 1st and 4th Cavalry Brigade to counterattack and drive away the attackers in disorder. The German division was withdrawn to the reserve corps; there were 135 British casualties. Three Victoria Crosses were awarded to L Battery (Edward Kinder Bradbury, George Thomas Dorrell and David Nelson), and the "Néry Gun" is preserved in the Imperial War Museum.

Action at Néry

The Action at Néry was a skirmish fought on 1 September 1914 between the British Army and the German Army, part of the Great Retreat from Mons during the early stages of the First World War. A British cavalry brigade preparing to leave their overnight bivouac were attacked by a German cavalry division of about twice their strength shortly after dawn. Both sides fought dismounted; the British artillery was mostly put out of action in the first few minutes, but a single gun of L Battery, Royal Horse Artillery successfully kept up a steady fire for two and a half hours against a full battery of German artillery. British reinforcements arrived at around 8 am, counter-attacking the German forces and forcing them to retreat; the German division was routed and did not return to combat for several days. Three men of L Battery were awarded the Victoria Cross for their part in the battle, and the battery itself was later awarded the honour title of "Néry", the only British Army unit to have this as a battle honour.