Sergeant Roberts and his men ready themselves for their rush into Fawkham.
As the Germans moved inland from their bridgehead in Kent British units carried out local counter-attacks wherever possible. In the months before the front lines stabilised these often made the already confused situation, where British units found themselves isolated by the advancing enemy, more confused still. Near the village of Fawkham the Royal Welch Fusiliers carried out a series of aggressive patrols, driving in German outposts despite considerable losses.
The action described below is typical and took place shortly before dusk on the 17th of August 1896 just to the west of Fawkham. The little group of houses which the German outpost occupied had several days before been defended by a scratch force of British stragglers and had been shelled and even subjected to aerial bombardment by dirigibles apparently specifically designed to co-operate with land forces.
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The action described below is typical and took place shortly before dusk on the 17th of August 1896 just to the west of Fawkham. The little group of houses which the German outpost occupied had several days before been defended by a scratch force of British stragglers and had been shelled and even subjected to aerial bombardment by dirigibles apparently specifically designed to co-operate with land forces.
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Engagement in a small English country village
By telegraph from our military correspondent in West Kent, March 7th, 1896
Away from the titanic struggles in Canterbury, on the northern Kentish coast and in the skies above London the advancing German Army is also involved daily in smaller conflicts in obscure villages throughout the invasion area. In one of these ruined villages, Fawkham on the River Stour, a small occupying detachment from the 68th Infantry Regiment under Fahnrich Klaus-Deiter Weber was attacked this morning by a larger English force.
Initially, Fahnrich Weber, though mindful of Clausewitz' dictum about concentrating one's force, was obliged by an importunate attack on the supply wagon by English Franc-Tireurs to send his troops out foraging. Consequently, when the English force arrived the Fahnrich had only a couple of riflemen with him and were engaged in cooking what meagre breakfast they could manage.
On seeing the English force the two sentries let fly and a shot from Gefreiter Muller downed one of them immediately and his fellow sentry, Schutze Norbert, fired so close to another that he was obliged to go to ground. Undeterred by their losses, the enemy came on in two separate groups, one moving towards a low wall to the north west and the larger making straight for the village. Meanwhile, the firing had attracted the attention of one of our foragers and he appeared in a meadow to the north east of the village.
As the English troops advanced the two redoubtable sentries fired again and once more and Englishman fell to the ground and another dived for cover but Fahnrich Weber observed that the larger group was able to find cover behind a ruined building. In addition, he was horrified to observe that this group also included a soldier bearing a flammenwerfer (entirely contrary to the 1874 Warsaw Convention!). Fahnrich Weber was minded to call for an immediate truce and protest the use of this bestial and unsportsmanlike weapon but seeing that the English unit had no officer visible with whom he could register his protest, called on Gefreiter Muller to join him in moving out of range of the weapon into the same building as Schutze Norbert.
Fahnrich Weber's dismay at the sight of the English flammenwerfer was somewhat alleviated by the arrival of two more of his soldiers arriving from the north east and joined the previous arrivals in opening a steady fire on the advancing enemy wounding another of their number. Meanwhile, Schutze Norbert continued to snipe at the enemy who made their way through the ruined house until they were opposite his post.
Fahnrich Weber ordered Gefreiter Muller to run over to join his comrades in the field and was about to do the same for Schutze Norbert when, to his horror, a burst of flame shot across the narrow street and enveloped Norbert's position. Seeing that holding the house was hopeless, Weber sprang down and fled over to the field beside the remainder of his patrol as bullets whistled overhead.
Hidden behind the walls of the field Weber's tiny command engaged the advancing enemy as they approached through the woods to the west. Being behind a sturdy wall while the enemy appeared at the eastern end of the woods Weber's troops were able to give a good account of themselves and several other enemy soldiers were downed including their unteroffizier leader.
The group to the south kept up a steady fire but, apart from one very uncomfortable moment when the dreaded flammenwerfer gushed its molten breath across the gap between the field and the ruined house, the doughty German landser were able to hold their positions aided by the arrival of the last two foragers. As the late afternoon wore on and the reddening sun was setting in the west. Fahnrich Weber called on Bugler Erhardt to sound the 'cease fire' and arms were piled while the evening meal was eaten and the English opposite drank their tea.
I joined the heroic band for supper and was able to get Fahnrich Weber's view on the situation. Predictably, his response was to assess the situation by quoting from Clausewitz - "If we do not learn to regard a war, and the separate campaigns of which it is composed, as a chain of linked engagements each leading to the next, but instead succumb to the idea that the capture of certain geographical points or the seizure of undefended provinces are of value in themselves, we are liable to regard them as windfall profits. In so doing, and in ignoring the fact that they are links in a continuous chain of events, we also ignore the possibility that their possession may later lead to definite disadvantages."
The scene of the action. One German sentinel occupies the two-storey ruin on the left. A German officer and one man are in the ruined building to the right. The rest of the detachment is engaged in foraging and scouting but as evening approaches they are returning to the outpost.
The German look-out.
The German outpost.
Almost at once Evans' men come under accurate fire from both German-occupied buildings and are forced to seek cover behind the wall.
Roberts and his men make it to cover, despite the loss of private Howell in the crossing of the open ground. To their left Evans' men are pinned down by accurate fire and private Rhys has been shot dead.
Once in the building the ruined building Roberts' men cautiously seek out positions from which they can fire at the Germans in the neighbouring two houses. The German officer and fusilier evacuate their position as the British approach. Evans has rallied his men and leads them towards a stand of trees which overlooks a walled enclosure in which the returning German foraging party is gathering.
As firing continues from the building opposite their position Roberts calls forward private Jones. Jones opens the pressure-valves of his Ralston flame projector to their highest setting and sprays the building with burning liquid. Beyond the building the rest of the German force are gathering in the cover of a wall.
As the flames die down Roberts' men storm the building.
The German position comes under fire from Roberts' men in the buildings and Evans' men in the wood. Most are driven to seek cover but one or two return fire and Jenkins falls severely wounded at Evans' side. Roberts considers leading his men in an assault on the shaken invaders.
The critical moment passes. The German officer rallies his men who fire rapidly and accurately at the British. Lance-corporal Evans is killed, as is Llewellyn from Roberts' group.
With the light fading the firing from both sides slackens. The British are surprised to hear a German bugle sound cease fire, and under cover of dark the Germans withdraw.
Both sides withdrew from the hamlet overnight. The British congratulated themselves on having carried the enemy outpost in the face of determined resistance. The Germans were pleased to have extricated themselves from a difficult situation with the loss of only one man. The British, on the other hand, had lost four dead and two wounded and had for most of the engagement faced only two or three Germans.
