Étreux
Encyclopedia
Étreux is a commune
in the Aisne
department in Picardy
in northern France
.
during the Battle of Mons
, in the course of which a strategic rearguard action was called for in order to allow the BEF to escape.
Tasked with holding their ground under all circumstances, the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers
, in their very first action in France, achieved a military feat seldom paralleled in modern warfare. A brigade may occasionally have the task of trying to delay a whole enemy division. A division may perhaps be deployed in an attempt to turn aside or halt an advancing army corps - but for a single battalion to stem the advance of an entire army by their sole action was unprecedented. In fact, less than a battalion strength, just 3 companies of the 2nd. Battalion of The Munsters halted the advance of the German Army for fourteen hours in the area of Oisny & Étreux during the retreat from Mons on August 27, thus enabling the rest of the British Army to withdraw to a safe distance of twelve miles.
In their action at Ètreux the 2nd Munsters were decimated, with only five officers and 196 other ranks surviving. Nevertheless, the Battalion's action effectively prevented German pursuit of the BEF I Corps. They were outnumbered at odds of over 6 to 1, and when finally defeated, the survivors were congratulated on their supreme bravery by the German soldiers they had fought.
In 1922, a cross was erected in an orchard in Étreux, just behind the railway station, to the memory of 120 men of the Munsters's 2nd. Battalion who fell there in their last stand on 27 August 1914. The officers and men of the Regiment who died in that battle are buried there alongside the carved monumental cross dedicated to their memory. Part of the inscription reads " In proud and lasting memory of ..... the officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 2nd. Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers ..... who laid down their lives during The Great War in the cause of Freedom and Justice, 1914-1918"
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Aisne
Aisne
Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
department in Picardy
Picardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
in northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
History
The first major engagement of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the First World War in August 1914, resulted in what became known as the Great RetreatGreat Retreat
The Great Retreat, also known as the Retreat from Mons, is the name given to the long, fighting retreat by Allied forces to the River Marne, on the Western Front early in World War I, after their holding action against the Imperial German Armies at the Battle of Mons on 23 August 1914...
during the Battle of Mons
Battle of Mons
The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War. It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies clashed with Germany on the French borders. At Mons, the British army attempted to hold the line of the...
, in the course of which a strategic rearguard action was called for in order to allow the BEF to escape.
Tasked with holding their ground under all circumstances, the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers
Royal Munster Fusiliers
The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army. One of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, it had its home depot in Tralee. It was originally formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of two regiments of the former East India Company. It served in India and...
, in their very first action in France, achieved a military feat seldom paralleled in modern warfare. A brigade may occasionally have the task of trying to delay a whole enemy division. A division may perhaps be deployed in an attempt to turn aside or halt an advancing army corps - but for a single battalion to stem the advance of an entire army by their sole action was unprecedented. In fact, less than a battalion strength, just 3 companies of the 2nd. Battalion of The Munsters halted the advance of the German Army for fourteen hours in the area of Oisny & Étreux during the retreat from Mons on August 27, thus enabling the rest of the British Army to withdraw to a safe distance of twelve miles.
In their action at Ètreux the 2nd Munsters were decimated, with only five officers and 196 other ranks surviving. Nevertheless, the Battalion's action effectively prevented German pursuit of the BEF I Corps. They were outnumbered at odds of over 6 to 1, and when finally defeated, the survivors were congratulated on their supreme bravery by the German soldiers they had fought.
In 1922, a cross was erected in an orchard in Étreux, just behind the railway station, to the memory of 120 men of the Munsters's 2nd. Battalion who fell there in their last stand on 27 August 1914. The officers and men of the Regiment who died in that battle are buried there alongside the carved monumental cross dedicated to their memory. Part of the inscription reads " In proud and lasting memory of ..... the officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 2nd. Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers ..... who laid down their lives during The Great War in the cause of Freedom and Justice, 1914-1918"