1914 – The 9th Lancers and Europe’s last charge.

Painting of Europe's last 'lance on lance' charge on the 7th September 1914.

Richard Caton Woodville’s painting of Europe’s last ‘lance on lance’ charge on the 7th September 1914.

Frederick Allfrey at the age of 22 was a Lieutenent in the 9th Lancers and killed in the minutes following Europe’s final ‘lance of lance charge’ on the 7th September 1914. The charge has become a famous moment in the history of the Great War, not least because it is a symbol of the way the battles were fought prior to the digging of trenches later that year. It was also a symbol of the fellowship that existed between servicemen because Frederick was killed coming to the aid of another lancer. The story and his history can be read on another page, but here we can provide an update of the events which surrounded Frederick’s death.

Some of the servicemen named on this website have proved virtually untraceable and on others we have found information in microscopic detail and you never know where it will appear next. This update contains information which has been assembled from a round of emails which arrived mid September 2014. It is worth telling the story by repeating the content of the emails below, but I will first provide a little background. We initially knew Lt Allfrey had been killed helping a fellow lancer who had been injured during the charge. Other than a newspaper report telling us he had been shot whilst removing part of a lance from his comrade’s leg, we did not know anything else. Then on the 8th September 2014, a comment appears on the Lt Allfrey page from a James Dalglish:

‘I found this link about Allfrey when searching for information about my step grand-father, Guy Reynolds (then a 9th Lancer Captain). Allfrey was killed extracting the lance from Guy Reynold’s leg. Allfrey has always had a very special place in my family history for his selfless act of bravery’.

So here was information on the name of the man Lt Allfrey was helping; a Guy Reynolds. What happened next? We now know his name and we know he survived the war. Other emails soon appeared and we wondered why information is suddenly appearing all within a few days of each other. We received another email on the following day from an Alison Lucas:

Prince Andrew as Commander in Chief of the 9th Lancers attended a service in memory of Europe's last Charge

Prince Andrew as Commander in Chief of the 9th Lancers attended a service in memory of Europe’s last Charge (click on picture to Express article)

‘I have just returned from a remarkable weekend in France where I was accompanying my friend Mary Baker on a walk of remembrance. Mary is retracing her Grandfather, James Baker of the British Expedition Force, who died in Troyon on September 14th.
On Sunday Sept 7th as we were walking 14 miles from Voudoy to Jouy sur Morin, we stopped for a rest at a bar and were told of the ceremony at Montcel of the 9th Royal Lancers last “lance on lance” cavalry charge. We just arrived as the Lancers marched to the memorial stone, and we then witnessed a very moving ceremony standing in a field of maize. The Duke of York, the Battalion’s Commander in Chief laid a wreath. In the programme we were kindly given a copy of, I found the connection to Wokingham, and hence to this site. Lt F De V Allfrey and Capt Reynolds are mentioned in the programme. There is a very moving letter from Allfrey’s mother to a Private’s mother about the reburial of their sons also featured. ( I have a copy if anyone is interested in seeing the detail, and photo’s of the ceremony)’.

The story is still being remembered 100 years later and it takes place in the tiny cemetery where only three men from the battle are buried. We obviously wonder who was buried alongside Lt Allfrey and as the question leaves our lips another email comes in from a Patsy Bryer:

‘I have just returned from Le Montcel where I was asked by the 9th Lancers Regiment to lay a wreath for my Great Great Uncle Private Arthur Tom Bryer, who is buried alongside Allfrey and shoeingsmith Friend in Fretoy Cemetery. I have been advised by the Regiment that Arthur Tom was the only Lancer to die on the actual field of battle charge. My family also owe the Allfreys a huge thank you letter as they paid for all three graves to be re-dug and the bodies re interred, owing to the fact that the graves were not dug deep enough at the time of burial. If anyone knows of contact email for them I would be grateful’.
The next day, Patsy sent a photo of the grave of her Great Grand Uncle, Private Arthur Tom Bryer who is buried alongside Lt Allfrey. She also provides more information in the following email:

‘Dear All, I came across the attached blogspot regarding landed gentry/Allfreys in Berkshire, etc, which might be of interest as there are rather a lot of Allfreys in the Wokingham and surrounds in it. At the very bottom of the article is a ‘comment’ by a Charlotte Bezzant on 28th Aug 2014 advising that her husband and his parents are Allfreys, which may be of interest to Anne in her one name study endeavours…
http://landedfamilies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/106-allfrey-of-wokefield-park.html
If anyone comes across anything to explain how my ancestor came to be in the Lancers, I would appreciate it ! Arthur Tom Bryer was born in Popham, Hampshire and apparently enlisted in Basingstoke – he had worked away from home since quite young (mother died, father remarried), so I am wondering if he possibly followed an employer into the Lancers – who knows, maybe even Frederick Allfrey ? p.s. gravestone is wrong, he died on 7th September’.

The war continues to forge links: Major Watson with Fancoise Lepetitte who was responsible for the memorial in the village when it was 19 years ago.

The war continues to forge links: Major Watson at the ceremony with Fancoise Lepetitte who was responsible for the memorial in the village when it was erected 19 years ago. Click on picture for article. Thanks to Ladepeche.fr

What is now fascinating is that via the Wokingham Remembers website and its comments column, relatives are now making contact with each other and sharing information.

Thanks to today’s technology, we are now able to ensure our family members are truly not only ‘not forgotten’, but forge the links between friends and family.

On the 10th September 2014, we receive another email, this time from Major Phil Watson, the organiser of the ceremony:

Major Watson also provides us with a photograph of the very striking Lt Allfrey.

Major Watson also provides us with a photograph of the very striking Lt Allfrey.

‘It was myself who arranged for Patsy to join the Regiment (us) at the weekend. We published a small booklet on Moncel and would be happy to send copies to any individuals related to the Allfreys and Reynolds family (the booklets are currently in Germany on their way back). It is our intention to publish this booklet as part of a larger publication in the spring – so would welcome any contact with any of the families for any additional information. Regards Phil. Major (Retd) Phil Watson, Assistant Regimental Secretary – 9/12L. Tel 07724 061413′

That same evening of the 10th September 2014, we receive the most surprising of all the pieces of correspondence; an email from the Aidan Reynolds, the son of Guy and the man saved by Lt Allfrey:

‘I heard from James Dalglish about your research into Frederick Allfrey. As you know he was trying to pull out the lance from my father’s shoulder when he was machine gunned and killed. Poignantly he and my father were standing side by side in the photo of the 9th lancers taken just before they left for France in 1914.

See Aidan Reynold's email to gain a full description of this painting

See Aidan Reynold’s email to gain a full description of this painting

You will know well the picture of the charge. In it the 5 officers involved are shown in their exact positions. My father was adjutant and instructed the artist about this. On the far side of the picture the lance is about to pierce my father’s shoulder. Behind him is Major Beale-Browne, then my uncle Captain Nairne Reynolds, and then Allfrey immediately behind him.

To read more on the action described by Aidan Reynolds, click on the above picture. Courtesy National Army Museum.

You may also know that Allfrey 2 weeks earlier was involved in the famous action known as “Saving the Guns” when dismounted 9th Lancers under Francis Grenfell (who won the VC for this action) manhandled under very heavy enemy fire a RA battery’s guns because the RA men were nearly all killed or wounded. I hope this is of interest. Actually my family knew some members of the Allfrey family very well though I regret I have lost touch. Basil Allfrey was also in the 9th – was he Frederick’s brother? Also Charles Allfrey, a distinguished gunner general. His son Peter is I am sure still alive and was living in Bath when I last saw him. I’d like to know the relationship between them and Frederick Allfrey. Best wishes Aidan Reynolds’.

We start to wonder exactly how Lt Allfrey was killed; did he find Guy Reynolds on his way from battle or did he go back for him. And how did Reynolds make his way from the field if under sniper attack? And how were the other two killed? As is the way with information, once received, there are always more questions. On the following day, the 11th September, Major Phil Watson provides us with more answers:

‘This extract is from Lt Col Campbell’s account – currently un-published (in the Regimental Museum): 

Campbell: It is also interesting to note the very large proportion of officers who took part in an attack carried out by such a small number of troops – the officers concerned being:- Campbell, Beale Browne, G. Reynolds, G. N. Reynolds, Mather Jackson and Allfrey, and in addition there were Regimental Sergt. Major Richardson and Squadron Sergt. Major Durant. Of these three were wounded – Self, Reynolds and Durrant, and Allfrey was shot by a German when, after the charge, he went over to assist Reynolds who had a lance through his shoulder. Allfrey was shot by a wounded German, who also shot SSM Durant through the leg.

I have always been puzzled to understand how I came to be shot from the village of MONCEL after the charge had taken place and I had seen the whole of the Germans whom we charged retire North East, but, having read the German account, I think it is quite clear that when we advanced in the first instance between the village of MONCEL and the Wood to the West of it there was a small detachment of Germans in the village itself, and so far as one can judge I must have been shot by one of these, and it must also have been some of the same lot who went through Reynolds’ pockets when they were retiring from the village.

Click on above report to view and read. Taken from the excellent US archive.org Bond of Sacrifice

Click on above report to view and read. Taken from the excellent US archive.org Bond of Sacrifice

My current understanding is:

  • Allfrey sighted his Machine Gun with Sgt Turner and Pte Seaton as directed by the CO.
  • Allfrey joined RHQ and 2 Troops of B Sqn and charged.
  • He returned to the village (possibly to see why the MG did not fire!)
  • He saw Reynolds wounded and went to his assistance
  • He shot by wounded Dragoon who was on the battlefield

Some more extracts, this time from Frederic Coleman an American RAC staff car driver:

Coleman: The Germans stopped, and many of them dismounted. One of them went coolly through the pockets of Reynolds, lying with an aluminium lance through his side. A farrier-sergeant lay dead near a pond at the village end. The Germans knocked in his head and tossed his body into the pool……….One of the 9th, running out from the village to pull the lance from Reynolds’s side, was shot dead by a wounded German lying near.’

From Frederick Coleman’s account, it seems the ‘farrier-sargeant’ was Shoeing-Smith Jack Friend who was beaten to death and thrown into the river. It is often forgotten that these men in the midst of battle, were not much more than boys and we are privileged to read one of his final letters; this one to his mother written on the day Britain declared war on Germany:

‘Aug 4th. 1914

My Dearest. Just a few hurried lines in answer to yours after a long time hoping this will find you and all at home in the best of health as it leaves me at present.  Well dear Mother I hardly know what to make of this terrible affair, I know one thing, it makes bags of work, what with travelling the country, fetching horses and working half the night shoeing them. If this is getting ready for war I don’t want it to happen very often as we have not had a minute peace since it started, but there I am happy enough and its no use cribbing. 

Dear Mother don’t worry too much as I heard to-day although England has declared war if they go out fighting the same as they have been doing the British Army will not be wanted.  I hope that will be the case as I am not anxious to go to Germany as most of the fellows are, and regards Tom he won’t leave England as the “Ferries” are our Home Defence which go right around the coast to guard there so you have no need to worry about him it will do him the world of good along the sea front with bags of fresh air.

Dear Mother do not worry about me as you can trust your humble to dodge anything if he has half a chance.  However I don’t think it will last very long I should say about three month’s at the most.  Dear Mother up to now our orders are we leave here on Sunday morning early for Southampton where we embark on Monday for Belgium where we stop for a day or so, we have everything ready and our will made, Dear Mother I have never been sorry that even I enlisted only time I ever regretted was the first six months that I joined the Army even at this terrible time I am glad it has happened as I shall see what others have had to go through and managed to get through quite safe and by God’s help I hope I shall do the same in any case I shall go out with a good heart knowing that I am fighting for my King and country although it is very hard to leave behind those whom I love dearly.  Dear Mother, Father, Brothers and sisters a dear sweetheart with whom I love with all my heart, but we soldiers must not look the dark side of it, we must look forward to the return journey with flying colours and then you will be proud of your soldier son.  Dearest Mother I pray and hope by the time I come back Dear old Dad will be himself again and working.  I hope Alf found him much better when he saw him.  Well Darling Mother do not think too much about it just think of the day I return wearing a metal for fighting for King and country.  Roll on when its over.  Dear Mother I must close now I will write again before Sunday if possible.  Good-bye for the time being with love.  I remain, Your Loving Son Jack xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 Remember me to Will and Flo and the Hayball’s.  Excuse pencil it quicker.’

 Lt Allfrey’s mother Maud, it seems was a delightful person and even in the middle of her grief was able to send a personal letter to Jack Friends ‘Dear Mother’ (as in his letter to her):

“Ashridgewood”, Wokingham, Berks. 28th October, 1914.

Dear Mrs Friend,

I am afraid from what I have heard that it is your son who was killed on September 7th and buried next my son at Fretory, in France, and I send you my deep sympathy.

The clergyman of Fretory has written to me telling me about the funeral of my son, and added that next to him had been buried a 9th Lancer called J Friend.  My son was a lieutenant in the 9th.  They were both buried at the little churchyard of Fretory, which is about 70 miles from Paris, by the regiment, and an old woman from the village brought some flowers to put on their graves.  I thought you might care to know about it.

The clergyman has written again to say that the Mayor of the little town finds that they were not buried deep enough, and as this is against the law of France they would have to be re-interred in the little churchyard.  So we have given him instructions to have this properly done, and to lay them side by side again in the same quiet corner.  My husband has paid for this, and would like it done at his expense.  We hope that you may approve of his instructions about it, as it seemed the only thing to do.

After the war we hope to go over there ourselves, and if we can take a photograph of the grave we shall be pleased to send you a copy, – Yours truly,  M H ALLFREY’

Maud Allfrey had only one son and one daughter, a grand daughter (Eve) one grandson, by the name of Ian Anderson. He was killed in World War Two and is named on Wokingham’s War Memorial along with his Uncle Frederick.

An interesting article on this famous charge can be found on The Dehli Spearman website.

There is also an interesting thread on the Great War Forum  which emphasises the complexities of battle formations and questions the age old assumptions that the early part of the war was awash with poor leadership.

This entry was posted in All Posts, Aspects of World War One. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to 1914 – The 9th Lancers and Europe’s last charge.

  1. Phil Watson says:

    Nicely constructed article – please forward and other comments so we may use them to help construct the story for the book? Phil Watson

    • admin says:

      Hi Phil, I think all the emails are on the page. Just copy and paste into MS Word. I sent you a link to the BBC Berkshire interview where we talk about the charge and I’ve written to the Master at Wellington. We’ll see if we can find any more of Lt Allfrey. It’s an interesting family, very community minded and a great loss to Wokingham

  2. Paul Foster says:

    Dear Sir / Madam
    I am an author of a number of books on the First World War. I also work for the Last Post Association and write the stories that are read out during the 8pm ceremony each evening at the Menin Gate. I also read about 65% of them. You can see what I do for the LPA on my website.
    For the evening of 6th September I wish to commemorate Allfrey, Bryer and Friend, and read a short story of them at the Menin Gate. I found your website and find it fascinating and wonder if there is any information that you could email to me to assist in putting together an interesting story I would be grateful. The story of the three men will also be included in a future publication that will cover Fretoy Communal Cemetery.
    I look forward to hearing from you at your convenience.

  3. Thierry Doux says:

    Dear all,
    We are now more than 100 years after these events…My English is not very good and I may do mistakes, please apologize.
    I live in Beautheil a village close from Fretoy ( “Fretory “ is not the name of the village the name is Fretoy, also I read Voudoy, the right name is Vaudoy en Brie).
    Years ago I had seen an old wooden sign mentioning the last charge of the 9th Royal Lancers.
    I was very moved.
    Well I think I should prepare something on word to use the right word when possible.

    This is such a peaceful quiet place… I was thinking of these young men just arrived from England in the first days of this terrible war…
    I made a talk during the armistice day of 1914 … mentioning this battle in Le Montcel.

    For now I cleaned the graves removed some weeds with respect .
    I would like to work on a “kind of project”, a paper or something to allow history to be known by young generation . Apparently there is not much in French?

    I made pictures.

    Thierry Doux
    2 rue de la Planchette
    F 77120 Beautheil Saints 0033 608326790

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *