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 missing | ||||||
The Skirmish at Joncherey was a small skirmish in the Territoire de Belfort, on the border between France and Germany, which is believed to have been first military action on the Western Front during World War I. It occurred in the village of Joncherey which, at the time, was located on the French border with German Alsace-Lorraine. The skirmish took place before Germany's official declaration of war on France on 3 August.
Skirmish
At around 6:00 am 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 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the border, to avoid provoking the Germans and to show good faith in their attempts to avoid war. Twice that morning, as the German party advanced further into France, they exchanged shots with small groups of French infantry. At 9:50 am 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 came back inside from fetching water and reportedly said "The Prussians! The Prussians are coming!"[1]
Around 10:00 am, Peugeot and his four comrades went to arrest the Germans. Upon meeting Mayer, he fired three shots at Peugeot. One hit his shoulder and Peugeot fired back as he was falling. Peugeot's comrades opened up on 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 am.[2] 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.[1]