LE CATELET \u2013 3.30 a.m.<\/p>\n
No entry for today. The diary is then left blank for the following half page and the seven following full pages \u2013 both sides. At the top of the second blank page the date \u20181st<\/sup> Sept\u2019 is faintly written.<\/span><\/p>\n Retreat<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n After the Battle of Le Cateau, where the British had suffered heavy casualties, many troops left the battlefield in a state of disorder. Among these were the 1st\u00a0 <\/sup>Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers. The nucleus of the two battalions withdrew to St Quentin in the hope of continuing the retreat by rail. The exhausted soldiers discovered that all trains had left.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the memoirs of Private R. G. Hill of the 1st<\/sup> Warwickshire Regiment:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Reaching St Quentin we had great hopes of rest, but were told we were surrounded. We lay down to die through sheer weariness, but a staff officer rounded us up, and got us out just as the enemy entered. Tramp tramp again.\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Private R. G. Hill’s memoirs were\u00a0first published in Everyman at War<\/em> (1930, edited by C.B. Purdom) and are available online at http:\/\/firstworldwar.com\/diaries\/oldcontemptible.htm <\/a><\/p>\n Further information from August 1914: Surrender at St.Quentin<\/em>, by John Hutton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LE CATELET \u2013 3.30 a.m. No entry for today. The diary is then left blank for the following half page and the seven following full pages \u2013 both sides. At the top of the second blank page the date \u20181st … Continue reading