Skirmish at Joncherey

Skirmish at Joncherey Part of the outbreak of World War I Photograph of Joncherey at the end of the 19th century Date 9:59 a.m. 2 August 1914 Location Joncherey, France 47°31′47″N 07°00′07″E / 47.52972°N 7.00194°E / 47.52972; 7.00194Coordinates: 47°31′47″N 07°00′07″E / 47.52972°N 7.00194°E / 47.52972; 7.00194 Result French victory 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 Joncherey Joncherey, a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department of Franche-Comté, north-east France

Western Front Belgium Halen Liège Dinant Namur Frontiers Charleroi Mons Great Retreat 1st Marne 1st Aisne Antwerp Race to the Sea Yser 1st Ypres Winter operations 1st Artois 1st Champagne Hartmannswillerkopf Neuve Chapelle 2nd Ypres 2nd Artois 2nd Champagne Loos 3rd Artois Verdun Somme Alberich Arras 2nd Aisne Hills Messines 3rd Ypres (Passchendaele) La Malmaison 1st Cambrai Spring Michael Lys 3rd Aisne 2nd Marne Hundred Days Amiens

The Skirmish at Joncherey was a clash 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 near the 1871 French–German border in Alsace-Lorraine. The skirmish took place a day before the German declaration of war against France on 3 August.

Skirmish

At around 6:00 a.m. 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 km (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 fire with small groups of French infantry. At 9:50 a.m., 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 a.m., Peugeot and his four comrades went to arrest the Germans. Upon meeting, Mayer fired three shots at Peugeot. One hit his shoulder and Peugeot fired back as he was falling. Peugeot's comrades fired at 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 a.m.^[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]

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