Battle of Weybridge/Shepperton

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Battle of Weybridge and Shepperton
Part of The War of the Worlds
Artist's impression of the one of the Martian fighting machines hit by artillery fire during the battle.
Date precise date unknown; 1902 (June, "early in the twentieth century") Location Weybridge, Surrey, England Result pyrrhic British victory
Combatants
United Kingdom	Martians
Commanders
Brigadier-General Marvin †	unknown
Strength
8th Hussars, 12th Horse Artillery	5 fighting-machines
Casualties
Both towns destroyed, sizeable civilian and military casualties and total loss of materiel	1 fighting-machine lost, remaining fighting-machines retired to Horsell Common

The War of the Worlds
Horsell – Weybridge and Shepperton – London – HMS Thunder Child

The Battle of Weybridge and Shepperton was a fictional battle described in H. G. Wells' book The War of the Worlds.

[edit] Brief

The battle is described in detail in Wells' book. It took place in the early afternoon on Day three of the invasion from Mars and ended up as a pyrrhic British victory.

[edit] Battle

After British military positions were overrun and destroyed at Chertsey, Chobham and Byfleet, the Martians (an attacking force of five fighting-machines) proceeded to Weybridge, which at the time was the local military headquarters. A hidden artillery battery near Shepperton Church hit and destroyed one Martian fighting-machine. This forced the Martians to retreat to their then-primary base at Horsell Common (near Woking), but Weybridge and Shepperton were destroyed with heavy loss of life. The retreating Martians managed to retrieve the wreckage of the destroyed fighting machine during their retreat.

[edit] Conclusions

Despite the heavy loss of life and material, and the total devastation of Weybridge and Shepperton, this destruction of a fighting-machine served as a brief morale boost to the civilian populace of London when the first detailed reports of the invasion were released to the public. The Martians realized from this battle that the British artillery was a real threat (further reinforced by a Martian fighting-machine damaged by an artillery shell later on that same day at approximately 7pm near St. George's Hill), which forced them to resort to using black smoke when they resumed the offensive at 9pm that evening.