Charles Beck Hornby

Major Charles Beck Hornby DSO JP (7 February 1883 - 10 January 1949) was an officer in the British Army. While a captain in the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, he is reputed to have become the first British soldier to kill a German soldier in the First World War, around 6:30am on 22 August 1914, near the Belgian village of Casteau.

Early life and career

Hornby was born in Bangalore. His father, Colonel John Frederick Hornby, served with the 12th Lancers.

He was educated at Harrow School and was commissioned as an Ensign in the 4th Dragoon Guards in 1901, promoted to Lieutenant in 1903, and Captain in 1909. He served in the Second Boer War and was the regiment’s adjutant from January 1911 to January 1914.

First World War

After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Hornby was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force, as second-in-command of C Squadron of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, under Major Tom Bridges (later Lieutenant General). His squadron became the first unit of the BEF to engage the German army outside Mons on 22 August 1914.

The squadron was guarding the road from Mons to Soignies, near the village of Casteau to the north-east of Mons (later to become the location of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe). Two troops were dismounted in ambush, and two in reserve commanded by Hornby. Four patrolling German lancers - 4th Cuirassiers of the 9th Cavalry Division - were reconnoitring the route around 6am on 22 August, as the advance guard of General Alexander von Kluck’s 1st Army which was about to advance on Mons. Sensing danger, the German cavalrymen retreated and were pursued by Hornby's two reserve troops, the 1st Troop leading with swords drawn and the 4th Troop following. The Germans retreated towards a larger force of German lancers, which Hornby charged with his men. Hornby reputed to have been the first to kill one of the German cavalrymen, fighting on horseback with sword against lance, using a 1908 pattern trooper's sword reputedly held by the museum of the Yorkshire Regiment.

After further pursuit, the Germans turned to shoot at the British cavalry, supported by a force of jägers. The 4th Troop dismounted to provide covering fire for the 1st Troop, and Drummer Edward Thomas is reputed to have fired the first shot of the war for the British Army, hitting a German cavalryman.

For his efforts, Captain Hornby was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, gazetted in February 1915, ^[1] but he was seriously wounded a few weeks after the engagement. He was promoted to Major in March 1916, with effect from August 1915,^[2] and served in the War Office in England as GSO Grade 3 in 1916 and 1917.^[3] He was mentioned in dispatches twice, and awarded the Croix de guerre in 1917. He went on half-pay due to illness caused by wounds in July 1917,^[4] and retired from the army in 1922.

A monument to the action was unveiled in Belgium on 22 August 1939.

Later life

Hornby married Dorothy Henderson in 1914. They had two daughters. He survived the war, and served as a Justice of the Peace from 1924, becoming vice-chairman of the bench of magistrates in Hexham. He served in the rank of captain with the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards in the Royal Armoured Corps the Second World War, from February 1941 to April 1943. ^[5]

He died in Hexham in Northumberland, with an obituary published in The Times.

Notes

References

• Obituary, "Major C. B. Hornby." The Times, 12 January 1949
• Captain Charles Beck Hornby, University of Limerick
• thepeerage.com
• Riding the Retreat: Mons to the Marne 1914 Revisited, Richard Holmes, p.113-114
• Capt Hornby's Sword , The Yorkshire Regiment museum
• The VC and DSO Volume II, p.361
• Challenge of Battle: the Real Story of the British Army in 1914, Adrian Gilbert, p.16-17
• Heroic Option: The Irish in the British Army, Desmond Bowen, Jean Bowen, p.203