counterattack of the Middlesex Regiment. The brigades were ordered to disperse – according to one officer, they "had to withdraw or be destroyed" when the strength of the British reinforcements became apparent, and scattered in various directions. The Germans either moved north into the Compiègne Forest or east towards Crépy-en-Valois, but hearing fighting at Crepy doubled back to the south-east. They halted in the forests around Rosières, south of Néry; however, they were forced to abandon their remaining four guns, and most of their food and ammunition in the process. That afternoon, the cavalry observed the British columns retreating south along the roads, but were unable to attack them because of their lack of supplies. They left Rosières in the evening of 1 September; a patrol of the 1st Rifle Brigade entered the village at 7pm and found it had just been abandoned by a cavalry unit, leaving in such haste that they had abandoned a machine-gun. The bulk of the units managed to rejoin the First Army by the morning of 3 September, but the division was left behind with a reserve corps on 4 September when the II Cavalry Corps began to advance again. Nineteen identifiable British dead from the action, all from L battery bar Cawley, are buried at Nery Communal Cemetery. The cemetery also contains a number of unidentified British burials (fewer than ten) and Cawley's brother, killed in 1918, was also buried there. Notes References Sources Books Websites Further reading External links Photographs and maps Conflicts in 1914 1914 in France Battles of the Western Front (World War I) Battles of World War I involving Germany Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom September 1914 events Germany–United Kingdom military relations