Phil`s presentation starts at the point the Germany army crosses the Belgium border and follows the individual stories of the key characters, Field Marshals and soldiers alike, military and civilian, German, Belgique and French of those who were to be intimately involved in the ‘flank guard action at Élouges and the cavalry action of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade.
The talk benefits from a series of high-quality maps which help to explain the complexity of the action at Audregnies and Élouges, and Phil will bring the story to life and humanises an action which has become known as a faceless casualty list for its perceived success or failure.
Phil has drawn together many un-published diary accounts from all the regiment’s involved in an attempt to show the interactions all between the units concerned and has avoided telling the story from a single-unit perspective. The analysis and critique is solely based around the actions of the units involved and has avoided some of the much repeated ‘sound bites’ which are not relevant to his story.
Further analysis is based around the instructions given to Field Marshal French by Lord Kitchener before he left and how the commanders implemented the tactics which had been articulated in their own specific to arms publications and the Field Service Manual 1909.
Speaker this month --- Major (Retd) Phil Watson
Major (Retd) Phil Watson joined the Army in October 1976 at JLR RAC as a boy soldier, and on joining the 9/12L served with the regiment in Cyprus, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and the Gulf War. During this period, he also served away from the regiment conducting two tours at the RAC Signal School as an instructor. In 1998, he was commissioned from the ranks, and was appointed the regiment’s first Regimental Career Management Officer.
After leaving regimental duty he fulfilled a series of staff appointments at Chilwell, Bovington and Northwood, before returning to regiment duty to command Headquarters Squadron. He left the 9/12L in 2012 after 35 years-service and joined HHQ 9/12L. He became interested in regimental history during his time in the WOs’ and Sgts’ Mess having been responsible for the silver or chattels for the whole period he was in the mess. His main area of interest was the detail around the Regimental Day; Mons/Moy, which commemorated the last two mounted lance actions of the regiment during the Retreat from Mons. After accumulating a wealth of information over 19 years, his first book The Last Charges was published by the regimental trustees in 2016. He has published two further books, Audregnies (the subject of the talk tonight), and his latest work is on the 12th Lancers at Dunkirk in 1940 – Their Greatest Hour.
On leaving the Army after 35 years, assumed the appointment of Assistant Regimental Secretary, providing welfare support to Lancers in need. He is an adult volunteer with Lincolnshire ACF