The Saxons On The Marne 1914

Our speaker for this month's meeting is Alistair Fraser, who will be talking to us about the Saxons on the Marne and the lost victory of 1914 at the regimental level. In this presentation, we will be looking at ‘The 103 Infantry’, a regular regiment in Germany's Saxon Army. We will look at their mobilisation and the role they played up to the start of trench warfare in mid-September 1914. Through this lecture, we will endeavour to determine the physical state of one of the regiments of the Third German Army during and after the gruelling battle of Lenharree, which was fought from 7^th to 9^th September 1914. It will use the German verlustlisten and casualty lists from several sources to establish not only the number of dead, but also the number of men wounded, and the prisoners taken by the British, in the course of these actions. From this information, we can calculate a more accurate picture of the condition and number of men still standing and available to fight at the end of the battle, before going into the trenches. 

If you would like to attend any of our monthly meetings, we meet on the first Saturday of each month throughout the year. Please come and visit us. You are assured a warm and friendly welcome from our members and guests, and you will be able to enjoy many interesting and informative talks from our invited speakers. These presentations are then followed by a Q&A session and a lively interaction on the day's subject between our guest and our members. Membership of The Western Front Association is optional, but not essential, for anyone wishing to come to any of our branch meetings. I would say however, that membership of the WFA is of great benefit to anyone wishing to research into the military past of family members, or if you want to look into people and events, in and around the Great War. Also the support and information you can obtain from the current membership, trustees, and publications is second to none. And with easy access to the many documents now available to the association on its new website, membership has a great many things to offer. The magazines accompanying membership, ‘Bulletin and Stand To!’ are regularly sent to members throughout the year, and are a great source of articles and information about the Great War.