A heroic deed of the Royal Horse Artillery near Compiègne

Painting by Chevalier Fortunino Matania (1881-1963), originally featured in The Sphere. The heroic stand of ‘L’ Battery is one which will go down to posterity in the annals of the British army. The Battery was surprised in such a position that only three of the guns could reply to the deadly cannonade from the German guns, but those were at once manned by the few survivors of the deadly German onslaught, and were so magnificently served that one by one they silenced the German guns. At last only one out of the three remained, and only three men to defend the position. They, crouching behind the shield, served the gun with such deadly effect that only one gun of the German battery remained in action when they were rescued from their perilous position.