Casualty of The Great War, Leutnant (=Second Lieutenant) Mayer is held to be the first German soldier to die as a result of combat operations in World War One. His family had moved to the area of Mulhouse, Alsace where, in 1912, he enlisted in the German army. Within two years he had been promoted to Leutnant in his local cavalry unit - the Jäger Regt-zu-Pferd Nr 5 - which, as part of the 29th Cavalry Brigade of the 29th Infantry Division, was garrisoned in Mulhouse. Following the French General Mobilisation Order made on 1st August 1914, his unit was ordered to the French-German border where they were to undertake armed reconnaissance patrols. His group was challenged at the French-German border,but,in ignoring the customary "Halte-là!" (who goes there?) issued by Caporal Jules Andre Peugeot,he drew his pistol and fired, mortally wounding Peugeot, who managed to return fire, but not effectively. Mayer, however was hit by Peugeot's comrades, once in the stomach and secondly to the head. He was buried with full military honours in Joncherey on 3 August, but his remains were later repatriated to the German Military Cemetery at Illfurth near Mulhouse. His grave is specially marked '1st German Casualty of the World War 1914-18'. He is commemorated on a regimental memorial at Mulheim and his helmet, retrieved from the spot where he fell, is in the Army Museum in Paris. He is also known as the first casualty of the First World War.
Photographs used with the kind permission of David O'Mara of Croonaert Research Services http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/Research.htm ; biographical details based on http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/First%20to%20fall.htm
Photographs used with the kind permission of David O'Mara of Croonaert Research Services http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/Research.htm ; biographical details based on http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/First%20to%20fall.htm
Casualty of The Great War, Leutnant (=Second Lieutenant) Mayer is held to be the first German soldier to die as a result of combat operations in World War One. His family had moved to the area of Mulhouse, Alsace where, in 1912, he enlisted in the German army. Within two years he had been promoted to Leutnant in his local cavalry unit - the Jäger Regt-zu-Pferd Nr 5 - which, as part of the 29th Cavalry Brigade of the 29th Infantry Division, was garrisoned in Mulhouse. Following the French General Mobilisation Order made on 1st August 1914, his unit was ordered to the French-German border where they were to undertake armed reconnaissance patrols. His group was challenged at the French-German border,but,in ignoring the customary "Halte-là!" (who goes there?) issued by Caporal Jules Andre Peugeot,he drew his pistol and fired, mortally wounding Peugeot, who managed to return fire, but not effectively. Mayer, however was hit by Peugeot's comrades, once in the stomach and secondly to the head. He was buried with full military honours in Joncherey on 3 August, but his remains were later repatriated to the German Military Cemetery at Illfurth near Mulhouse. His grave is specially marked '1st German Casualty of the World War 1914-18'. He is commemorated on a regimental memorial at Mulheim and his helmet, retrieved from the spot where he fell, is in the Army Museum in Paris. He is also known as the first casualty of the First World War.
Photographs used with the kind permission of David O'Mara of Croonaert Research Services http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/Research.htm ; biographical details based on http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/First%20to%20fall.htm
Photographs used with the kind permission of David O'Mara of Croonaert Research Services http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/Research.htm ; biographical details based on http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/First%20to%20fall.htm
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