First Ypres and Le Cateau Casulaties

[ATM]

I know that the casulaties inflicted by on the Germans at Le Cateau are thought to be three times as many as what the BEF recieved but is there any more accurate information than that? Also any accurate figures on German 1st Ypres Casulties. I can find British everywhere but never any German.

P.S. I am having computer trouble so if I don't reply with a thankyou it is because my computer has been wiped as I am having troubles with it. Thanks anyway.

[Jack Sheldon]

German casualty figures are fraught with difficulty, but I shall try to be of help. Beginning with Le Cateau. My understanding is that the British army suffered 7,812 casualties as a result of Le Cateau, so to prove your assertion that the German casualties were three times as high, we need to look for losses of 24,000. It's going to be difficult. For a start, not many German formations were engaged and of those a lot only appeared later in the day as the withdrawal began to take place. The troops involved were mostly from IV Corps which had two divisions and a total of 8 infantry regiments, not all of whom were engaged. Initial clashes were between cavalrymen and Jaeger battalions of the 9th Cavalry Division on the British left flank, then the 7th Division began to close on Le Cateau itself and the 8th Division in the centre between Inchy and Caudry. I cannot give you overall casualty figures, but herewith a few illustrations from key formations. Infantry Regiment 26 (infantry regiments had a strength of about 2,800 at the time) was closely involved in the attack on the British right flank. Its casualties were 4 officers (Hauptmann Fahrenkamp, Hauptmann Jakob, Oberleutnant von Werneburg and Reserve Leutnant Steindorf) and 57 NCOs and ORs killed. 12 Officers and 247 men were wounded and 347 were missing, though the regimental history states that the majority rejoined later. Fusilier Regiment 36 suffered losses of 3 officers and 48 men killed, whilst 13 officers and 336 NCOs and ORs were wounded. Infantry Regiment 66 lost 5 officers, including 3 company commanders and 75 NCOs and men killed. 398 all ranks were wounded. Infantry Regiment 72, was the formation which attacked Le Cateau itself and the surrounding heights, so it attacked where the fight was almost at its fiercest. Casualties for the day were 1 officer (Hauptmann Frucht, and 21 NCOs and ORs killed, 5 officers, one officer deputy and 87 NCOs and ORs wounded. There were also 4 missing. Infantry Regiment 153, attacking in the centre suffered casualties of 51 killed and 240 wounded (including five officers). I won't labour the point, but you can see that whatever the figure was and painful though the casualties were in some units, I strongly doubt if you could even make the figures match the British losses. The Germans barely noticed Le Cateau in the context of other much more costly engagements elsewhere along the length of the Western Front. I'll keep on looking at this question and feel free to come back at me if you wish.

Jack

[ATM]

Very interesting. Thankyou. So would you put down the three times as many casulty estimates due to propaganda or over-optimism? Thankyou for replying to my point. Again if I don't reply in this post again it is because I will have been forced to wipe my computer and have not foudn another way to get around the bugs I believe idden inside. Once again thankyou, and thankyou if you reply again.