Cover photo: Second Lieutenant Albert Mayer (left) and Corporal Jules-André Peugeot (right), the first casualties of World War I between Germany and France.

Text by Tasos Malesiadas.

The previous day, before the official declaration of war, a cavalry unit from the 5th Regiment of Mounted Hunters was tasked with reconnaissance of the terrain on one of the axes that the German invasion force would follow. The commanding officer of the reconnaissance team was 22-year-old Second Lieutenant Albert Otto Walter Mayer, from Magdeburg in the Kingdom of Prussia.

His family had moved to the Alsace region, which had been incorporated into the German Empire after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. There, he enlisted in the local regiment, the 5th Regiment of Mounted Jagers, which was part of the 29th Cavalry Brigade of the 29th Infantry Division. He had decided to pursue a career as an officer and, due to his high performance, was accepted as an officer candidate and subsequently promoted to Second Lieutenant in his regiment.

At the start of the reconnaissance mission, Mayer slashed the first French sentry at the border, leaving him injured. The rest of his team galloped behind their commander. The sentry sat in a corner, pressing his wound to prevent bleeding to death. The sound of the horses’ hooves had already faded into the night. When the reconnaissance team reached the village of Joncherey, a nearby outpost, a border patrol was starting to eat their breakfast.

Young Nicolette, the daughter of the man housing the patrol, ran into the house and told them that Germans had entered the village. The patrol leader immediately gave an order.

The patrol leader was 21-year-old Corporal Peugeot, who had enlisted and was already serving for a year in the French army. He belonged to the 6th Company of the 44th Regiment, part of the 27th Brigade of the 14th Infantry Division. Before enlisting, he had graduated from a teaching academy and become a teacher. He and his men mobilized immediately to confront the invaders. Just before encircling them, Peugeot shouted for them to surrender, stating they were being placed under arrest.

All the men in the mounted reconnaissance team spoke fluent French. They also knew that under no circumstances should they be captured alive. Mayer drew his pistol and shot Peugeot. He managed to return fire with his own pistol but missed. Mayer, however, did not miss. He hit Peugeot fatally near the shoulder.

The rest of the French forces started firing, and Mayer was hit in the stomach and head. The reconnaissance patrol galloped away rapidly to disengage. Peugeot did not die instantly. He saw Mayer dead and the patrol fleeing. As he and his comrades returned to the house they used as a base, the young corporal succumbed to his injuries on the steps. Mayer was buried the next day in Joncherey. The German forces later reburied him in a military cemetery near his home in Alsace.

The next day, the German declaration of war and invasion became a reality.

Typically, the names of the first casualties remain unknown among the millions of names that share the same fate. This time, that did not happen.