THE FIRST SOLDIER KILLED IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Lieutenant Albert Otto Walter Mayer was the first soldier killed in the First World War. He died one day before the German Empire officially declared war on France.
On the morning of August 2, 1914, Mayer led a cavalry patrol of 8 riders from Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 5 across the border into France to scout the area. The French, however, had already pulled their troops back 10 km behind the border to avoid any confrontation with the Germans and to make their peaceful intent clear.

After Mayer and his comrades had been riding for a while, the village of Jonchery came into view and the first French sentry stepped into their path. Mayer slashed at him with his saber as he rode past, but it is unclear whether the sentry was actually wounded.
At around 9:50 a.m., the German patrol reached Joncherey. Corporal Jules Andre Peugeot and four other French soldiers were eating in their quarters when the landlord’s daughter burst in and shouted, “The Prussians! The Prussians are coming!” Moments later the French corporal stepped into the street with his men and called out to the German soldiers to halt, telling them they were under arrest. Mayer drew his pistol, fired at Peugeot and hit him in the shoulder. Peugeot fired back but missed the lieutenant. The rest of Peugeot’s unit then opened fire as well and hit four Germans, among them Mayer, who took a round in the stomach first and was then killed by a shot to the head.

The three wounded German soldiers were taken prisoner, while the remaining riders fell back onto German soil. Mayer’s body was buried in Joncherey the next day and later moved to the German military cemetery at Illfurth. His helmet is still on display today at the Musée de l’Armée in Paris. Corporal Peugeot, hit in the shoulder, died of his wounds and became the first man killed on the French side.

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