Battle of Weybridge/Shepperton

Infobox fictional conflict
conflict=Battle of Weybridge and Shepperton


caption=
partof=The War of the Worlds
date=June, "early in the twentieth century"
place=Weybridge, Surrey, England
result=British Pyrrhic Victory
combatant1=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
combatant2=Martians
commander1=Brigadier-General MarvinKIA
commander2=Martian Commander
strength1=8th Hussars
12th Horse Artillery
strength2=5 fighting-machines
casualties1=Both towns destroyed, sizeable civilian and military casualties and total loss of materiel
casualties2=1 fighting-machine lost, remaining fighting-machines retired to Horsell Common
depictions = "The War of the Worlds" (1898) by H. G. Wells

The Battle of Weybridge and Shepperton was a fictional battle described in H. G. Wells' book "The War of the Worlds".

Brief

The battle is [http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/warworlds/b1c12.html described in detail] in Wells' book. It took place in the early afternoon on Day three of the invasion from Mars and ended up as a pyrrhic British victory.

Battle

After British military positions were overrun and destroyed at Chertsey, Chobham and Byfleet, the Martians (an attacking force of five fighting-machines) proceeded to Weybridge, which at the time was the local military headquarters. A hidden artillery battery near Shepperton Church hit and destroyed one Martian fighting-machine. This forced the Martians to retreat to their then-primary base at Horsell Common (near Woking), but Weybridge and Shepperton were destroyed with heavy loss of life. The retreating Martians managed to retrieve the wreckage of the destroyed fighting machine during their retreat.

Conclusions

Despite the heavy loss of life and material, and the total devastation of Weybridge and Shepperton, this destruction of a fighting-machine served as a brief morale boost to the civilian populace of London when the first detailed reports of the invasion were released to the public. The Martians realized from this battle that the British artillery was a real threat (further reinforced by a Martian fighting-machine damaged by an artillery shell later on that same day at approximately 7pm near St. George's Hill), which forced them to resort to using black smoke when they resumed the offensive at 9pm that evening.