Chris Boonzaier Posted January 22, 2007 Posted January 22, 2007 I just recieved this today.The first doc is one of those given to the men of the 69th Infantry regiment who were present when the Regiment attacked in the champagne in mid october 1915, they pierced the german lines to a depth of 1200 meteres and took 600 prisonners. The regiment got a citation at Army level, this being the document.Although a Croix de Guerre is on it, it does not entitle the soldier to wear one.
Chris Boonzaier Posted January 22, 2007 Author Posted January 22, 2007 A photo of the Regt colours.It is from this site, essential to any and all WW1 French research and highly recommended..http://www.chtimiste.com/
Chris Boonzaier Posted January 22, 2007 Author Posted January 22, 2007 His citationDuring the opening moments of the german attack he stayed at his post reporting and observing the enemies movements. he was killed at his post.The post was at Haucourt and Malancourt and they were fighting the German 10th reserve Inf Regt and 22nd Inf Regt.Below his Croix de guerre (which he never saw) and the certificate.
Chris Boonzaier Posted January 22, 2007 Author Posted January 22, 2007 The condition is far from "Mint" but in a case like this.... who cares !
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 Armand Detrus was a stretcher bearer in the 110th Territorial regt.He was killed on the night between the 8th and 9th of June 1916 while carrying wounded back from the front line. he had been serving since October 1914.
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 The prelim doc for his Medaille Militaire...
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 The Letter from the mayor informing of his death..
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 His Verdun medal doc, (I am not sure if the medals with the group actually do belong with the docs), mentioning he was KIA.
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 A certificat stating that at the request of his Comrades (or family) his name has been engraved on the "EIX" corner of the monument. I think this means he was killed in that sector.
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 Due to the varying conditions I doubt the medals are really his...
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 A corner of the main cemetary..
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 Two different endings... the first in a trench killed as the German artillery rolls over his position and the German infantry takes his position, the second very probably hit by artillery as he carries wounded back at night.
Gerd Becker Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Thats a great group, Chris. The citation in post #7 is beautiful. Makes me want to collect french awards...
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 Thats a great group, Chris. The citation in post #7 is beautiful. Makes me want to collect french awards...Not only that... it is hand drawn..
dond Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 I might catch the bug myself. Thanks for posting Chris. We sometimes forget that the Germans actually had opponants.
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 11, 2007 Author Posted February 11, 2007 I might catch the bug myself. Thanks for posting Chris. We sometimes forget that the Germans actually had opponants.Jup indeed... and the Frenchies had many men that fell to the Germans... some mind boggling figures....French army losses during the war.It is usually said that Verdun and the Nivelle offensive were the battles that caused the French their highest losses. The following statistics found by Yves Buffetaut at the French archives (reference 6 N 58 at the SHAT) provide an interesting breakdown of casualties suffered during the course of the war. By far the worst losses were those suffered during the war of movement, and many more were to follow in the years of static warfare that followed.August & September 1914 : 329,000 (Battle of the frontiers and the Marne) October & November 1914 : 125,000 (Race to the sea) December 14-January 15 : 74,000 (French winter offensives) February-March 15 : 69,000 (French winter offensives) April, May, June 1915 : 143,000 (French offensives in Artois and Champagne) July & August 1915 : 48,000 Sept, Oct, November 15 : 131,000 (French offensives in Artois and Champagne) December 15 & January 16 : 22,000 By the time the battle for Verdun had started, the French army had already lost 941 000 men. February, March, April 1916 : 111,000 (Verdun) May 16 : 29,800 (Verdun) June 16 : 37,600 (Verdun) July 16 : 44,700 (Verdun and the Somme) August 16 : 26,500 (Mainly Somme) September 16 : 39,200 (Mainly Somme) October 16 : 23,800 (Verdun and the Somme) November 16 : 23,000 (Somme) December 16 : 14,600 (Successful offensive at Verdun) January 17 : 6,500 February 17 : 10,300 March 17 : 11,600 As the troops were preparing for the Chemin des Dames offensive, or "Nivelle Offensive", the total casualties (dead + missing) had already reached 1,319,000 men.April 1917 : 51,700 (Chemin des Dames) May 17 : 29,100 (End of Chemin des Dames) June 17 : 13,500 July 17 : 15,500 August 17 : 19,000 (2nd battle of Verdun) September 17 : 10,000 October 17 : 13,000 (battle of the Malmaison) November 17 : 5,000 December 17 : 4,000 January 1918 : 6,000 February : 9,000 (the Germans sent 15,000 prisoners to France in February) March 18 : 30,000 (German offensive on the Somme) April 18 : 28,000 (German offensive on the Somme & Flanders) May 18 : 29,000 (German offensive at the Chemin des Dames) June 18 : 81,000 (German offensives : Chemin des Dames and Matz) July 18 : 52,000 (German offensive on the Marne and French counter-stroke) August 18 : 24,000 (Allied offensive) September 18 : 23,000 (Allied offensive) October 18 : 39,000 (Allied offensive) November 18 : 9,000 (Allied offensive) The casualties totaled 1,798,000 including the 18,000 prisoners released before the armistice. Suprisingly, in spite of the horrible losses suffered there, the Chemin des Dames and Verdun losses appear rather small when compared to the losses of 1914 and 1915. Many people with an interest in the war like to repeat the old red herring "After the mutiny of 1917 the French army lost its fighting spirit and their allies had to carry the weight", not only the German histories dispute this, but so do the horrific losses suffered, France loosing over 300 000 men in 1918 alone.
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 18, 2007 Author Posted February 18, 2007 Captain Albert Garnier, a French officer in the 52 I.D. wrote of the fate of those who lay in no-man's-land...On my reconnaissance today I found four poor wretches with smashed legs. For two days they had been laying there wasting away, wracked with fever. They lay a few meters from each other, talking back and forth, keeping each others morale up, all hoping to be brought back to safety.They begged me to arrange transport for them and I solemnly promised to send the stretcher bearers to come pick them up. I did not have the heart to tell them that the stretcher bearers were 20 meters away, dead. I had promised to report their position which I did as soon as I had the chance. I have no idea if they were found."A letter from a soldier of the 4th Infantry Regiment, November 1916."At Verdun the ones who have suffered the most are the wounded and, along with them, the stretcher-bearers who transport them. Some of the bearers carry them from the front lines all the way to our post (1.5 kilometers); other ones take them in order to carry them off to Fleury and, having arrived there, the wounded have almost another 2 kilometers to go by stretcher before they can be transported by car. Imagine such a trip under the shells which hardly ever stop, through a landscape full of shell holes, tree trunks, and wrecked wire, through deep mud and, in certain areas, through clay where the stretcher-bearers sink down all the way to their waists, being forced to call for help to get themselves out of difficulty..."
Chris Boonzaier Posted February 18, 2007 Author Posted February 18, 2007 A French medical post at Verdun..."The bloody bandages are dropped on the floor, we have no time to dispose of them. They form a carpet that is ankle high on the floor.An artilleryman is brought in, he is in terrible condition. His wounds are horrible, he has bled a lot, his face like white marble. Both his legs are smashed, attached with just a few strands of meat and sinew. He is still bleeding heavily.While he is being given a morphine injection a doctor examines him.The splintered bones stick in all directions, the wound is full of hanging bits of flesh, remains of his trousers and underwear. Carefully we try and bandage the wounds. This means moving the leg... there is a fountain of blood that shoots out, like liquid pouring out of a keg it soaks the doctor.The poor man lets out a low moan and dies, it happens so fast we are not prepared for it, we almost don't notice it.New screaming at the entrance, this time a wounded man with a chest full of bullet holes, all bleeding badly. He is bandaged, gets a morphine injection is sent into a deep sleep with ether... he is then carried out..."Big black patches marked the places where the stretchers stood before the wounded were carried into the surgery. Leaning against the wall were the empty stretchers, their canvas covers stained black with crusts of blood. The bearers stand around with haggard faces, tortured looks, as if sentenced to death.Behind the barn the sight is terrible. Wounded who had died on the way, or during bandaging had been pushed aside to make way for those who were still living. There they lay, piled up on each other, open torsos, missing limbs, terrible to see. The faces carry grimices of anger, pain or desperation while the bodies lay in grotesque positions. On a ground lay the remains of a captain, three ribs and half a face wrapped in a tunic. Next to it lays a similar package with a paper name tag.The pile of bloody corpes is the stuff nightmares are made of. At night the rats add to the horror, eating away the faces and eyes, leaving bloody skulls staring out of empty sockets.Bury them? There are simply to many. We have to live amongst them, eat amongst them and sleep amongst them...."
Chris Boonzaier Posted January 3, 2011 Author Posted January 3, 2011 Check out the last photo..... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40056/40625.html And see if you can spot his name.... :-)
Paul R Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 Very vividly written... Thanks for sharing this timeless group!
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