French WW1 veteran recounts bayonet charges and the behavior of his officers [translated by me]
by Overweight_Dodo
French WW1 veteran recounts bayonet charges and the behavior of his officers [translated by me]
by Overweight_Dodo
6 comments
There are a couple of important elements mentioned in the video that I will expand.
The veteran that is interviewed in the video was named Victor Boudon (born on November 7, 1887, died on May 31st, 1979, aged 92).
The battle that this veteran recounts was the battle of the Ourcq, named after a french river in the region. The battle occured between September 5 and September 10, 1914, a month or so after the beginning of World War 1.
Mr. Boudon mentions the “Saint-Cyrians” during the video. He refers to the Saint-Cyr military school of France, famous for being founded by Napoleon and for the uniforms worn by its officers, which are mentioned in the video as well.
Although a small battle in the immensity of World War 1, the battle of Ourcq is remembered for the lieutenant that is mentioned multiple times in the video, Charles Péguy.
Charles Péguy was a writer, poet, and essayist. He wrote multiple books that earned him fame. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_P%C3%A9guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_P%C3%A9guy)
This video also serves as proof of the clash of 19th century military tactics that were still strongly embedded in the minds of the officers at the beginning of World War 1. Bayonet and sword charges faced catastrophic results against modern military tactics.
More than 1.2 million French soldiers were killed during World War 1. It is estimated that a third of those losses, or 400’000 men, were killed in 1914 only, between the months of August to December, as the conflict officially started on July 28th, 1914.
A normal person walks 1 km between 12 and 15 minutes.
If you are fit and have the cardio for it, you can run 1 km in 5 minutes or less.
Now imagine to be fully equipped and having the enemy shooting at you from the other side:
If you walk, it takes max 45 minutes to reach the line.
If you run, 15 minutes.
As they are equipped, they probably did a mix of the two, so lets say, that it took them 30 minutes to get to the line.
For 30 minutes they are under constant fire on an open field, seeing their friends getting killed, trying to shoot back at the germans and not understanding half of what is going on.
Damn
One out of three young Frenchmen were killed in WWI.
“Ho mon Dieu, mes enfants !”
La dernière chose à laquelle il a pensé avant de mourir, c’est sa compagnie, ses hommes..
Je vais chialer je crois.
Un moment de respect pour Charles Péguy.
My immediate response to being asked to engage in a bayonet charge on machine gun positions over an exposed, 3-mile expanse will always and forever be: fuck you.