Mounted reserves fording a stream on their way to Verdun, a photo from the archives of the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Daily News. The back of the photo is stamped Oct — 3 1916. A hand-written note indicates it would cover two columns on the home page.
Reverse:Stamp: Oct — 3 1916Affixed clipping:Reserves on way to VerdunThe sector around Verdun still continues to be the scene of terrific fighting. Both the French and the Prussians continue in their attacks, and as a result troops are constantly being sent to take the places of fallen comrades.Hand-written:2 colHome Edition
"On April 8 [1916], a big maneuver took place on the Crécy battlefield. I don't know if they wanted to re-create the to-and-fros of the [medieval] battle, but we spent all day tangled up in the forest, tramping through dense thickets, our faces lashed by branches and our legs scratched by brambles.At a crossroads I witnessed an altercation between Captain Cros-Mayrevieille and Lieutenant Cordier, commander of the 14th Company. I caught these words on the fly.Captain: 'I gave you this order.'Cordier: 'No, you didn't. You're lying.'Captain: 'Watch your language.'Cordier: 'What? Watch my language? Watch how I knock your glasses off your nose!'Captain Cros was particularly fond of his glasses, and even fonder of the nose which held them on his face, because he quickly sped off on horseback, to the great joy of all who were watching."
Excerpt from the Notebooks of French Infantry Corporal Louis Barthas whose unit was behind the lines in Crécy-en-Ponthieu in Picardy, northern France. The Battle of Crécy fought there in 1346 was an English victory over the French during the Hundred Years War. Captain Cros tried to strip Barthas of his corporal's stripes, in part because of his strong socialist views, but Barthas appealed to his commander, Colonel Douce. After meeting with Barthas and reading his appeal, Douce ordered Cros to reinstate Barthas to his corporal's rank.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, pp. 180, 181, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
1916-04-08, 1916, April, Barthas