Zweibund — the Dual Alliance — Germany and Austria-Hungary united, were the core of the Central Powers, and here join hands. The bars of Germany's flag border the top left, and those of the Habsburg Austrian Empire and ruling house the bottom right.
Schulter an SchulterUntrennbar vereintin Freud und in Leid!'Shoulder to shoulderInseparably united in joy and in sorrow!
"There was naturally a cascade of Croix de Guerre distributed, as always, according to the whims of the officers, who began by giving them to each other.For these, the company commanders had to present a list of those most deserving. Lieutenant Cordier responded with these noble words: 'All my men did their duty. To reward a few would be to do an injury to the others. That's an injustice to which I will not subscribe.' . . ."
French Infantry Corporal Louis Barthas rotated into the Verdun sector on May 6, 1916, moved to the front line on the 11th, and moved out the night of May 18-19. Due to French commander Henri Philippe Pétain's policy of short rotations, some 80% of the French army rotated through Verdun during the Battle. Barthas records that his reserve regiment suffered as many as 1,050 killed, wounded, and missing. When the losses were replaced with young men, the regiment was made an active duty, regular regiment. Barthas, who had previously been broken in rank, was made a corporal again.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, page 218, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
1916-05-24, 1916, May, Croix de Guerre
