Must I leave Paris for a village? The flight to Bordeaux by the French Government. As the Allies retreated, the advancing Germans threatened Paris. On Monday afternoon, August 31, 1914, the French Cabinet Council began moving the Government to Bordeaux, packing documents, gold, and other valuables to keep them from falling into the hands of the Germans. The move culminated early in the morning of September 3 when President Poincaré, the Ministry, and members of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies left, having turned the administration and defense of the city over to General Joseph Gallieni.
Image text: Die Flucht nach Bordeaux'Muss i' denn, muss i' dennzum Städtle hinaus!'The Flight to Bordeaux'Must I, must ILeave here for a village!'Signs and labels:Nach BordeauxPoincaréFranzösische StaatskarreFranzösische StaatsschatzGesetzbuchFrench National CartFrench TreasuryStatute BookSigned: C.D.Reverse:Verlag Hermann Worlff, Berlin S.59, Boppstr. 7
A Swiss postcard of 'The European War' in 1914. The Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary face enemies to the east, west, and south. Germany is fighting the war it tried to avoid, battling Russia to the east and France to the west. Germany had also hoped to avoid fighting England which came to the aid of neutral (and prostrate) Belgium, and straddles the Channel. Austria-Hungary also fights on two fronts, against Russia to the east and Serbia and Montenegro to the south. Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, declared neutrality, and looks on. Other neutral nations include Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania. Japan enters from the east to battle Germany. The German Fleet stays close to port in the North and Baltic Seas while a German Zeppelin targets England. The Austro-Hungarian Fleet keeps watch in the Adriatic. Turkey is not represented, and entered the war at the end of October, 1914; Italy in late May, 1915.
Image text: Der Europäische KriegThe European WarReverse:Kriegskarte No. 61. Verlag K. Essig, BaselKunstanstalt (Art Institute) Frobenius A.G. Basel
Zeppelin Kommt! Children play a Zeppelin raid on London. Holding his bomb in the gondola is a doll of the airship's inventor, Count Zeppelin. The other children, playing the English, cower, and the British fleet — folded paper boats — remains in port. Prewar postcards celebrated the imposing airships and the excitement they generated with the same expression, 'Zeppelin Kommt!'. Postcard by P.O. Engelhard (P.O.E.). The message on the reverse is dated May 28, 1915.
Image text: P.O.E.? EnglandLondonZeppelin Kommt!Reverse:Message dated May 28, 1915Stamped: Geprüft und zu befördern (Approved and forwarded) 9 Komp. Bay. L.I.N. 5
Postcard image of London under an airship raid. In the distance, a fire burns near Tower Bridge, another to the east, south of the Thames. The Schütte-Lanz was a competitor to the Zeppelin, and used a wooden rather than metal frame. After an original painting, 'Schütte-Lanz' over London by Jo. Ruep.
Image text: Reverse:Luftfahrerdank o.m.b.h. Charlottenburg 2. "Schütte-Lanz" über LondonNach einem Original-Gemälde von Jos. Ruep.Thanks to Airmen o.m.b.h. Charlottenburg 2."Schütte-Lanz" over LondonAfter an original painting by Jo. Ruep.
Postcard view of the county of Kent, England, bounded by the River Thames on the north and the English Channel and Dover Strait to the east. The city and White Cliffs of Dover are in Kent. In November 1914, British naval and military authorities feared Germany was preparing to invade England.
Image text: Kent: the Doorway of England.I had rather be a doorkeeper in the County of Kent than dwell in the Tents of the Huns.'Invicta' - undefeated, the motto of KentCities and towns of KentOn the door: No Germans AdmittedReverse:Postmarked Chatham (Kent) January 25, 1915Designed and Printed in Faversham, Kent, at Voile & Robertson's Library (copyright)
Postcard map of the Chemin des Dames between Soissons and Rheims. The view is facing north towards the heights of the 'Ladies Road,' the Aisne River to its south. The Germans held the high ground after the retreat from the Marne in 1914. The French suffered heavy casualties taking the Chemin des Dames in the Second Battle of the Aisne in 1917, an offensive that led to widespread mutinies in the French Army. The Third German Drive of 1918, the Third Battle of the Aisne, drove the French, and supporting British troops, from the heights, and again threatened Paris.
Image text: No. 189Das Kampfgebiet an der AisneThe Battleground of the Aisne
"J'ai reçu le mandat de défendre Paris contre l'envahisseur.Ce mandat, je le remplirai jusqu'au bout.Army of Paris, Inhabitants of Paris,The members of the Government of the Republic have left Paris to give a fresh impulse to national defense.I have been entrusted with the task of defending Paris against the invader.That task I will fulfill to the end.GalliéniMilitary Governor of ParisCommandant of the Army of Paris" ((1), more)
"J'ai reçu le Mandat de dèfendre Paris contre l'envahisseur. Ce Mandat, je le remplirai jusqu'au bout.(Proclamation du 3 Septembre 1914)I received the mandate to defend Paris against the invader. This mandate, I will fill to the end.(Proclamation of September 3, 1914)General Joseph Gallieni" ((2), more)
"At about 3:20 P.M. personnel at the Nordholz base spotted what appeared to be an airship, and then saw a large flash of flame and heard an explosion. In a few minutes a report by telephone stated that a Zeppelin had fallen in flames near Neuwerk Island. Coastal batteries near Cuxhaven had a clear view of the disaster, and a sentry who had watched LZ.10 struggling shoreward with the upper portion of her hull shrouded by clouds, said he had seen a flash of lightning and with that a jagged flame that burst from the hull. Others saw the fire spread until the nose of the airship tilted down and she began to dive at about 80 degrees, and eventually piled up on the tidal flats, and burned in great clouds of smoke." ((3), more)
". . . At about 1:50 A.M. I noticed a red glow in the northeast of London. Taking it to be an outbreak of fire I went in that direction. At about 2:05 A.M. a Zeppelin was picked up over N.N.E. London (as far as I could judge). Remembering my last failure, I sacrificed height (I was still at 12,100 feet) for speed and made nose-down for the Zeppelin. I saw shells bursting and night-tracer shells flying around it. When I drew closer I noticed that the anti-aircraft fire was too high or too low, also a good many rose 800 feet behind—a few tracers went right over. I could hear the burst about 3,000 feet from the Zeppelin.I flew to about 800 feet below it from bow to stern and distributed one drum along it (alternate new Brock and Pomeroy). It seemed to have no effect. I therefore moved to one side and gave it another drum along its side—without much apparent effect. I then got behind it (by this time I was very close—500 feet or less below—[)]and concentrated one drum on one part underneath. I was then at a height of 11,500 feet when attacking the Zeppelin. I had hardly finished the drum when I saw the part fired at glow. In a few seconds the whole rear part was blazing. When the third drum was fired there were no searchlights on the Zeppelin and no A.A. was firing. I quickly got out of the way of the falling Zeppelin and, being very excited, fired off a few red Very lights and dropped a parachute flare." ((4), more)
"'We had no warning of any kind,' grieved one sailor. 'Before we knew what was happening, the roof was lifted off the shop, blown into the air, and fell in a thousand pieces among the men. It was flying glass, which was thick and heavy, that did the damage. We were dashed out of our hammocks to the floor, all mixed under broken glass. The men on either side of me were killed.'" ((5), more)
"On September 3, Marshal Foch's 'Directive' prescribed that while (1) the British armies supported by the left of the French armies continue to attack in the general direction Cambrai—St. Quentin, and (2) the centre of the French armies continues its action to drive the enemy beyond the Aisne and the Ailette, (3) the American Army after delivering at the latest by September 10 their attack on the St. Mihiel salient should prepare 'as strong and violent an offensive as possible in the general direction of Mezières, covered on the East by the Meuse and supported on the left by the attack of the Fourth French Army (Gouraud).'" ((6), more)
(1) On Monday afternoon, August 31, 1914, with the retreat of the Allied armies showing no end, the French Cabinet Council determined to move the Government to Bordeaux, a move that continued through the morning of September 3 when President Poincaré, the Ministry, and members of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies left. They entrusted the defense of Paris to General Joseph Galliéni and the Garrison of Paris.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. II, 1914, p. 191, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(2) General Gallieni was called from retirement to prepare the defense of Paris from the approaching Germans.
General Gallieni and his Proclamation of September 3, 1914 by H. Manuel, Postcard face
(3) Sent out on September 3, 1915 to attack England with three other airships, LZ.10's commander Klaus Hirsch reported he was returning to Nordholz, south of Cuxhaven on the North Sea. Hirsch and his crew died.
The Zeppelin Fighters by Arch Whitehouse, page 99, copyright © 1966 by Arch Whitehouse, publisher: New English Library, publication date: 1978
(4) Excerpt from the account of Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson of Number 39 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps of his bringing down SL.11 on the night of September 2–3, 1916 from Arch Whitehouse's The Zeppelin Fighters. This night London was the primary target of the greatest airship attack yet, one of 16 craft, primarily Zeppelins, carrying 32 tons of bombs. SL.11 was a Schütte-Lanz rather than a Zeppelin; the former had a wooden frame, the latter one of metal. Hauptmann Wilhelm Schramm piloted SL.11 which fell on the village of Cuffley, 25 north of London. Four civilians were killed in the raid, and twelve injured. 'Brock' and 'Pomeroy' were types of explosive machine gun bullets, sensitive enough to explode on striking fabric.
The Zeppelin Fighters by Arch Whitehouse, page 128, copyright © 1966 by Arch Whitehouse, publisher: New English Library, publication date: 1978
(5) Of the ten Gotha bombers that reached England on August 22, 1917, three were shot down near Margate and Dover. That attack was the last daylight raid of the war by the Gotha bombers. The bomb that struck the drill hall at Chatham Naval Barracks at 11:12 PM on September 3, 1917 was the most deadly of the first night raid by the bombers, killing 131 recruits, and wounding 90 more. Of five bombers that set out, four reached England and all returned safely. Five attacked London the following night, killing 19 and injuring 71. The sailor's quotation, originally from the New York Times of September 6, 1917, is from Raymond Fredette's excellent history of the 1917–1918 air assault on England by fixed aircraft The Sky on Fire.
The Sky on Fire by Raymond H. Fredette by Raymond H. Fredette, page 121, copyright © 1966, 1976, 1991 by Raymond H. Fredette, publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press, publication date: 1991
(6) Excerpt from Winston Churchill's history of the war summarizing Allied Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand Foch's September 3, 1918 directive. Point 3, concerning the actions of the newly created American First Army, would require a reduction of the St. Mihiel salient, then a rapid redeployment westward for an assault in the heavily fortified heights of the Argonne. American Commander-in-Chief John J. Pershing had at last, and would command, the independent American Army he had argued for since his arrival in France more than a year before.
The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Winston Churchill, page 828, copyright © by Charles Scribner's Sons 1931, renewed by Winston S. Churchill 1959, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 1931, 2007
