French postcard celebrating the Allied victory at the Battle of the Marne with the Kaiser tumbling in the river, Germans (in green) fleeing. The French in blue and red advance and tend to German wounded. The British, France's ally, advance in the distance.

Caption:

Dans un élan magnifique, les armées allemandes on passé deux fois la Marne. Tout va bien. Les troupes sont fraîches. (Agence Wolff)



With magnificent élan, the German armies have crossed the Marne twice. All is well. The troops are fresh. (Wolff Agency)



Signs and text:

On demande couturière pour recoudre les boches

Voulez vous que j’écrive a vos parents?

Poudres sèches pour la guerre future 1873

Sucre pastilles caramelle

Baton provisoire de maréchal



We need a seamstress to mend the Boche

You want me to write to your parents?

Dry powder for future war 1873

Caramel sugar lozenges

Marshal’s provisional baton



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Sunday, September 6, 1914

"On September 6 [1914] we saw the first wounded of the great battle that was then under way and which would become known to history as the Battle of the Marne. . . . Some wounded from colonial units passed us on the road, and we gave them something to drink. We were then deployed in a firing line behind a ditch. We thought we were about to go into action. Tired of doing nothing, the men were pleased but also solemn."

Quotation Context

From the war memoirs of the great French historian Marc Bloch. On September 6, 1914 French Commander Joffre launched his counterattack that ended the German Advance and Allied retreat. Nearly two million men were engaged: 980,000 French and 100,000 British soldiers faced 750,000 German troops in the Battle of the Marne.

Source

Memoirs of War 1914-15 by Marc Bloch, page 85, copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988, publisher: Cambridge University Press, publication date: 1988

Tags

French infantry attack, Battle of the Marne, Varreddes, 1914, September, 1914-09-06