Photograph of a French heavy mortar in action.
"Discouraged by international developments and by the 'questionable friendship' of their Italian allies, French troops found their first months in Italy demoralizing. As one postal censor concluded in mid-December 1917, many were battling depression 'caused perhaps by homesickness, by a desire to see the end of the war, by a certain disgust with the need to support allies who weren't able to defend themselves.' More than anything else though, 'the desire for leave and the irregularity of the mails also [gave] rise to discouragement.'"
Martha Hanna's Your Death Would Be Mine is based on the correspondence between Paul Pireaud and his wife Marie. In the summer of 1917, Paul served with the 112th Heavy Artillery Regiment in the Moronvilliers sector northeast of Reims in Champagne. French and British units were sent to support the Italians after the disaster of Caporetto. The Italian retreat finally stopped on the Piave River. Paul's unit was ordered to Italy on November 12, and left on the 17th. He reached Italy on December 1.
Your Death Would Be Mine; Paul and Marie Pireaud in the Great War by Martha Hanna, page 236, copyright © 2006 by Martha Hanna, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2006
1917-12-14, 1917, December, Italy, French in Italy, leave, French heavy mortar action
