Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion moving into position on September 24, 1915, the night before the beginning of the Champagne Offensive. From Soldier of the Legion by Edward Morlae, an American and a Sergeant in the Foreign Legion.
As they swung into column the night before the 25th of December.
"The pace was accelerating. The strain was beginning to wear off. From right and left there came a steady murmur of low talk. In our own column men were beginning to chaff each other. I could distinctly hear Soubiron describing in picturesque detail to Capdeveille how he, Capdeveille, would look, gracefully draped over the German barbed wire; and I could hear Cadeveille's heated response that he would live long enough to spit upon Soubiron's grave; and I smiled to myself. The moment of depression and self-communication had passed. The men had found themselves and were beginning their usual chaffing. And yet, in all their chatter there seemed to be an unusually sharp note. The jokes all had an edge to them. References to one another's death were common, and good wishes for another's partial dismemberment excited only laughter. Just behind me I heard King express the hope that if he lost an arm or a leg he would at least get a médaille militaire in exchange. By way of comfort, his chum, Dowd, remarked that, whether he got the medal or not, he was very sure of getting a permit to beg on the street-corners."
Sergeant Edward Morlae recounting some of the black humor of soldiers of the French Foreign Legion moving into position for the Champagne Offensive the night of September 24/25, 1915. They turn from this to a discussion of the 'German methods of making war' including hand-grenades, poison gas, flame-projectors, vitriol bombs, and explosive bullets. In the trenches, they move to the front line ahead of other units who complain until they realize it is 'La Légion' moving to the fore. The Legion is passed by the Moroccan Division. Both units suffered heavily in taking the Butte de Souain. Of the 3,200 men in his regiment who entered the September 25 attack, only 852 would pass in parade after the battle later. Most of Morlae's men were Americans.
A Soldier of the Legion by Edward Morlae, pp. 21-23, copyright © 1916, by the Atlantic Monthly Company; 1916, by Houghton Mifflin Company, publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co., publication date: 1916
1915-09-24, 1915, September, Second Battle of Champagne, Champagne, Champagne-Loos-Artois Offensive, Champagne-Artois Offensive, Foreign Legion, French Foreign Legion, barbed wire, amputee, wound
