Tales of War

"Profitez de la guerre mes enfants, la paix sera terrible"

[talesofwar]

Capitaine Jean Graziani, born in Algeria in the same town Albert Camus was born. Joined the US Army at the age of 16 in 1942 after allied forces landed in Algeria before being kicked out because of his age. Joined the French resistance, shipping him to Scotland to be trained as an SAS demolition specialist before being parachuted in occupied France to delay the German retreat of 1944, destroying bridges, railways and sabotaging a hundred phone lines. He will serve in the 3rd BCCP paratrooper regiment in Indochina, leading a commando unit behind enemy lines before being captured by the Viet Minh during an attempt to rescue an encircle column of the 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion. He will stay 4 years in a prisoner camp despite two escapes attempts, his last enabling hime to sail 60km along the Song Gain river on a makeshift raft. He would later be assigned to a counter-insurgency unit in Algeria where he will be killed on January 6, 1959 after being hit with submachine gun fire in the guts during an operation in Kabylie. He had enough time to give his watch to a good friend of him during his helicopter transfer. The journey of this shock troop officer pictures very well the journey of many French officers during the post WW2 colonial wars and their ambiguity. Often pulled from the ranks of the resistance to fight tyranny, they ressorted to the same techniques to maintain France's grasp on its colonial empire. Many of them ended in jail or as outcasts, torn and disabused by their experience of violence mixed with politics and the slow decay of their empire and youth ideals.

[talesofwar]

Bury my body, don't build any monument. Keep my hand outside so that the world knows, one who won the world had nothing.

Alexander the Great

[talesofwar]

Found back this old documentary about Junger. Excellent to understand the complexity of the man.

[talesofwar]

Female member of the Tadjik security defense forces, 1990s.

[talesofwar]

Legionnaires from the 2eme REP seizing the Kolwezi airport in May 1978. The Battle of Kolwezi was an airborne operation by French and Belgian airborne forces that took place in May 1978 in Zaire during the Shaba II invasion of Zaire by the Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC). It aimed at rescuing European and Zairian hostages held by FNLC rebels after they conquered the city of Kolwezi. The operation succeeded with the liberation of the hostages and light military casualties.

[darkmartel]

“The ghosts” : French “corps franc” during WWI.

[historicaltimes]

French aviator Adolphe Pégoud in 1915. He became the first fighter ace in history during WW1. On August 1915, he was shot down and killed by one of his pre-war German students, Kandulski. He was 26 years old. The same German crew later dropped a funeral wreath behind the French lines.

via reddit

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[scrapironflotilla]

French officers poring over a map while a despatch rider fixes his belongings to his motorcycle, October 1918.

[scrapironflotilla]

French listening post, 1916.

[talesofwar]

Notice the non  standard-issued hunting rifle.

[poor-bloody-infantry]

© IWM (Q 94517) A soldier of a French light infantry training an American how to protect himself behind sandbags.

[talesofwar]

Sketch for further development  

Very nice work !

[guns-gas-trenches]

French soldier wearing gas mask, Neuville St Vaast, January 1916.

[catastrophepins]

Armistice Day

Armistice Day is commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning — the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918. The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations, and coincides with Remembrance Day and Veterans Day.

[talesofwar]

ok, but those are WW2 Hurricanes planes featured in your WW1 commemoration photoset... 

[talesofwar]

The two lion cubs “Whisky” and “Soda” mascots of the Lafayette escadrille playing together in front of the Seminole head symbol of the squadron. The Lafayette escadrille was mainly composed of young American pilots volunteering to fight for France during WW1. To respect the neutral status of the US at the beginning on the war, they were only allowed to fly under French colors, under the command of seasoned French officers, such as Charles Nungesser. As the US joined the Allied camp in 1917, pilots were later transferred to US Air Force units.

[jasta11]

British soldiers celebrate with great joy the declaration of the Armistice, Western Front, 11 November 1918.

[jasta11]

November 11th marks the day which hostilities on the western front were ceased. It only took effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, although it was signed a couple of hours before it.  Today most countries see as a great celebration day, by that time, the central powers, especially Germany, would feel like they were betrayed by their political elites, as the soldiers weren’t ready to give up on the western front. Fact is,  the economic crisis in German territory almost made it go into bankrupcy, and a series of revolutions started popping into german territory, those would last until the end of the 20′s. The german Kaiser, Wilhelm II would go into exile into the Netherlands were he would spend the rest of his life. In general, I myself would call it a remembrance day. Let us not forget those who fought and fell on the battlefields of The Great War (and all wars), no matter the side they fought for. Lest we forget. Pictures: People celebrate all over London on the day the armistice was signed, 11 November 1918. New York Times’ front page on 11 November 1918.

[talesofwar]

I found online the march journal of my grand grandad regiment at Verdun in June 1916 in the sector of Fleury - Vaux - Chapitre, located at the center of the battlefield, the month the Prussian assault stopped. He was the commander of the 1st Company, 1st Battalion of the 407th infantry regiment.

Now I can flick through hundred pages of handwritten combat reports and see if he’s mentioned besides the basic roll call documents.

His brother-in-law will be reported missing after an unsucessful assault on the Cote 304 sector situated on the far left of the French defense lines of Verdun, a month and a half after this document was typed. He will be officially declared dead on august 25th when his body will be finally recovered.

[talesofwar]

Also reblogging this family history piece.