On one of the sections of the front near the Vosges Mountains, more than half of the battalion did not return from the attack on the German trenches. The unit commander found them dead in the report. He, his commander and the commander of his commander were presented in the application for decoration by the commander of the front - writes the owner of the Katmar Publishing House.
Without Andrzej Ryba, the Polish history book market would have been completely different. It is thanks to him that for the first time in Poland, "Fear" was released - a unique and frighteningly honest record of the experiences of Gabriel Chevallier, a young man who found himself in the middle of the trench war hell. Below, Andrzej Ryba introduces the realities on the front.
Awards were also applied for those who did not return from the action. All in all, everyone was satisfied. Soldiers, because the battalion suffered more than 50% of the losses, and this resulted in its automatic withdrawal to the rear, thus increasing the chances of survival for those who survived. Officers-commanders, because the more soldiers die in action, the more honors fall on them for the bravery of soldiers who spared their lives and died in battle. And so everyone would be happy if suddenly the German plane did not show up and dropped leaflets instead of bombs.
Let them come back as little as possible
They showed that those soldiers who had allegedly died in action were actually taken prisoner! All applications for decorations were withdrawn immediately, because the battalion, which does not lose people, is not worthy of decorations, and the commanders received "Puff" for the poor morale of the army. The decorations were awarded to commanders for the greatest possible losses of units under their orders.
Gabriel Chevallier during his military service.
It was therefore in the interest of the commanders to invent such actions from which as few as possible would return alive. No wonder then that the "no man's land" between the enemies' trenches was littered with piles of corpses, over which more and more troops continued and continued to create another layer of corpses, to the glory of their commanders!
It's a story like from "Paragraph 22" by Joseph Heller. But "Paragraf22" was a literary fiction, and it was really happening! Gabriel Chevalier's book appeared after years of publishing pathos-filled stories about the bravery of soldiers during the First World War, and caused a shock not only in France. Because someone had the nerve to write what it really was.
Someone had the audacity to write that the feeling that dominated the front was the soldier's overwhelming fear. A fear that had to be overcome every day. And overcoming this fear, killing that natural instinct to live in when you had to get out of the trench and run towards the enemy under machine gun bullets, was the greatest display of courage.
The author offers us an unbelievable number of anecdotal stories, which he either experienced himself or heard from other soldiers encountered on his way to the front. The book had such a strong anti-war message that the French government asked the publisher and author not to resume the book just before the outbreak of World War II. As you know, the morale of the French soldiers was not the highest in the memorable 1940 anyway.
Buy Gabriel Chevallier's "Fear" at bonito.pl
War for the triumph of the spirit
Here is one of the stories the author heard from one of the wounded soldiers in the hospital:
Now, you wretched little morons, I'm going to teach you a lot of useful stuff. I heard them from General de Poculotte himself, who was standing right next to me explaining the matter to a gentleman from parliament, so that he could in turn explain them to the whole nation, who should see things in the right light.
So, first of all, we have a bayonet. We plug it at the end of the Lebel and get a walker, driven by French fury. Opposite you have your Bosco. And now:what will always happen? Either they run away or throw the towel away. Why do you think they are sticking barbed wire in front of their positions? By bayonets, says Poculotte.
Second, we have good old French bread. The French hero stands above the trench and shouts in a contemptuous tone:'Hey Fryc, do you want some food?' And what will always happen? Fryc puts down the rifle, says Goodbye to his buddies and rushes for bread as soon as his legs carry it. Why do you think they are sticking barbed wire in front of their positions? Through our bread, just to keep all their herds from rushing to us during our lunch break, leaving their heir to the throne alone, bare-assed. It would be a mess if this whole army of gluttons came running to fill their mouths with food! 'It's pigs,' says Poculotte, sipping his Burgundy. 'They have no moral backbone. We can arrange them whenever we want. '
Chevallier's book perfectly shows the dark face of World War I.
And finally, one last thing, but no less important:we have seventy-fives that will crush everything to a cake with just a few shots. Nothing shoots more accurately and faster. Why do you think they did Fat Berty? It's clear:to defend ourselves against our seventy-fives. And expect this from our seventy fives, we will always smash them. I can still hear Poculotte say:
"Races can be distinguished by their types of weapons. They have heavy artillery because they have a heavy spirit, and we have light artillery because our spirit is light. Spirit over matter, dear Minister. And war is a triumph of the spirit! "Never forget that, dear buddies, war is a triumph of the spirit."
And I'm just wondering if Joseph Heller, writing his "Paragraph 22", was not following the example of Fear Chevalier?
Buy a book with a discount at bonito.pl
