Transcript of the letter from Maurice Rougier of 7 April 1915
"Foreign posts 7 April 1915
My dear Mom, my dear Lou, my dear Lucie
I am writing you on a letter-paper that will probably seem strange to you; it is the only one I currently have in my hand, it comes from a commercial agenda .... . . which the Boches took in a small nearby town and which they brought to the farm that I currently occupy.
I am in ruins like those that must result from seismic movements, but they are the result of fire and Franco-German bombing; these ruins were one of the richest in the country in peace, there is only a small miraculously escaped from the shells and a small chapel still with straw, which served as a bed for the bad bobble. The ruins yesterday were still occupied by the teutons, our attack drove them out with extreme speed.
For three days the regt has only attacked and I had the joy before yesterday to have my section deployed in front of a fort, to walk on it in the middle of the bullets and shells, and to take it with another section of the company with which I walked in front line. We found there alive but half paralyzed by fear; At the beginning of our march forward, they had put on a white flag but that did not prevent us from walking on it as if no flag were there, we received bullets from a nearby work that took us from the line and was being attacked by another company. 6 other boaches had died buried under a bombardment shelter that a shell from our house had crushed. One of them had been in the wire network and contained a leg that had been cut and projected. The other occupants, including their chief, had evacuated the position because of the terrible artillery gusts that preceded our attack.
This weak resistance we found was due to the wonderful artillery preparation that had preceded our march forward: for 8 hours in a row the fort was watered by pieces of all calibres, resulting in a state of depression in its occupants such that at the time of the infantry attack they were buried in their shelters against the bombardment and unable to defend themselves.
The day after our attack another battalion cie attacked the farm that I occupy where there was an action similar to that I just told you, two great blockhouses and a second farm also in ruins were occupied by us after having driven out the boaches; in the evening I was sent to raise the attack cie with a platoon of the 5th, I installed my 2 sections in an organization already started and continued all night. We made 19 prisoners (the 5th and 7th companies only) The losses in my cie, both by rifle and cannon, rise to 1 killed and 15 wounded. It was their dirty shells that hurt us when they watered the positions conquered.
I am very pleased with my men who walked perfectly despite the little habit that the fortress war had given them. It is very fun to find themselves suddenly in the place that the enemy occupied, there are weapons and trophies of all kinds. They had in the farm a superb guard corps with ...... gun workshops, etc., there being very quiet until now they had worn many newspapers that I read this afternoon. We must not show ourselves by day because we are immediately bombed, they launched this morning huge 150 and perhaps some 210 who fortunately fell far enough away from my post of Cdt. Moreover, they were also hit with rifles from some corners. The boaches are very frightened, they have been afraid for 3 days they throw all night light flares.
For our part, we are extremely tired, it is three days that men lie in the mud, work there at night, eat there and even for some die there, it rains constantly while a few days ago it was a splendid time. A relief is required after such efforts, we look forward to it. I write to you at 11:1/2 in the evening, while I take the watchful quarter with the 2 adjutants who are with me; I am fine, but I had the chance to rest last night, very little but almost sheltered from the rain, the first night in a battle shelter with a booty and this one in the ruins of the farm. A painful and very sad details that make war find very terrible, yesterday I was all the trouble with a wounded, today I was reported a death that I am looking after so to speak. However 5 men glitter in the trenches, a cat-hunt shouting in the dark, those who will watch just now in my place snort loudly.
Kisses of your peit Maurice