Afternoon dear readers,
An early start this morning and a mere 16.3 miles walking sees me in a hotel room early today so I thought I'd get on with the BLOG.
Today, my walk has followed the River Muese, which formed the position of the front line on 11th November 1918 and was fought over by Allied French and American troops.
I crossed to the Northern bank of the river at a small town called Nouvion-Sur-Muese, a picturesque enough place, where visitors are treated to a bit of railway history as they cross over the river and railway.
A further 4 KM east of here lies a tiny village called Virgne Muese, where the French made their last attack of the war. At 2000hrs on 09th November, the French division was ordered to cross the Muese and attempt to push the Germans back. Engineers constructed a footbridge anchored to the lock over night and the division crossed in complete silence under the cover of a heavy fog. When the fog lifted on the 10th, the French came under sustained artillery and small arms fire, but maintained their position. On the morning of November 11th in an attempt to push the French back across the river, German unitd made some counter attacks. When word began to circulate that the Armistice was due to come into effect at 1100hrs, both sides stayed in their positions and traded small arms .
During that morning, 18 French soldiers were to die, including Augustine Trebuchon, the last French casualty of the Great War.
Augustine was a messenger and was returning towards HQ, having spread the message that soup would be served to troops at 1130hrs, when he was hit by small arms fire. He died at 1045hrs.
Concerned by the public reaction to French soldiers being killed after an armistice had been agreed, all 18 men were officially recorded as having been killed in action on the 10th November 1918 and their headstones still give it as their date of death.
When I arrived at Vrigne Muese churchyard, their were a group of four men in their 70's and a young boy of about 9, all studying the memorial and graves. They eyed me with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion until after I'd laid the remembrance cross and taken photos. One of them asked me if I had come far (in broken English and by pointing at my rucksack). I tried to explain, but with a French vocabulary that makes Derek Trotted sound like a native, I gave up and instead handed them my walk poster that I translated into French (I say I, I mean Google) before I left.
Upon reading it, everyone insisted on photos of me and the poster and everyone thanked me for walking so far to honour French soldiers, in an area where no British troops fought. (Their English seemed to improve once they were satisfied by my actions).
Turns out one is a local historian who is documenting the Centenary events and he'd like to include me in the pamphlet. I agreed, but like an idiot, forgot to ask him to send me a copy! (Maybe it'll be published on line and a Google search will pick my name up).
I said farewell and headed towards my overnight digs, rain was looking likely.
After a few kilometres I arrived in a small town called Donchery and had a coffee in a small cafe next to the church.
Refreshed, I headed once more across the Muese and on towards Sedan.
Within ten minutes, it had started raining and didn't look like it was a passing shower. I decided against visiting Sedan fort and turned South towards Wadelincourt and the memorial to the American 1st Division who fought in the area.
As the rain was falling heavily, I paid my respects to the 212 men killed or missing commemorated here and headed off to complete the 3 km to my hotel, where I took this awkward looking selfie to show you all it's really me.
Remember, it's not to late to donate if you haven't already. I STILL HAVE FIVE DAYS TO GO!
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/remembrance-walk
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