A Foreign Field

by Ben MacIntyre

  ‘cases of extreme …’ ibid., p. 81.

  ‘With the cellars …’ ibid., p. 67.

  ‘You are required …’ Mme Hénincited in ibid., p. 67.

  ‘The continual surveillance …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 2.

  ‘a tool by which …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 71.

  ‘Let them eat…’ ibid.

  ‘in June 1915 …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 2.

  ‘miracle of …’ quoted in McPhail, op. cit., and by John Ezard, Guardian, 21 Aug 1999.

  ‘Our Englishmen …’ interview with Jean Lelong, 1 Jan 1999.

  ‘He was a serious …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 11 Aug 1998.

  ‘He was particularly …’ interview with Louise Vanasche.

  ‘He was a nobleman …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘He was so handsome …’ ibid.

  ‘She loved Digby …’ interview with Marcelle Sarrazin, 12 Jan 2000.’ was always laughing …’ interview with Jean Dessenne, 3 Feb 1999.

  ‘It usually wasn’t …’ interview with Louise Vanasche.

  ‘Germany Kaput …’ interview with Helene Cornaille, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘Her hair was…’ ibid.

  ‘reaching to the floor …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 11 Aug 1998.

  ‘Even when she …’ interview with Etienne Dessenne, 30 Oct 1999.

  ‘One day …’ interview with Marcelle Sarazin, 12 Jan 2000.

  ‘When he sat…’ interview with Etienne Dessenne, 30 Oct 1999.

  ‘She had a mouth …’ interviewwith Hélène Cornaille, 28 Sept1998.

  ‘Can’t read …’ military servicebook of Henn-Florency Dessenne, 1902, courtesy of Etienne Dessenne.

  ’My father would leave …’ interview with Louise Vanasche.

  ‘My father really …’ interview with Marcelle Sarazin, 12 Jan 2000.

  ‘it was his wife …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘They fell for …’ interview with Jean Dessenne, 3 Feb 1999.

  ‘had never known …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 17 Mar 2001.

  ‘God said behave …’ interview with Monique Godé, 18 Aug 1998.

  ‘Claire was much …’ interview with Jean Dessenne.

  ‘Marie Coulette was …’ ibid.

  ‘Emile, Claire’s …’ interview withJean Dessenne, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘Claire did everything …’ interview with Jean Dessenne, 3 Feb 1999.

  ‘She looked askance …’ interview with Marcelle Sarazin.

  ‘without stopping …’ Edgar Dhéry, quoted in Bulletin de L’Aisne, 10 Jan 1918.

  ‘In this new …’ Field Marshal Lord Kitchener’s personal message to the troops of the BEF.

  ‘with its undulating …” Poètte, op. cit., p. 316.

  ‘In this shuddering …’ Frederic Manning, Her Privates We, p. 50.

  ‘ironic proximity …’ Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory, p. 69.

  ‘There was no …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 17 Feb 2001.

  ‘the waltz …’ ibid.

  CHAPTER EIGHT Aren’t Those Things Flowers?

  ‘play up …’ Sir Henry Newbolt, Vital Lampada.

  ’You’d think …’ Manning, op. cit., p. 61.

  ‘They went through …’ Magniez, quoted in Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 95.

  ‘Finally the day …’ ibid.

  ‘The Kommandant …’ ibid.

  ‘But it was …’ ibid.

  ‘The very same …’ ibid.

  ‘Had my two …’ ibid.

  ‘A little soldier …’ Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, p. 69.

  ‘imbued with the ancient …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 134.

  ‘gold earrings …’ ibid.

  ‘offer around cigars …’ ibid., p. 137.

  ‘It was hard …’ ibid., p. 144.

  ‘Under the circumstances …’ Rosenhainer, op. cit., pp. 87 – 8.

  ‘They could not…’ Mme Hénin,Journals, cited in Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 140.

  ‘After a time …’ ibid., p. 137.

  ‘Under the rules …’ account of M. Lebergue, in ibid., pp 177 – 218.

  ‘Under the regime …’ cited in McPhail, op. cit., p. 128.

  ‘I’m paid 1,000 marks …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 119.

  ‘shipped back …’ ibid., p. 124.

  ‘Country walks …’ Legé, op. cit.

  ‘Grumme was …’ interview with Philippe Delacourt, 31 Jan1999.

  ‘Evers himself dreamed …’ accountof M. Peingnez, mayor of Bellevue, archives of the Société Académique de Saint Quentin, also cited in Le Câtelet, pp. 63 – 4.

  ‘When a sheep …’ ibid, p. 75.

  ‘For four years …’ ibid., p. 62.

  ‘every fruit …’ ibid.

  ‘working horses …’ ibid.

  ‘She terrified the …’ interview with Giselle Godé, 18 Aug 1998.

  ‘A German soldier …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 100.

  ‘research team …’ cited in McPhail, op. cit., p. 51.

  ‘a fugitive English soldier …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., pp. 93 – 4.

  ‘a woman who …’ Geraldine Beysin Voix du Nord, 20 Nov 1994.

  ‘Any men who …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 91.

  ‘Everyone knew …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘He made himself…’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 17 Mar 2001.

  CHAPTER NINE Sparks of Life

  ‘We felt …’ Rosenhainer, op. cit., p. 102.

  ‘It was agricultural …’ Jünger, op. cit., p. 111.

  ‘Our relations with …’ ibid., p. 119.

  ‘The little pleasures …’ ibid., p. 67.

  ‘question of parentage …’ Poétte, op. cit., p. 329.

  ‘Every case …’ Le Câtelet, ibid., p. 144.

  ‘both sexes were …’ ibid.

  ‘indisputably, the …’ ibid.

  ‘They took …’ ibid.

  ‘Almost all …’ interview with Marie-Louise Dessenne, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘In times of war …’ W. H. Auden,The Age of Anxiety (New York, 1947), p. III, cited in Fussell, op. cit.

  ‘We don’t talk much …’ Remarque, op. cit., p. 68.

  ‘open and intelligent …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 140.

  ‘very model …’ ibid.

  ‘He didn ’t…’ ibid.

  ‘Mon Vieux …’ letter from W. Richter to J. Magniez, 20 Decv 1948, private archives of Philippe Delacourt.

  ‘daily communion …’ letter from G. Magniez to J. Magniez, (undated, May, 1915), private archives of Philippe Delacourt.

  ‘It is madness…’ Georges Magniez, Journals, 12 and 13 Mar 1916, private archives of Philippe Delacourt.

  ‘A memorable night …’ ibid.

  ‘At last I have …’ letter from G. Magniez to J. Magniez, May 1915).

  ‘Every enemy invasion …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 143.

  ‘The looters were …’ ibid.

  ‘In 1915 this …’ ibid.

  ‘another pile …’ ibid.

  ‘all smiles at …’ ibid.

  ‘filthy Prussian …’ ibid., p. 115.

  ‘the invaders were …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 3.

  ‘She and the …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 11 Aug 1998.

  ‘It was all Claire’s …’ interviewwith Jean Dessenne, 17 Feb 2000.

  ‘Claire was only …’ interview with Jean Lelong, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘corpse fields …’ F. Forstner, Das Reserve Infanterie Regiment 15 (Berlin, 1929) pp. 226 – 32, cited in Keegan, op. cit., p. 218.

  ‘The pilot jumped …’ interview with Bernard Bétermin, 26 Jan 1999.

  ‘all aircraft available …’ Trevor Henshaw, The Sky Their Battlefield (London: Grub Street, 1995), p. 240.

  ‘At reconnaissance height …’ ibid.

  ‘Few planes …’ ibid.
/>   ‘We were about to …’ interview with Michel Lelong, 28 – 29 Nov 1999.

  ‘We were very proud …’ interview with Jean-Marc Dubuis, 11 Aug 1998.

  ‘What was an English …’ interview with Jean Dessenne, 28 Sept 1998.

  CHAPTER TEN The Englishman’s Daughter

  ‘Digby wanted …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘enfant naturelle …’ birth certificate of Hélène Cornaille Digby, Villeret municipal archives.

  ‘a nothing …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille.

  ‘He was really …’ ibid.

  ‘They were …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 11 Aug 1998.

  ‘My little …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 2 Feb 1999.

  ‘If anyone handled …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘She was our …’ interview with Bernard Bétermin, 11 Aug 1998.

  ‘thirty people …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 123.

  ‘They came back …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 2.

  ‘headed to Verdun …’ ibid.

  ‘Rain, nothing …’ Rosenhainer, op. cit., p. 96.

  ‘How much prosperity …’ ibid., p. 98.

  ‘How much labour …’ ibid., p. 102.

  ‘They refused to …’ Legé, op. cit., p. 1.

  ‘They had five …’ interview with Jean Dessenne, 3 Feb 199.

  ‘What I never …’ interview with Marcelle Sarrazin (née Marie Dessenne), 12 Jan 2000.

  ‘They wanted …’ Legé, op. cit., p. 1.

  ‘They were …’ interview with Jean Dessenne.

  ‘We would have …’ interview with Jean Barras, 4 Jan 1999.

  ‘The inhabitants had …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 3.

  ‘timid, pitiful …’ Jünger, op. cit., p. 33.

  ‘There were only …’ ibid., p. 2.

  ‘I spent the lot …’ interview with Etienne Dessenne, 30 Oct 1999.

  ’When a German …’ Spears, op. cit., p. 520.

  ‘creep down …’ ibid., p. 521.

  ‘They became bored …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 5.

  ‘rash … mad’ interview with Bernard Bétermin, 11 Aug 1998.

  ‘imprudence must …’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 90.

  ‘natural authority …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 17 Mar 2001.

  ‘chief of their …’ ibid.

  ‘seemed to enjoy …’ Cabaret, op. cit.

  ‘a favourite sport…’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 90.

  ‘deep gratitude …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 17 Mar 2001.

  ‘village was bursting …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 3.

  ‘She was afraid …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 28 Sept 1998.

  ‘This was the worst …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 3.

  ‘The thief was …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 77.

  ‘horse whip a man …’ Delabranche, op. cit., 4 May1916.

  ‘punishment for …’ ibid., 5 May 1916.

  ‘The doffing of hats …’ MileHénin, Journals, op. cit., cited in Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 84.

  ‘These German gentlemen …’ Edgar Dhéry, mayor of Hargicourt, interviewed in Bulletin de l’Aisne, Jan 1918.

  ‘Villeret to the bone …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 6.

  ‘who always …’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 90.

  ‘man of rare …’ ibid.

  ‘one of those …’ Michae Occleshaw, Armour Against Fate: British Military Intelligence in the First World War, p. 229.

  ‘information on …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 6.

  ‘above all …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 102.

  ‘a system of …’ inscription on Marié family mausoleum.

  ‘about sixty members …’ ibid.

  ‘More persons …’ order from General von Below, 30 Mar 1916.

  ‘The secret …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 96.

  ‘The Germans had …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 5.

  ‘immediately headed …’ ibid.

  ‘Two days …’ ibid.

  ‘He was canny …’ Elise Lelong, as reported to Elie Fleury, in Fleury, op. cit., p. 90.

  ‘He escaped death …’ Delabranche, op. cit., 24 May 1916.

  ‘We do not want …’ Elise Lelong, in Fleury, op. cit., p. 90.

  ‘make the four …’ ibid.

  ‘invited them …’ Legé, op. cit.

  ‘Dear Mother …’ letter from Robert Digby to Ellen Digby, undated; private archives of Hélène Cornaille.

  ‘ample provisions …’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 90.

  ‘attempt the impossible …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 96.

  ‘sent off with …’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 90.

  ‘If all goes well …’ letter fromRobert Digby to Ellen Digby.

  ‘My great …’ Georges Magniez,Journals, 18 Mar 1916.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN Brave British Soldier

  ‘to search …’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 90.

  ‘a pretext …’ ibid.

  ‘They were captured …’ ibid.

  ‘leapt through …’ ibid.

  ‘The military police …’ ibid.

  ‘a number of …’ Legé, op. cit.

  ‘They opened …’ interview with Louise Vanasche.

  ‘they had …’ Fleury op. cit., p 90.

  ’Evidently …’ ibid.

  ‘It was a most …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 96.

  ‘I am not going …’ interview with Suzanne Boitelle.

  ‘the monetary punishments …’Fleury, op. cit., p. 91.

  ‘The affair of …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 6.

  ‘he was odd …’ interview with Henriette Legé.

  ‘abject misery …’ Lelong, op. cit., p. 6.

  ‘promised to …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 97.

  ‘dreadful reprisals …’ Cabaret, op. cit.

  ‘the day of …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 17 Mar 2001.

  ‘Emile Mari é …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 97.

  ‘read aloud to …’ Delabranche,Journals, op. cit.

  ‘He told me …’ Ernest Lambert, account in Le Câtetet, op. cit., p. 98-

  From that moment…’ interviewwith Louis Locqué, 18 Aug 1998.

  ‘He had a …’ interview with Giselle Godé, 18 Aug 1998.

  ‘The local people …’ interview with Jean Modeste, 18 Aug 1998.

  ‘The officer warned …’ Ernest Lambert cited in Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 99.

  ‘That night …’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 91.

  ‘officers were indulging …’ Delabranche, op. cit.

  ‘the military judge …’ Cabaret, op. cit.

  ‘several other …’ ibid.

  ‘several officers who …’ Lege, op. cit.

  ‘confiscated from …’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 97.

  ‘It was a touching …’ Henri Godé, cited in Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 97.

  ‘delivered to …’ ibid.

  ‘They had not …’ ibid.

  ‘over and over …’ Ashmead-Bartlett, op. cit., p. 128.

  ‘Darling wife …’ ibid.

  CHAPTER TWELVE Remember Me

  ‘It was a beautiful …” interview with Louis Locqué, 18 Aug 1998.

  ‘not much more …’ Delabranche, op. cit.

  ‘I took care …’ Ernest Lambert, cited in Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 98.

  ‘with some flowers …’ ibid.

  ‘I merely pointed out …’ ibid.

  ‘I had no …’ interview with Jean Modeste.

  ‘praying, singing songs …’ Cabaret, op. cit.

  ‘left the cells …’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 91.

  ‘surrounded by …’ Delabranche, op. cit.

  ‘The street was …’ interview with Henriette Lege.

  ‘Their expressions …’ ibid.

  ‘The Englishmen arrived …’ Ernest Lambert, op. cit.

  ‘At the foot …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit.

  ‘Papa put on …’ Fleury, op. cit.p. 91.

&n
bsp; ‘the only French …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 98.

  ‘one of the …’ Ernest Lambert, op. cit.

  ‘Many heard …’ Legé, op. cit.

  ‘murdering bastards …’ interview with Georges Mercier.

  ‘Despite the horror …’ ErnestLambert, op. cit.

  ‘With two blows …’ interview with Georges Mercier.

  ‘a quarter of an hour …’ ibid.

  ‘He was weaned …’ interview with Marcelle Sarrazin, 12 Jan 2000.

  ‘Stop crying …’ Fleury, op. cit., p. 91.

  ‘covered in …’ Cabaret, op. cit.

  ‘the mass for …’ ibid.

  ‘Their grave …’ Delabranche, op. cit.

  ‘she could not …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 16 Aug 1998.

  ‘Another execution post …’ Delabranche, op. cit.

  ‘sick at heart …’ ibid.

  ‘undertake the honour …’ ibid.

  ‘displayed much courage …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille,17 Mar 2001.

  ‘godfather of war …’ interview with Hélène Cornaille, 17 Mar 2001.

  ‘He said that …’ ibid.

  ‘last wishes …’ ibid.

  ‘expressed the desire …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 99.

  ‘with butterflies …’ interview with Henriette Lege.

  ‘colour effects …’ J. C. Dunn, The War the Infantry Knew 1914 – 19, p. 202.

  ‘a day of dread …’ Legé, op. cit.

  ‘didn’t take …’ ibid.

  ‘The Kommandant appears …’ ibid.

  ‘the Kommandant did not …’ ibid.

  ‘brave and noble …’ Ashmead-Bartlett, op. cit., p. 128.

  ‘Dear Mother …’ quoted in ibid.

  ‘If it must …’ Alan Seeger, cited in The Dictionary of Literary Biography, (Gale Group, 1986), p. 373.

  ‘My dear Grand-mère …’ Robert Digby to Eugénie Dessenne, 30 May 1916, private archives of Hélène Cornaille.

  ‘My darling Claire …’ Robert Digby to Claire Dessenne, 30 May 1916, private archives of Hélène Cornaille.

  ‘sick with …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 98.

  ‘All you could …’ interview with Henriette Legé.

  ’He was very calm …’ ErnestLambert, cited in Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 99.

  ‘birds from all over …’ Charles Gomart, quoted in Poëtte, op. cit., p. 30.

  ‘They were …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 99.

  ‘If a sword …’ Manning, op. cit., p. 142.

  ‘I stopped him …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 99.

  ‘They were …’ interview with Jean Modeste, 18 Aug 1998.

  ‘archaic militarist …’ Le Câtelet, op. cit., p. 99.