Summary Of Novembe's Letter To Demoliére

World War 1 Letter from Jean-Pierre Demoliére Jean-Pierre Demoliére was born in 1891 to a farmer and a modest housewife. He was raised in the small village of Saint Symphorien de Lay, 50 km from Lyon in eastern France. Jean had two brothers (both of whom went to war and died) and one little sister. He enlisted for the war right at the beginning, and entered with the 140th regiment infantry in early August of 1914. For much of the war, he was stationed in Rosiere (Somme, northern France), the historical location of the bloodshed of 1916 at the Battle of the Somme; during this battle over one million lives were lost, resulting in a stalemate. The French army alone suffered the smallest casualties with 200,000 men lost. Including the British count of 420,000 the Allies totaled 620,000 soldiers dead in battle. Nonetheless, the German soldiers were ultimately hit hardest, with half a million men killed in the battle. Whilst there, he wrote several letters of correspondence with his family. The following is a letter that Pierre wrote in the winter of his first year at war.
Translation:
Rosiere (Somme), …show more content…
Even after a few months at war, he keeps a very positive attitude and has yet to complain, assuring his parents that he is fine. He’s very appreciative of anything he is sent, including letters from his family and especially care packages from French women supporting the war effort. Such packages to the “poilu” (French for hairy, used to describe the bold, manly French soldiers) were common and often included essentials, such as wool socks and other warm clothing items. Pierre assures his parents of his wellbeing, writing with a positive attitude, while maintaining realism. As he relays his gratitude for the warm wool socks and reassures his parents that he is warm, he mentions trench conditions, noting a fellow soldier whose leg was amputated due to the