Guest richardchaplin Posted 10 August , 2004 Share Posted 10 August , 2004 Does anyone know if there were any British participants in the Battle of Verdun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain mchenry Posted 10 August , 2004 Share Posted 10 August , 2004 I believe there was a small British involvement at Verdun in that the Army Vetenary Corps were assisting the French, although this is something I have heard from a friend and have no source to give you. Any takers? Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 Assuming you mean combatants, no there were not. There were probably a few observers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 There were no British units present, not even AVC ones - why would the French need them, when they were a self-contained army fighting in their own country. However, there were a number of British born volunteer ambulance drivers serving in Verdun; I seem to remember a literary figure like John Buchan was one of them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 Does anyone know if there were any British participants in the Battle of Verdun? Possibly in La Legion Etranger ? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Lund Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 The City of Verdun gave some trees to Huddersfield in the 1920's but I have no idea why, the trees were planted in a local park with a brass plaque explaining their presence but it was stolen long ago. I have always assumed the trees to be some sort of thank you gift, but I have no idea for what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 11 August , 2004 Share Posted 11 August , 2004 Possibly in La Legion Etranger ? Dave You've been reading too much Charley's War... However, the chap below served in the French Foreign Legion, and may well have fought at Verdun. He was from Ladywell, in SE London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trench Rat Posted 12 August , 2004 Share Posted 12 August , 2004 One Charles Hartley, a former tree planter in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) who used to dirve troops to the affected areas in that country during the 1914 rebellion there, returned to England in 1915. He was there at the start of the battle and answered an ad in a British newspaper asking for help for the French Red cross. As a result he became a member of Section Sanitaire Anglaise #10, which was a British detachment of volunteers helping the French Red Cross at Verdun. They wore British uniforms but were under French orders. Hartley arrived in June 1916 and was there until December and then he worked for several months into 1917 in the Argonne sector. The Section Sanitaire Anglaise was assigned the task of evacuating wounded from behind the lines to hospitals in Bar-Le-Duc along the Voie Sacree Also, the British Urgency Cases Hospital at Revigny, the only British hospital in the Meuse sector, did duty treating the vounded form the battle. This was staffed by British nurses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummy Posted 12 August , 2004 Share Posted 12 August , 2004 Don't know about the First War in relation Brits in the Foreign legion but when I served in Bosnia in 1995 I had the opportunity to serve near Foreign legion units and there were Brits amongst their number, strange to speak to cockney's wearing French uniform's! Thanks Neil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Holstein Posted 12 August , 2004 Share Posted 12 August , 2004 The Foreign Legion didn't serve at Verdun before 1917. There was a British 'Ambulance" based in Fort Souville during the height of the battle in 1916. There is a whole series of photos in the IWM taken by a member of the first aid team, of which I've only seen a few. I saw them in connection with seeking photos for my book on Ft. Douaumont. In the Ossuary, there is a plaque to a chap called Arthur Exshaw in the niche for the Douaumont/Caillette wood area. I think he was in the 47th Inf. Christina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 13 August , 2004 Share Posted 13 August , 2004 Possibly in La Legion Etranger ? Dave You've been reading too much Charley's War... Awww! You're going to tell me that "Blue" wasn't a real person next aren't you? I've still not forgiven a mate of mine for blowing my scam to decieve the tooth fairy when I was 6, so don't do it!!! Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 13 August , 2004 Share Posted 13 August , 2004 The Foreign Legion didn't serve at Verdun before 1917. Christina. Weren't there elements of the RMLE in the area of Eix in Nov./Dec.1916? The 3/REI (whose ancestors were the French serving RMLE) have the Battle honour "Monts des Verdun 1917", but I think they saw limited service on the Verdun front before that time. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 13 August , 2004 Share Posted 13 August , 2004 In the Ossuary, there is a plaque to a chap called Arthur Exshaw in the niche for the Douaumont/Caillette wood area. I think he was in the 47th Inf. Caporal Arthur Edouard Exshaw was in the 49th Regiment and was KIA on 28th May 1916. He was born on 10th Dec.1893 at Bordeaux (class of 1911), where he enlisted. He was French. (I know what you mean though Christina. This name caught my eye in the past) Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Holstein Posted 19 August , 2004 Share Posted 19 August , 2004 Hi Dave, Back from several days in Verdun to find your post. Re the Foreign Legion, you may be right about the RMLE in Eix at the end of 1916 but I haven't come across it myself. I'm fascinated to hear about Arthur Exshaw. I had supposed that he was French but hadn't done anything about finding out who he was and how he came to be there. It would be interesting to know how he came to be born in Bordeaux - family in the wine trade, perhaps. Christina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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