Marcel Caux

[Andrew P]

It was reported in the paper this morning that Australian WW1 veteran Marcel Caux has died. He was 105 years old.

His death means only 4 WW1 Australian veterans are still alive.

RIP

[telaw]

Sad indeed. With only 23 british survivors left the living links with the Great War will soon be gone.

RIP Marcel

[Andrew P]

This was the statement released by the Department of Veterans Affairs

Minister for Veterans' Affairs Mailing List

VA082 Sunday 22 August 2004

MARCEL CAUX - WE WILL REMEMBER HIM

The Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Danna Vale, this evening expressed her sorrow at the passing of World War I veteran, Marcel Caux.

Mr Caux, from New South Wales, passed away this afternoon aged 105 years.

"The actions of Mr Caux and his peers helped to define the young nation of Australia. They embodied the Anzac spirit with their courage, determination and integrity," Mrs Vale said.

"At a time of great uncertainty, they stood up to fight for the things that we hold dear, and for that we owe them our gratitude. For that we will remember them.

"It is a sad time as we farewell another fine man who served this nation so well. I extend my sincere condolences to his family at this time," she said.

Mr Caux enlisted in Sydney in September 1915. He embarked for active service with the 17th Battalion and was taken on strength to the 20th Battalion in France.

During his time with the 20th Battalion, they saw significant action and he was wounded three times, including a gun shot wound to the knee. Twice he returned to his Battalion. On the third occasion, he was evacuated to England where he was convalescing when the armistice was declared.

He was returned home on the Dunluce Castle and discharged at Sydney in November 1920.

It was 81 years after his discharge from the army that Mr Caux attended his first commemorative service on Remembrance Day 2001 at the age of 102. For most of the century, he preferred to remain anonymous.

With the passing of Marcel Caux, only four Australian World War I veterans remain.

Media Contact: Claire Bannon 02 6277 7820 or 0423 781 896

[Ian Underwood]

Particularly interesting article on Mr Caux's identity from today's (28th Aug) Sydney Morning Herald. I won't post the link, as you now have to register to read online articles, but will post it below....Ian.

Meet the mysterious Harold Katte, better known at his state funeral yesterday as digger Marcel Caux.

The mystery surrounding Marcel Caux was so deep that the Australian Government had his body examined after he died last weekend. The Veterans Affairs Department needed to check his war wounds and other identification marks, such as the mole behind his left knee.

The Premier, Bob Carr, had offered Mr Caux's family the state funeral that was held yesterday. It wouldn't do if Mr Caux were not the old World War I soldier he had claimed or, as the French Government had stated in honouring him, the last Australian survivor of the Battle of Pozieres.

If the wounds did not tally clearly with the record, a DNA test would be the only way to lay to rest rumours and allegations that the Caux story was not as presented to Australians; that the man who died at 105 and said to be one of the last five Australian survivors of World War I, might not even have gone to war.

The Department of Veterans Affairs issued a statement to the Herald on the eve of the funeral: "The department is confident as to Mr Caux's identity

and this is supported by available records." The spokesperson would make no further comment but an undertaker said Mr Caux's body had been examined.

What the statement and the examination mean is that Marcel Caux was born, enlisted, fought and was wounded as Harold Katte. Any lingering doubt was removed this week by a handwriting expert who examined the signatures of Marcel Caux and Harold Katte for historian Lynette Silver and pronounced them the work of the same man.

The extraordinary Caux story demonstrates the truth of US writer William Faulkner's words that the past is never dead and gone. It demonstrates what war can do to ordinary people and how ordinary young men will do the best they can in extraordinary, awful times. And it shows how one deception can lead to another.

The first deception in the Caux story came in September 1915, when Harold enlisted. He declared he was 18, when he was only 16. Documents released this week by the National Archives show his father, Percy Katte, signed the enlistment application, sending his brave boy - no more than 5ft 6in (165 centimetres) and 7st 10lb (49 kilograms) - on his way to Egypt, then France, where he quickly became a man.

He was wounded three times in France, including in 1916 at Pozieres and in 1918 near Villers-Bretonneux, on the first day of the Battle of Amiens, where his knee was shattered and his war ended. He would not forget its horror.

The 2nd Division, in which he served with the 17th and then the 20th Battalions, lost 6848 men killed, wounded or missing in 12 days around Pozieres. Total Australian casualties in six weeks were put at 23,300, about the same as in eight months at Gallipoli.

Goodness knows how all this affected the young soldier, still only 19 when shipped off to England for rehabilitation.

The records show, however, he had gone absent without leave for seven days in July 1917, an offence for which he served 14 days in close confinement after being picked up in Le Havre.

He went AWL again in June 1918, when French authorities arrested him in the port of Brest, where he was said to be posing as a Frenchman. The Australians put him in a military jail for 10 days.

Pvte Katte, as he was then known, spent much of the rest of his war in hospital before rejoining his battalion just in time for the start of the Battle of Amiens.

Back in Australia, he sought to put his past behind him and out of sight. It is not clear how much this was due to the war, to a split from his Katte family or to unknown circumstances.

In any case, he was remarkably successful. He changed his name to Marcel Caux, after Pays de Caux in France. Pierre Seillan, deputy head of mission at the French embassy, said at yesterday's funeral that the French were honoured by Mr Caux's adoption of the name.

Mr Caux remained unknown to most Australians until four years ago. Emerging as a veteran of World War I at a Remembrance Day service in Martin Place, he explained that he had scarcely talked about his war for 85 years and never attended an Anzac Day or Remembrance Day service because "I'd rather forget the whole bloody business".

Doubts were raised about the identity of the old soldier. The Herald discovered there was no record of a Caux fighting in Australian forces in World War I. Veterans Affairs confirmed this but was emphatic that the man had served, explaining that he had wished to retain some anonymity until that time and that the file containing his service records remain private. He would not have been the first soldier to enlist under a false name or to change his name afterwards.

His family had known nothing of his war service until 1998, when the French consul called and asked his son, Marcus de Caux: "How is your father?"

Marcus: "He's fine. Why?"

Consul: "Good. Would he like to go to France to accept the Legion of Honour for his service in World War I?"

Marcel Caux told his family there must be a mistake. His knee was wounded in World War II. He was too young for World War I.

He ultimately confessed, declined the offer of a return trip to France, but accepted the medal at a private ceremony in Sydney. When newspapers published lists of World War I survivors in 1999 and 2000, Caux's name did not appear, although he was included as "anonymous". From 2001, he became a regular at Anzac Day and Remembrance Day services.

After last Anzac Day, with renewed speculation on a Lighthorse website, historian Silver discussed Caux with Di Elliott, a researcher of military history. The pair worked on the case for four months.

Although Mr Caux's background remains touched with mystery, they have pieced together much of his life story. So, too, has the Caux family. Marcus's son, Christian, 15, followed similar research paths.

The researchers discovered that records issued in the name of Marcel Caux described the war service of Harold Katte, who was born in 1899 in Marrickville, although some records say Hurstville. The records show he had three-fifths of his army wage paid to his stepmother, Rodda Katte.

Marcus de Caux said this week that his father had told him he had cut all ties with the Katte family after the war because they had treated him badly.

He had become Marcel Caux by the time he married Irma Davis in 1929. She believed him to be French. Their marriage certificate records him as having been born in Brest. She sought a French passport, writing that her husband was French. He must have been persuasive, given she was Belgian.

Although there is no record of a divorce, he married Doris Young in 1949, this time claiming he was born in Quebec. The marriage certificate refers to him as Marcel Cause, aged 44, which would have meant he was born in 1905.

Marcus de Caux said his father was "a lovely, funny guy" but had "lied a lot". However, the son loved and respected the father. His regret was that he hadn't had the opportunity to meet the wider Katte family.

Harold Katte had four siblings. Their descendants thought Uncle Harold had "just disappeared". Claire Katte said: "I would be very pleased to meet Marcus."

[Auimfo]

A truly remarkable life.

Sleep well digger.

Tim L.

[Andrew P]

I was reading the Review section in the Weekend Australian this morning and there was an article about Marcel Caux/Harold Katte.

Lynette Ramsey Silver has written a book about his life and the reasons as to why he changed his name after he returned from the war.

'Marcel Caux - A Life Unravelled'

[Captain Dave]

I caught this article in the World section of the Newspaper this morning. What an amazing story, and the fact he kept his past hidden for so long.

The surprising thing was the writer (and an Australian I may add) voiced concern that a deserter and a maverick should recieve a state funeral.

Bizarre I say. For what the chap went through, regardless of his trying to desert, he deserved his funeral! Even more amazing that he insisted he had been in WW2, not WW1. I like to think that he was indicitive of thousands of young Australians who shared his experience, the nation should hold his passing with respect, not nitpicking at his failures as a human being.

If there is to be a book on his life, I await it with great interest!