three poilus found

[Christina Holstein]

The remains of three French soldiers have been found during renovation work at Fort de la Pompelle, Rheims. It's thought that they may from a Chasseur Battalion which fought there in September - October 1914.

The article - link here: http://www.lunion.presse.fr/region/les-depouilles-de-trois-poilus-mises-au-jour-au-fort-de-la-ia3b24n330079 - doesn't give any details and I don't know whether the men are identifiable or not.

Christina

[Seadog]

Thanks for reporting this Christina and please keep us informed of any developments. It would be very good indeed if identifications could be made.

LEST WE FORGET

Regards

Norman

[Martin Bennitt]

Identification seems unlikely. Herewith my translation of the typically flowery French press report:

"During major renovation work currently under way at the Fort de la Pompelle and its museum, in order to give this leading memorial of the Great War all the position it deserves, a discovery was made at the rear of the fortifications. The bodies of three poilus were disinterred by staff of the Marseille anthropology service. Detailed searches were carried out in the immediate vicinity of the discovery in an effort to identify the three soldiers. Unfortunately not enough was found to hope to give them a name, but the first results of the examinations made indicate that they could have belonged to a battalion of chasseurs which fought at the beginning of the conflict in sector which saw unusually fierce fighting. The 19th battalion of Chasseurs à pied was deployed in this area between September 22 and October 17, 1914, to defend the fort and the Sillery sector. If at the end of the investigations nothing certain can be determined about the origins of these soldiers who died for France their remains will be buried alongside their comrades, probably at the national cemetery of Sillery-Bellevue, near the front line.

The fort de la Pompelle, declared a historic monument on March 27, 1922, was built in the early 1880s, to complete the line of forts around Reims by General Séré de Rivière, which included Pouillon-Saint-Thierry, Brimont, Fresnes-les-Reims, Witry-les-Reims, Nogent-l’Abbesse and Montbré. It was the only one of the forts defending Reims to remain in French hands until the victory of 1918.

The work under way is aimed at doubling the exhibition space, in order to show off the internal architecture of the fortress and its collections of headgear and uniforms and demonstrate how this site of battle is an authentic example of the heroic resistance of the soldiers of the Great War. La Pompelle also stands for the numbers of troops who were stationed here in succession. A total of 180 regiments maintained the defence of the fort including two Russian brigades in 1916 and 1917. Even the navy played a role with its celebrated gunboats on the Marne to Aisne canal. It was also above the fort that one of the French air aces, René Dorme, was killed on May 25, 1917. He was credited at the time with 23 victories."

I haven't been to Pompelle for years but it looks like it may be worth a return visit in due course. One of the features of the museum is its huge collection of German pickelhaubes.

Cheers Martin B

[spconnolly007]

Thanks for the translation Martin.

Cheers,

Sean.

[IRC Kevin]

I haven't been to Pompelle for years but it looks like it may be worth a return visit in due course.

Cheers Martin B

Pompelle is definitely worth visiting, though sadly the majority of the site was never opened to the public. (In the 60's, before it became an official museum, access to the three underground levels was possible.) The old café that used to be across the road has long gone and when we last visited there was no café in the museum. However, just a mile down the road (heading away from Rheims) is Prunay Airfield and the café at the flying club there is okay for coffee and snacks.