Sgt. Georges Curien
43ème Régiment d’Infanterie Territoriale, 2ème Bataillon, 6ème Compagnie
By Eric Mansuy
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Le Thillot,
1917 (on leave): Sergeant Curien,
his wife Marie-Amélie and his two daughters,
Marie-Suzanne (left) and Amélie-Lucie (right).
Georges Curien was born in Fresse (Vosges, France) on December 20, 1877. For his compulsory military period, he served with the 149ème Régiment d’Infanterie in Epinal between 1898 and 1901, and ended this period with the rank of Corporal. He got married in 1903 and was the father of two girls when war was declared at the beginning of August 1914.
He left his wife and daughters to serve with the 43ème Régiment d’Infanterie Territoriale, at the age of 36, being an employee in a sawmill. For 3 years and 7 months, Georges Curien was going to remain on or near the front line in the Vosges and Alsace sector, before participating in the second battle of the Marne during the German summer offensive.
From August 1 to December 19, 1914, the 2nd Battalion of the 43ème R.I.T., like the rest of the regiment, was billeted in small villages around the strategic town of Epinal. On December 20, they all moved towards the front line and crossed the battlefield of La Chipotte, where very hard struggles had taken place between August 25 and September 11, 1914. Here is what Georges Curien wrote in his diary:
"We leave the main road for a transversal way across the woods. This is a real battlefield we then cross, for we aren’t far from La Chipotte pass, which is now nicknamed "The Death Zone". There are but debris of guns and rucksacks, kepis and helmets. Crosses mark the spots of French graves, mere branches the German graves. We can see trees which have been pierced by shells. We wonder how all this must have been like. Did we have to live in such a civilised century to kill each other this way?"
Between the end of December 1914 and January 20, 1915, the battalion kept patrolling and manning the trenches near La Chapelotte pass (where hard fighting occurred in 1915) before walking back to Epinal. There, on February 11, 1915, the whole regiment paraded in front of Raymond Poincaré, President of the French Republic. A fortnight later, the 2nd battalion embarked aboard a train heading for the area of Saint-Dié, the most disputed sector on that part of the front. Georges Curien and the men of his platoon were there given a task of observation down the Alsatian valley of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines and up the neighbouring mounts through the month of April:
"In front of us is the famous Tête-de-Faux, where firing never ceases and, to our right, at the bottom of the valley, the village of Le Bonhomme. There, after eight months of war, I see my first Boches."
In May, Curien’s battalion moved to La Fontenelle, which was attacked by the Germans on the 30th. Georges Curien was promoted to the rank of Sergeant shortly afterwards and, on June 22, 1915, there was yet another German thrust:
"The days which have just gone by will remain in my memory for ever […]. At dusk, we arrive after encountering a large number of wounded and killed, among whom several officers. This is of no comfort to us, as the wounded tell us the Boches hold the top and start getting into the first houses. We can easily figure it out since bullets come whizzing by our ears. We do the best we can to reach our first line trenches. The 23ème [Régiment d’Infanterie] which occupied the summit has retreated and abandoned it, this is confirmed to us. […] Everything collapses, houses catch fire close to us and light up our trenches. All we can do is lie down inside them for, if we were seen, the whole platoon would be dead and gone. We are sure we are going to die in a short while. […] The 23rd goes on like this, with gun fire on each side. Night comes and we aren’t supposed to be replaced and more, we have nothing to eat, and from yesterday on, we can’t even move. Around 10, at last, we are replaced by Colonial troops and can get to the rear, eat a little and sleep. We are numbed with the noise of the guns, our nerves overexcited. Oh my loved ones! What a night and what a day, it’s terrible! We get asleep on tough ground till the morning, but the waking-up is sad. We learn that two men of my platoon are dead, killed in the neighbouring trench, as well as our 2nd Lieutenant, Schwartz. In the 2nd platoon which dealt with the mines, two thirds are dead or missing, 11 out of 38 are still alive. In my former platoon, five are missing, as well as the corporal who replaced me."
On July 8, the French could take their revenge at La Fontenelle, and the 6th Company of the 43ème R.I.T. participated in the action again, successfully this time, as 881 prisoners were made. The Germans tried to regain the summit between July 10 and July 23, but it was hopeless, and on July 24, the French liberated the village of Launois and made another 830 prisoners. The battle for La Fontenelle was won and nearly over.
The 6th Company of the 43ème R.I.T. moved to a new sector, near Celles-sur-Plaine, where the Germans held the summits on each side of a valley, a bad sector where Sergeant Curien shot his first two cartridges since the beginning of the war! Nothing impressive happened, the battalion held the trenches and patrolled, then moved to Raon-l’Etape (January 1, 1916) before leaving this region for Gérardmer and the Alsatian front in March 1916. This part of the front wasn’t as quiet as the rumour mill had it (and still has):
"April 5 : […] The day before yesterday, they showered us with 130 shells, among which 50 incendiaries […]
May 21 : […] Our losses have increased for a few days, because of our being frequently bombed. A colleague is wounded by a shell which explodes above him. Poor man, he was riddled with fragments! Today I learnt that he had to have his foot amputated. Then, two other poilus were killed and three wounded by the same shell. It’s a run of bad luck!"
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Georges Curien and some men of his platoon in a trench of the Vosges-Alsace front.
The battalion spent the following months in an alternative of leaves and periods in the trenches, but with nothing spectacular. At the end of 1916, Curien’s battalion was near Le Bonhomme again, and on February 20, 1917, at Le Linge, where terrible combats had taken place in summer 1915. The spring of 1917 was appeasing to all the soldiers, as the temperature had reached 22 degrees below zero during the winter 1916-1917! At the end of March, Georges Curien and his platoon were sent to small observation post over Orbey, which proved to be a bad place:
"March 24: […] yesterday evening, the Boches replied to our artillery fire and, unfortunately for my post, I have a corporal and a private wounded beside me, and I ask myself how I and some of my poilus can be safe! The shell exploded one metre form the sapping trench where most of us were. The corporal who was quartered with me in my hut was wounded as he was walking out of the shelter to place his sentinels. He has three wounds: one in the head, one in the side (quite serious), and a foot pierced through. The sentinel has a wound in the head too, and another in the arm. I hope for both of them it won’t be too serious. As for me, alone in my hut at night, I thanked the Holy Virgin for preserving me this time again.
This morning, I discovered the butt of my rifle has been pierced from side to side. As it was beside me at the moment of the explosion, I can understand once again, and with satisfaction, that it was a close shave. My time hadn’t come at all. […]"
"March 29: Yesterday, I learnt with satisfaction that my men wounded on the 23rd were still alive. And even if their wounds were regarded as serious enough, saving the corporal doesn’t look hopeless. The news of the private aren’t that good, maybe if he can make it will he be crippled with one arm less (an amputation was evoked). The latter was awarded the Médaille Militaire and the Croix de Guerre. Nothing yet for the corporal who had a close shave too. These days I learnt the company staff had sent a report to the H.Q. in his favour and mine. Then, this morning, Warrant Officer Grosjean, when he woke me up, told me we were both cited. […] Here is the text of my citation: "CURIEN Henri-Georges, Sergeant in the 6th Company of the 43ème, Excellent N.C.O., in spite of a violent bombing, has gone to make sure of the service of sentinels in a position exposed to fire, on March 23, 1917""
On the same day, March 29, the 6th Company was dissolved and Georges Curien was sent to the 8th Company on April 4, 1917. Between June 15 and July 15, 1917, he received his Croix de Guerre from the hands of the Colonel commanding the 43ème Régiment d'Infanterie Territoriale, which was dissolved on September 17. Georges Curien joined the 250ème Régiment d'Infanterie Territoriale and, with this unit, went to Le Tanet (September 1917), Ampfersbach (October), Le Rudlin (November), Reichackerkopf (December 1917 to mid-January 1918) On February 16, 1918, he was sent to the 112ème Régiment d'Infanterie Territoriale and on February 22, 1918, he embarked for Giromagny and left the Vosges and Alsace front. He finally fought near Montdidier from February to April 1918. He was discharged from the army on January 24, 1919, after many moves between France and Belgium. He went back to his native town and became the director of the sawmill of the neighbouring town, Le Thillot. He died at the age of 44, on February 26, 1922.
Postscript:
The
Complete diary of George has recently been published. Please follow this
link for more details.
An Unfortunate Region 2003