Illustrations from
'Nos Poilus'
The following illustrations are from a 1920 French childrens book called 'Nos Poilus', written by Emile Hinzelin and excellently illustrated by G. Dutriac. It is a patriotic book of the first order, full of high ideals and moral lessons for French youth. The chapters are built around a segment of Marshall Foch's speech upon entry into newly liberated Strasbourg. In response to the crowd's fervored chating of his name and that other French generals, the Marshall is said to have called the true victors of the war not the leaders of the armies, but the soldiers of France, praising them for their many virtues : bravery, intelligence, endurance, devotion, kindheartedness, forbearance and heroisme in the face of death.
Each chapter of 'Nos Poilus' is devoted to one of these many virtues. The book is an ode to the French soldier of the Great War, at times a somewhat exhalted and improbably praiseworthy figure. Nevertheless the book is written in a moving and solemn style keeping with the mood of the times, when it was considered the duty of every French to keep alive the memory of the glorious dead who had saved the soil of France from subjugation to the hated Bosches.