Joseph Foucher
Gunner
111th Heavy Artillery Regiment
Croix De Guerre
The small village of Frossay was far from the noise of the guns and the mud of the trenches that now dominated portions of France. Yet the residents who dwelled within sight of the vast Atlantic had not been unaffected by this war, they had sent their youth to the front like every other French community. Among those called up in January of 1916 was Joseph Foucher. He was one of the town's butchers and only 19-years of age when he left the comforts of his home. Though his profession should have been of use to the army, he was selected for the artillery instead and subsequently qualified as a gunner. After training he would be posted to the 111th Heavy Artillery Regiment on the Western Front. Undoubtedly, he witnessed the barbarity of the conflict and the death of many he served with.
Artillerymen were still exposed to much of the same misery as the infantry, especially the forward observers like Joseph. He was appointed a telephonist and charged with manning forward observation posts to help direct the guns. On September 19th, 1917, he was in one of these frontline posts when German artillery zeroed in on it. The barrage unleashed upon the position shook the earth and sent shrapnel flying around him, yet he remained at his station and continued to relay information to his own guns. By shear luck, he made it through this agonizing shelling unscathed and would be awarded the Croix De Guerre for his incredible bravery. The awarding of such a medal did not mean his service was over and he continued fighting at the front with the 111th.
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War Returns to France
The victory that came in November of 1918 was bittersweet, Joseph had survived, but over a million of his comrades had not and much of the country now laid in ruins (1). He continued to serve with the military reserves well into the post-war period and likely never imagined a conflict of such a scale would occur again. Yet in September of 1939, that is exactly what happened. Joseph was recalled to the military and given a position among the administration of clerks and workers (2). The country was gearing up for another trench war, which the quiet along the line for most of 1939 and the spring of 1940 seemed to confirm. Then the Germans emerged from the Ardennes and swept across the country, Joseph and his other old comrades of the Great War, being unable to stop them. Even his home of Frossay would come under the grip of this tyrannical regime, truly a blow to him. Though the day of liberation would eventually come, Joseph did not live to see it, tragically dying from medical complications in January of 1941. This hero of World War One never knew if his beloved country would one day be free again.
Sources:
(1) Mougel, N. (2011). World War 1 Casualties . Reperes. http://www.centre-robert-schuman.org/userfiles/files/REPERES%20%E2%80%93%20module%201-1-1%20-%20explanatory%20notes%20%E2%80%93%20World%20War%20I%20casualties%20%E2%80%93%20EN.pdf
(2) Commandement - services spciaux et administration COA. Fortiffsere.fr. (n.d.). http://www.fortiffsere.fr/armee1914/index_fichiers/Page1339.htm.
(1) Mougel, N. (2011). World War 1 Casualties . Reperes. http://www.centre-robert-schuman.org/userfiles/files/REPERES%20%E2%80%93%20module%201-1-1%20-%20explanatory%20notes%20%E2%80%93%20World%20War%20I%20casualties%20%E2%80%93%20EN.pdf
(2) Commandement - services spciaux et administration COA. Fortiffsere.fr. (n.d.). http://www.fortiffsere.fr/armee1914/index_fichiers/Page1339.htm.