Centenary? What Centenary?

In a post on the Theatrum Belli blog, at http://theatrum-belli.org/il-existe-une-mission-du-centenaire-de-la-premiere-guerre-mondiale-mais-pour-quelles-missions/ , the noted French military historian of the Great War, Rémy Porte, looks at what is planned officially in France to commemorate the centenary of the Great War, and doesn't like what he sees.

While many communities, departments and regions have announced plans and projects for local commemorations, Porte has failed to find anything concrete coming from central government, apart from one website. Lots of meetings, but no product.

What is worse, he says, is that the people who attend these meetings represent every little clique, every school of thought, niche and theme about the War - the cultural, social, economic, political, diplomatic, scientific and technical, financial and budgetary factors of the conflict; medical services, coal mining, the press, the Christmas truce - all have their enthusiastic supporters. Every aspect, that is, but one - the military campaign. No-one seems to be taking an interest in the actual fighting. There is nothing, he complains, about the organization of the armies of the belligerents, their training, equipment, leadership, doctrine and planning; nor anything about the conduct of operations, the strategic interaction between the fronts, comparisons between countries, the roles of soldiers at every level within their army, nor the immediate and distant causes of the war.

Perhaps through gritted teeth, he compares the situation in France unfavourably with the situation in the UK, where David Cameron's speech last October at least gave an impression that, on this side of the Channel, there is a coherent programme of commemoration.

There have been a number of dissenting voices in the UK as well, seeking to fine tune the Prime Ministerial proposals, but there is some comfort in knowing that someone thinks we are doing well. But I don't want to be the one who has to tell M. Porte that the school of military history that ignores all those howwid guns and all that sordid killing is alive and well in some of our universities.

We shall see.

Kings of the Air: Clément Ader

This is the first of a series of biographical sketches based on the research I am doing for my new book Kings of the Air: French aces and airmen of the Great War , to be published by Pen & Sword. Clément Ader (1841-1925) was a French inventor, whose attempt at heavier-than-air flight some years before the Wright brothers was so nearly successful. Ader had a restless mind, and his inventions covered a wide range of fields. In 1868, he began as a velocipede manufacturer. Instead of conventional iron tyres, his machines used a rubber tubular tyre of his own invention, resulting in a much lighter frame, and a much more comfortable ride. The war against German in 1870 brought an end to his work. He then began working for a railway company in the south-west of the country, the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi. In 1875, he designed an engine that laid rails, that saw service for several years. He then turned to the new telephone, commercialising the inventions

The real Rintintin

No. No!! Yes. Rintintin's on the right. Obviously. In 1913, the artist Francisque Poulbot created two characters, two typical children, named Nénette (the girl) and Rintintin (the boy). The drawings were turned into dolls, intended to replace the dolls in French shops that were 'Made in Germany'. While they had some popularity before war broke out, their production suffered because of the war. The characters were revived four years later, following the publication of Encores des gosses et des bonhommes: cent dessins et l'histoire de Nénette et Rintintin , published by Editions Ternois. 'Everyone loves and adores us. You can find us amongst the finest amulets, the hand of Fatima, four-leaved clover, golden pigs, scarabs, the number 13, and white elephants. ... We are the most fashionable good-luck charm, triumphing over back luck.Keep us round your neck, on your watch chain, on your bracelet, in your pocket, on the wind

The French Army at Verdun

The French Army at Verdun (Images of War series) (Barnsley, Pen & Sword, 2016; ISBN 9781473856158) In four and a half years of fighting on the Western Front during the First World War a few battles stand out from the rest. They had a decisive impact on the course of the conflict, and they still define the war for us today. For the French, the Battle of Verdun, fought between February and December 1916, was one of the greatest of these. That is why the selection of contemporary photographs Ian Sumner has brought together for this volume in the Images of War series is so important and revealing. They show the strained, sometimes shocked faces of the soldiers, record the shattered landscape in which they fought, and give us an insight into the sheer intensity of the fighting. At the time, and ever since, the battle has been portrayed as a triumph of French tenacity and heroism that is encapsulated in the famous phrase ‘They shall not pass’. These photographs rem

Ian Sumner

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