“In the Footsteps of a Poilu” with Alex Lyons

Battles of the First World War Podcast

Mike Cunha

History

4.8 • 812 Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2022

⏱️ 81 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Great War historian and writer Alex Lyons joined me on an evening in the UK to let us into a very personal and ground-level account of a French soldier in the First World War: through the letters of his great-grandfather, Jules André Destrigneville.

Alex has been composing tweets of Jules’ letters, cross-referenced against unit histories, orders, and other soldiers’ accounts. He has also written articles for the Great War Group’s excellent publication, Salient Points. Having the time to talk with Alex about his great-grandfather’s experiences and the general experience of French soldiers in World War I was an immensely rewarding time, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Correction: deep into the episode Alex and I discuss some of the ranks in the French Army, specifically those of sous-officiers and officiers.

Sous-officiers are those of NonCommissioned Officers, and are the ranks of Caporal, Sergeant, and Adjutant and their various grades. Officiers are officer ranks, beginning at Sous Lieutenant and going all the way up to Général.

Follow Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ri315e

Link for the Great War Group: https://greatwargroup.com/

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at [email protected]. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey folks, welcome to the battles of the First World War podcast. When I first began podcasting with the Verdun episodes way back in the day, one of my hopes was to put a spotlight on the World War I French Army and its bravery in the face of a nearly impossible situation.
0:22.6	Being able to get back to the Poulouse and their experience in the First World War is an absolute pleasure.
0:30.3	And with me this afternoon, evening from the UK, is Alex Lyons, who you might know on Twitter as R.I.315E.
0:42.3	And if you didn't know, Alex looks nothing like his Twitter profile, which is actually his
0:48.0	great-grandfather. So, RI.315E stands for, and correct me from wrong, Alex. Regiment of Infanterie 15m, or the
0:59.9	350th Infantry Regiment. How'd I do there? Pretty good. Cool. So, Alex is a fellow member of
1:07.5	the Great War Group, run by the the power duo Alexander Churchill and Beth Moore,
1:12.3	and he has been, for some time now, tweeting something truly remarkable,
1:18.0	the letters of his great-grandfather, a Pauulu in the Great War of 1914 to 1918.
1:24.4	And it's not just the letters, it's that Alex has been cross-referencing the places and battles mentioned in these letters.
1:32.3	It's all on Twitter for now, and it's a really ground-level look into how Frenchmen faced one of their country's darkest episodes.
1:40.3	So, Alex, welcome to the podcast, and if you would, please do tell us about yourself.
1:48.1	Perfect. Thank you, Mike. And thank you for, thank you for such an introduction. I mean,
1:54.2	by way, I find it very bizarre. I remember back in 2014-15, listening to your V VARNA podcast and never in my wildest dreams
2:05.2	that I expect to be on one.
2:07.3	Never in my wildest dreams that I expect anybody to actually listen to them.
2:11.5	So this is like...
2:12.4	So in that respect, it's thank you very much for having me.
2:17.3	And hopefully we can talk about
2:19.5	the French army, talk about, well, I dare, I never sure if I should use the word
2:25.3	Palu, knowing the fact that the soldiers never liked the term themselves. So, but yeah,
2:33.1	hopefully a bit of education for everybody and what the French got up to.
	...

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