Charles Peguy

[911car]

I hope some of you will join me to remember that today is the centenary of the death of Charles Peguy, a genius and one of the most important French writers of the 20th century. Killed by a german bullet in the forehead in Villeroy, at the onset of the battle of the Marne.
Bruno

 

[stuka f]

Hey Bruno,
in toughts with you on thise one!
Many great talent got lost....
However, not sure the bullet was shot by a German soldier.
cheers
|<ris

 

[911car]

However, not sure the bullet was shot by a German soldier.

|<ris

Really?? I never heard this supposition before... He was, as an officer, progressing ahead of his section in a field, heading to the village of Villeroy which is located on a hill, and where the germans were stationed, firing at the French. I have been there; everything is intact and it is easy to imagine the action. Who else could have shot him? No "friendly fire"! ..

 

[stuka f]

Hey Bruno,
He was a controversial (political!)figure at the time,...some sources say he committed suicide.
A good officer and a patriot, he was for sure.

 

[911car]

Hey Bruno,
He was a controversial (political!)figure at the time,...some sources say he committed suicide.
.

Peguy was not really a political figure. He was an intellectual, a thinker. Yes he had enemies; largely among anti-Semitics, as he had been vehemently pro-Dreyfus.
I would have a hard time believing that he committed suicide. He was a fervent catholic, a humanist... the last one you imagine killing himself, especially in front of his men on the battlefield!! There are also published accounts of his death as described by soldiers who witnessed it.
Anyway, thank you for this intriguing information Stuka. I would be happy to read more about it.
Bruno

 

[stuka f]

You are wright. I should have wrote "politics" in sted of political.
No body witnessed his killing.....in the general information I had.

 

[asergeant]

Hello,

I saw this very interesting link on a French forum.
It is in French and it's about Peguy.

http://www.euscreen.eu/play.jsp?id=EUS_DF0B8927E3B24FD79CDB51584B223F3E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[911car]

Many thanks, Asergeant, this is a wonderful and very moving testimony, broadcasted in 1964. The interviewed man, who speaks an impeccable French and has a real talent for telling stories, was one of those soldiers who witnessed Peguy's death. After both higher officers of the company were killed in less than 30 minutes, Leutnant Peguy decided to take the lead and stood up against machine gun fire, exhorting his men to progress, although they were begging him to lay down and protect himself. This is when he was shot in the head. The man confirms that his last words before he died were "Mon Dieu, mes enfants" (my God, my children), something I have often read about Peguy's death.

By the way I made a mistake in my first post. The hill occupied by the Germans toward which the French were moving is Monthyon, not Villeroy. Villeroy is another village nearby.