100 years ago today occurred one of the first battles of the 1st World War in the small village in which I live. It was never supposed to happen.
Lagarde, a small village of around 500 inhabitants (about 200 today) was just inside the portion of Lorraine held by the Germans since the war of 1871. Although the French High Command had decided that no offensive should begin before the 14th of August, General Lescot decided to pre-empt this date and launched an attack on the seemingly unimportant village, some believe for personal vanity. The first attack occurred on the 10th of August, 1914, resulting in the French occupying the village. The next day, however, a counter-offensive by the Germans led to a retaking of the village. In all, over 900 soldiers from both sides perished and General Lescot was relieved of his command. The remains of the dead were buried in two military cemeteries in the village.
This morning there was a moving ceremony to honour the dead of both sides with persons representing the various regiments of both sides. A mass took place in the village church.
These are a few of the photos I took.
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Lagarde, a small village of around 500 inhabitants (about 200 today) was just inside the portion of Lorraine held by the Germans since the war of 1871. Although the French High Command had decided that no offensive should begin before the 14th of August, General Lescot decided to pre-empt this date and launched an attack on the seemingly unimportant village, some believe for personal vanity. The first attack occurred on the 10th of August, 1914, resulting in the French occupying the village. The next day, however, a counter-offensive by the Germans led to a retaking of the village. In all, over 900 soldiers from both sides perished and General Lescot was relieved of his command. The remains of the dead were buried in two military cemeteries in the village.
This morning there was a moving ceremony to honour the dead of both sides with persons representing the various regiments of both sides. A mass took place in the village church.
These are a few of the photos I took.
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