“In due course, too, he passed through the artillery school of Fontainebleau, and in 1884 entered the garrison town of Vannes as a Second Lieutenant.
“Promoted Captain in 1891, he completed his studies in the use of the collimateur[50] and became the apostle of the use of direct fire for field artillery, which he eventually succeeded in introducing in the French Army. In 1909 he was summoned to Vincennes with a view to determining if any use could be made of aeroplanes in conjunction with field artillery, and succeeded in establishing a part for F.A. aircraft service. This, however, was transferred to the R.E. and Lieut.-Colonel Estienne consequently asked to be returned to regimental duty.
“In 1913 he was again summoned to Vincennes to continue his research, and was here at the outbreak of war, when he obtained command of the 22nd Regiment of Artillery. This he commanded in Belgium and throughout the retreat from Charleroi to the Seine. He had with him his two experimental aeroplanes, which rendered invaluable service during the Battle of the Marne, where he served under General Pétain.
“It was during the retreat that Colonel Estienne first spoke to members of his Staff of the future which would attend a machine capable of crossing ploughed fields and trenches, transporting arms and men. With this thought in his mind he was wont to invite his casual visitors and members of his Staff to assume all manner of peculiar attitudes under tables, etc., with a view to determining how many human beings could conveniently be crammed in a certain cubic area.
“His last command before being selected to father the future Chars d’Assaut was at Verdun, when he did not hesitate to employ a barrage of his heavy guns to break up a threatening German attack.
“As a man he appears to enjoy perpetual youth. He is short of stature, with no neck and a large round head. His hair is white, plentiful and worn en brosse, and he appears to be clean-shaven, so short is his clipped white moustache.
“Two things strike one immediately, the charm of his perennial smile and the quick brilliance of his brown eyes.
“As a raconteur he is inimitable, whilst as a lecturer his marvellous power of expression, his command of vocabulary and his convincing use of simile make it possible for him to communicate to his less erudite audiences a certain measure of his vast knowledge. This is by no means confined to military subjects, and his power of quotation from the classics is marked, whilst he has at least once published a lengthy poem in a volume dealing with the mathematics of gunnery.
“As an ardent philologist, he bristles all over at the sound of the word ‘Tancque’ from French lips, and opens a violent crusade against the use of foreign words as a substitute for good French equivalents.
“His voice is loud and resonant and his speech accompanied by frequent gestures, his favourite being the placing of his left hand flat upon his chest as if he implies that his utterances emanate from his heart.