“The unanimous French military opinion is that the recapture of Douaumont by the French infantry line, the Foreign Legion and chasseurs, on Feb. 26th, was one of the finest feats in military annals and equal to Gen. Galliéni’s famous charge at Sedan in 1870.”
In the summer of 1916 the French government revived the ancient Fourragère decoration; this consists of a braided cord about 34 inches long, terminating in an aiguillette; one end is fastened on the soldier’s left shoulder, and then extended under his left arm and fastened on his left breast so that the aiguillette hangs below this second fastening.
It is not awarded for individual merit, but is conferred on a military unit, as a section, company, battalion, or sometimes an entire regiment; it is a reward for two distinct citations for unusual bravery or heroism.
Almost the first award made was to the entire Second Régiment de Marche of the First Foreign Regiment. The two citations entitling the regiment to this revived decoration were, first, for its extraordinary work during the battle of Artois, which began May 9th and ended June 19th, 1915; and second, for equally meritorious and successful action during the battle of Champagne, which took place from September 20th to October 17th, 1915.
For several years prior to the present war, the Germans very bitterly attacked the French Foreign Legion by articles in their newspapers and magazines, as well as pictures in their moving picture shows and songs in their café concerts. One very violent attack was a play entitled, “The Hypocrite,” which was first produced February 24th, 1914, at the Künstler Theatre, Berlin.
In a ray of green light a legionary advanced toward the front of the stage with a sign inscribed “We are the légionnaires of Africa” written in French; it continued in German, “All that you behold here is strictly true; we show you what we suffer and how we die.”
The play was received with great applause, although the critic of the Berliner Tageblatt had the fairness to write, “This drama of the Legion is a sluggish and untimely melody of the boulevard.”
Germany’s arguments against the Legion were summarized in the Spring of 1914 as follows, viz.:
First. They deny the right of a modern state to have recourse for its defence to the services of foreign subjects and they say they have been confirmed in this by the fact that all states, except France, have successively renounced the employment of foreign soldiers.
Second. That the contract on enlistment is harsh as the duration of the services is too long, the pay is insufficient and the service imposed is excessive.