Casualty of the Great War,Jules is held to be the first French soldier to die in combat. He was born in the village of Etupes (Doubs)and from an early age was determined to take up a teaching profession. This he achieved in 1912, but a little after a year later, he was called up for compulsory military service. He enlisted at Belfort in the 2e Bataillon of the 44e Régiment d'Infanterie (27th Infantry Brigade, 14th Infantry Division)based at Montbéliard. Within six months he was promoted to Caporal (Corporal) and put in command of a section. By the end of July 1914, he was under consideration to become an élève officier (officer cadet). On August 2, 1914, while stationed in Joncherey near Belfort, he spotted a German patrol who had crossed the border. The officer commanding the patrol drew his revolver and Jules was fatally wounded, but not before he fired on his assailant, Leutnant Albert Otto Walter Mayer, who became the first German combat casualty of the Great War, although the official declaration of war wasn't made until a little over a day later. It is believed that Jules shot was not the one which killed Mayer; a number of shots were fired by Jules' comrades.Jules was helped back to the Docourt house where he died on the steps of the farm-house in which he had been billeted.
He is commemorated on war memorials at Etupes, Joncherey, Villers le Lac and at Les Invalides, Paris. There are also special monuments to him at Joncherey (site of Docourt house),together with a separate plaque nearby. Several streets throughout France and a small square in Paris are also named after him. On 3 December 1915, he was regimentally cited and granted a posthumous, retrospective Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star, followed in 1920, with the award of a posthumous Medaille Militaire.
Photographs used with the kind permission of David O'Mara of Croonaert Research Services http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/Research.htm ; biographical details based on http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/First%20to%20fall.htm
Photograph of the memorial is reproduced with the kind permission of Iain Cameron-see http://battlefieldseurope.co.uk/default.aspx
He is commemorated on war memorials at Etupes, Joncherey, Villers le Lac and at Les Invalides, Paris. There are also special monuments to him at Joncherey (site of Docourt house),together with a separate plaque nearby. Several streets throughout France and a small square in Paris are also named after him. On 3 December 1915, he was regimentally cited and granted a posthumous, retrospective Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star, followed in 1920, with the award of a posthumous Medaille Militaire.
Photographs used with the kind permission of David O'Mara of Croonaert Research Services http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/Research.htm ; biographical details based on http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/First%20to%20fall.htm
Photograph of the memorial is reproduced with the kind permission of Iain Cameron-see http://battlefieldseurope.co.uk/default.aspx
Casualty of the Great War,Jules is held to be the first French soldier to die in combat. He was born in the village of Etupes (Doubs)and from an early age was determined to take up a teaching profession. This he achieved in 1912, but a little after a year later, he was called up for compulsory military service. He enlisted at Belfort in the 2e Bataillon of the 44e Régiment d'Infanterie (27th Infantry Brigade, 14th Infantry Division)based at Montbéliard. Within six months he was promoted to Caporal (Corporal) and put in command of a section. By the end of July 1914, he was under consideration to become an élève officier (officer cadet). On August 2, 1914, while stationed in Joncherey near Belfort, he spotted a German patrol who had crossed the border. The officer commanding the patrol drew his revolver and Jules was fatally wounded, but not before he fired on his assailant, Leutnant Albert Otto Walter Mayer, who became the first German combat casualty of the Great War, although the official declaration of war wasn't made until a little over a day later. It is believed that Jules shot was not the one which killed Mayer; a number of shots were fired by Jules' comrades.Jules was helped back to the Docourt house where he died on the steps of the farm-house in which he had been billeted.
He is commemorated on war memorials at Etupes, Joncherey, Villers le Lac and at Les Invalides, Paris. There are also special monuments to him at Joncherey (site of Docourt house),together with a separate plaque nearby. Several streets throughout France and a small square in Paris are also named after him. On 3 December 1915, he was regimentally cited and granted a posthumous, retrospective Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star, followed in 1920, with the award of a posthumous Medaille Militaire.
Photographs used with the kind permission of David O'Mara of Croonaert Research Services http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/Research.htm ; biographical details based on http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/First%20to%20fall.htm
Photograph of the memorial is reproduced with the kind permission of Iain Cameron-see http://battlefieldseurope.co.uk/default.aspx
He is commemorated on war memorials at Etupes, Joncherey, Villers le Lac and at Les Invalides, Paris. There are also special monuments to him at Joncherey (site of Docourt house),together with a separate plaque nearby. Several streets throughout France and a small square in Paris are also named after him. On 3 December 1915, he was regimentally cited and granted a posthumous, retrospective Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star, followed in 1920, with the award of a posthumous Medaille Militaire.
Photographs used with the kind permission of David O'Mara of Croonaert Research Services http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/Research.htm ; biographical details based on http://www.pathsofglory.co.uk/First%20to%20fall.htm
Photograph of the memorial is reproduced with the kind permission of Iain Cameron-see http://battlefieldseurope.co.uk/default.aspx
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