Impression sketch
of Corporal Charles Surrugue.
A report came by
way of a representative,
With the French
army, Mr Warner Allen -
As part of the
British Press, told a story
Of a unique man
in loyalty to his country.
An officer party
had gathered to share lunch,
Situated ten
miles behind the lines - one
Of the officers arrived
late, to drew attention
To a mention in
despatches of Journal Officiel.
A French Corporal,
Charles Surrugue No 9,131
At the age of 76,
a 1870 Veteran and knight
Of Legion of
Honour, had volunteered his
Service for the
war's duration - a model soldier.
Surrugue serving
in the 9th Company, 6th
Regiment of
Engineers at age of 76, asked
To serve as a
sapper at the front, to share
The work with his
company, in full strength.
As a role to
younger soldiers young Surrugue
Worked night and
day with energy, discipline
And eagerness
while under enemy fire - first
They believed a
misprint - maybe to read 67.
A debate among them
ensued as to how such
A man of that age
could endure a campaign's
Hardships - to
conclude that they should find
The veteran's
company that lay within the area.
As an after
dinner task, the officers set off
To meet 6th
Regiment of Engineers - based
In a small
village, that hours before suffered
A bombardment, to
ask if Surrugue was about.
One sturdy sapper
paused in his work in belief
He might be about
- but fact was Surrugue
Was at work, they
were unsure where but felt
He was at a
quarry - to give a vague direction.
In determination
the officer group set off to find
The place - Yet a
map gave no sign of a quarry -
As they
progressed through a wood, very likely
To give up, to find
a man carrying a pickaxe.
The small man,
with the axe on his shoulder,
Wore a white
beard - the officers gave theory
That as he was a
corporal and sapper he could
Be Surrugue - he
was, to be surprised by them.
The Corporal
after a few minutes discussion
Took them to his
shelter, whose roof leaked
With water -
there underground, the modest
Man provided them
an account of his story.
In attribution to
a man half his age Surrugue,
With his white
moustache and pointed bead,
Had fortune of a
fresh complexion - his old
Age of greenery
he put down to much walking.
Prior to war his
work was as a civil engineer -
To say he walked
miles to maintain railways
In his area - and
from 1902 for twelve years,
He had been mayor
of his hometown Auxerre.
Before being
Mayor during the war of 1870
Surrugue, a
military engineer, with given rank
Of captain, served
army of General Faidherbe;
During that time
to be mentioned despatches.
In 1872 he drew plans
of Arras-Etaples branch
Railway as well
as to begin Saint-en-Ternoise
Station - 44 years later to pick up the pickaxe
Again; this time
in the role as Sapper Surrugue.
With ownership of
the Legion of Honour, surely
The other men
guessed his true identity, asked
An officer - only
after earning Croix de Guerre
Had Surrugue worn
medal beside red ribbon.
In philosophy of
humility Surrugue beleived
That what was
done in civil life did not count -
That he was just
a sapper to makes trenches
Alongside the
others - why had he volunteered?
Surrugue felt
that a man with physical ability
Should be allowed
at the front - as he passed
The medical fitness
tests he left, his relief work
In the hands of capable
women, for his training.
July 1915, had
found him on frontline to assist
September's
offensive, to become Corporal -
In October being
decorated, surprised him -
Only because of
his age - having done nothing.
Surrugue's
reticence was how others did more
Than him, so he
set out to earn Croix de Guerre.
Surrugue believed
the one advantage of age
Was to inform the
young of 1870 hardships.
When time eventually
came for officers to leave,
Surrugue asked
how he looked? The reason
For three months
he had not looked in a glass -
One officer told
Surrugue how fit he looked.
A final matter
was where were the quarries?
Surrugue pointed
to holes, known as quarries
Where stones were
extracted - which looked
Like shell holes
- in war nothing was strange.
With their excursion
then ended the officers
Left Surrugue in
peace to work - to reiterate
How nothing
should be a surprise, even to
Find a corporal
of 76 in nonexistent quarry.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. A
Veteran of 76 - Sapper Surrugue's Story. The Daily Telegraph,
[online] 28 December.
P.10. Col.2. Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12064942/Daily-Telegraph-December-28-1915.html
[Accessed: 30 December 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 30 December 2015).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone
#worldwaroneremembered #WW1France
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