Mildred Aldrich

[paul guthrie]

Think you have read all the classics on WW1? Well if you have not read Hilltop On The Marne you have not.

She was an American who moved to France in 1898, to a tiny village overlooking the Marne near Paris after years in Paris. Village is Huiry. There is a picture of her fine house in the book & it's much the same today. From her yard could be seen several of the villages under fire during the Battle of the Marne. She was there as the British then Germans marched thru. She gave great aid to the British even telling them the location of Uhlans at 1 point.

She wrote also The peak of The Load & On The Edge of the War Zone as well as When Johnny COmes Marching Home which I do not have.

She paints a superb picture of life in the war zone, village life, animals, the French peasantry, just fine books.

When I visited Huiry the occupants of the house were not at home & I did not get to go into her yard for the view but I bet from time to time folks show up with book & picture in hand.

She was awarded the Legion of Honor, French believing she contributed to US entry into the war, died Huiry 1928,

[Bob Coulson]

Paul,

Quite a few references and stories about her in Lyn McDonalds book 1914.

She must have been some lady.

Bob.

[paul guthrie]

It's a shame these books are hard to find, probably harder in UK. Reading them in sequence, following the war inside, then just outside the war zone, on the Gotha flight path to Paris is terrific. The small insights, such as inhabitants of Noyon did not recognize advancing French troops, their uniforms were all blue.

[simond9x]

Superb books. Huiry is already on my list of places to visit next year. Does anyone know where she was buried?

[Black Maria]

According to the article on her in the latest W.F.A bulletin by Bridgeen Fox she is buried in the cemetery of the Church of St Denis,Quinchy-Voisins.

[Martin Bennitt]

I agree, a super book. You can read it on line and the sequel Told in a French Garden

very easy to read. Enjoy

cheers Martin B

[MJohnson]

Was very fortunate to visit her house in Huiry last year with the Thames Valley recce . Very little has changed especially the inside rooms . Very easy to turn back the clock and imagine her talking to British officers in this setting . A wonderful book .

[simond9x]

Thanks all.

[Guest Tel]

Hi

I've just joined here because I wanted to let you know that I was fortunate - in visiting 'La Creste' a couple of weeks ago - to be welcomed into Mildred's former home by the owner. The house is currently under renovation as he is intending to bring the property up to standard so people can actually stay there. He told my wife - who speaks french - that his father bought La Creste off Mildred's estate originally and many of her artifacts still remain there - he showed me her large mirror, recliner and said he has her book collection etc. His father died recently and the owner's own property is built next to the place - he needs to make it pay it's way and the renovation will include a 'Hemmingway room' (He stayed there) - he also believes Picasso stayed there as there is a picture drawn for Mildred which he is currently getting validated. All exciting for readers of Mildred's books to be able to actually stay there in the future. I was thrilled to see the sitting room where Mildred's beam - that she was so proud of - remains in place as it did and the fireplace she must have stood at countless times during WW1 to warm herself using scarcely available wood. He also showed us the loft room window that she looked out of watching the Marne Battles etc. I hope this info. is of some use to forum users

[Terry_Reeves]

I am fortunate to have all of Aldrich's books bar one. For those interested in her work most of them are available online, free of charge. Her books are based on her letters to fellow US author, Gertrude Stein, friends and relatives and her private journal entries. Aldrich writes in an endearing chatty style as befits the people she was corresponding with, but rarely lets it drift into gossip. A keen observer, she catches the day to day mood well and reveals a wicked sense of humour. In "On the Edge of the War Zone" (1917) she writes of the conditions in and around her home early in the war at Huiry thus:

"I don't know how many people there are at Voisons. I hear there is no one at Quincy. As for Huiry? Well, our population - everyone accounted for before the mobilisation - was twenty-nine. The hamlet consists of only nine houses. Today we are six grown people and seven children.

There is no doctor if one should be so silly as to fall ill. There are no civil authorities to make out a a death certificate if one had the bad taste to die - and one can't die informally in France. If anyone should, as far as I can see, he would have to walk to his grave, dig it, and lie down in it himself, and that would be a scandal, and I am positive it would lead to a proces. The French love laws suits, you know. No respectable family would be without one."

Aldrich also remembered those soldiers who passed through her house including a British officer whom she only refers to as "Captain Noel". My research shows this to have been Captain Noel Simpson, who died of wounds on 26 September, 1915 whilst OC 21 AA Section and is buried at Etaples.

A recipient of the Croix de Guerre, awarded by the French who believed that her writing helped persuade the US to come into the war, Mildred Aldrich died in 1928.

ps Does anyone happen to know what happened to her friend Amelie?

TR