Ferdinand Gilson remembers

[Hedley Malloch]

Ferdinand Gilson is one of the last surviving poilus. He spoke of his experiences in a recent interview to ‘14-18’, the French WW1 periodical. He was mobilised in 1917 and ended up in the artillery manning a 75 field gun. He described how an average gun crew could fire 13-15 rounds a minute and how, at that rate of fire, the breech would glow with the heat and the crew would light their cigars on it. The record fire rate for his crew was 30 rounds a minute. He speaks with affection and respect for his officers. He describes how they would never go to ground when under bombardment by the enemy. Their men did, and their officers never reproached them - but they refused. Many were killed as a result.

In a remarkable passage he describes the developments in mobile armoured warfare that took place in 1918. His battery would load their cannon and ammunition onto heavy lorries, drive up to 100 kilometers through the night, arrive at their firing-point at 04h00, unload, fire off all their ammunition, pack up, and set off for base before dawn, leaving the Germans wondering when the infantry was coming.

Today Ferdinand is 104 and lives with his wife of 82 years in Loiret. He passes his days doing crosswords – in German; he finds French ones too easy.

82 years marrried. That’s a Golden Wedding +32. Cor. As my favourite fictional military character Major Dennis Bloodnock used to say, (admittedly in a rather different context) “Is there to be no relief?”

[paul guthrie]

Hedley, where is Loiret? What did he do after the war?

[Hedley Malloch]

Paul,

I will check and come back to you.

Hedley

[Hedley Malloch]

Hedley, where is Loiret? What did he do after the war?

Loiret is a départment in the Loire Valley; the departmental capital is Orleans. After the war Ferdinand worked as a self-employed toolmaker until the second world war when he worked for the resistance. The article is a bit vague about what he did after WW2. It merely says he had different professional activities and personal interests.