The Soldier: BOSSU Victor

His Story :

Joseph Victor BOSSU is born on the 4th of September 1885 in Gizia, Jura (39) to parents Joseph BOSSU (with which he shares his name) and Emilie DANIEL. Wood turner by profession, it will be BOSSU’s responsibility to serve his period as a conscript of the French Army in the class of 1905. BOSSU joins the 21st Infantry Regiment of Langres (52) from October 1907 to September 1909, passing in the reserves of the active army with a certificate of good conduct accorded the same year. BOSSU will return home and continue his work as a wood turner until late summer 1914, when the threat of a German invasion will call him and millions of other Frenchmen to the front of an unprecedented conflict.

Aged 28, BOSSU will serve in the interior of the army as the war of the trenches establishes itself. It is uncertain exactly what his role is, but before August 1915 it can be understood that BOSSU is a soldier with the 7th Section de Commis et d'Ouvriers Militaires d'Administration (administrative clerks and laborers), surely because of his proficiency working with wood. The sections of administrative clerks and laborers play an important role supplementing the soldiers in the first line, and will fulfill roles supplying the needs of the average soldier and the French Army. In late 1915, again in August, BOSSU joins the 56th Territorial Infantry Regiment but will quickly pass to the 44th Infantry Regiment less than two weeks later on August 27th. His time with the 44th will also be very limited, as December 5th 1915 BOSSU is transferred to the 69th Battalion of Chasseurs à Pied (hunters on foot), a light infantry unit composed of the reserves of the 29th Battalion. He will serve the remainder of his time during the Great War with this unit.

In the year 1916, BOSSU rests in the commune of Bussy-le-Château (51) in April, before being transported to Verdun to participate in the violent battle through the month of May. BOSSU launches the attack on the carrières d’Haudremont the 21st, defending this position in the following days. From Verdun, BOSSU and the 69th are directed to the trenches surrounding the commune of Sillery where, on the 18th of June, BOSSU is present in this preserved photo. He describes holding a dog and that the young woman is a native of the town where his battalion is garrisoned in June. The photo gives us a good look at the distinct darker blue uniforms of the chasseur units compared to that of the traditional blue horizon (also visible furthest right). In early October, now at the Somme, the 69th will attack the enemy positions at Sailly-Saillisel (80), earning a citation for their exploits. BOSSU is alive and well come the year 1917.

After occupying trenches in the Oise region, BOSSU is present at the Chemin des Dames in the first months of 1917, a site in the Aisne region that will see violent combats through the course of the year. In May, BOSSU and the 69th are situated in the trenches of l’Epine de Chevregny, where on the 9th, BOSSU is struck by gunfire wounding his right forearm and fracturing his elbow. His registration document cites “partial destruction at the level of his insertions and paralysis of the extensor muscles of the index, long and short extensors of the thumb, long abductor of the thumb… inept indefinitely from the zone of the armies”. BOSSU is evacuated the 13th of May 1917, and returns to his depot December of the same year. The war on the front is over for this soldier.

Unfortunately, life after World War I is short for BOSSU. Despite his engagement with the French Army through the year 1924, his registration document cites a degradation of his muscular system in the region of his wartime wound, and constant reforms due to physical discomfort. BOSSU marries Sophie Marie Julie CLERC the 13th of November 1920. He will lose a child at birth in 1921, but will have son Léon in 1923. It is on the 25th of February 1925 that the life of Joseph Victor BOSSU ends, leaving behind his poor wife and young child. For so many soldiers, World War I will have directly decided their life, during or indefinitely after, and we can not forget the sacrifice of Joseph Victor BOSSU.

Dedicated to the memory of this soldier.

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Registration Document: tinyurl.com/bpaxtnne
Geneanet Search: tinyurl.com/mrxmk8mk

Joseph Victor BOSSU, in good health June 18th 1916.

“I send you the photograph of my squad, taken as group, though you will see that I am holding a dog and in the moment of the ?? it moved, so it has no head.” This very important line, written by BOSSU, helps indicate exactly which soldier is our author.

A detailed description of BOSSU’s wound from the 9th of May 1917 is present in his registration document. This wound will affect BOSSU until his death in 1925.

The photo taken of BOSSU in June 1916 is almost certainly at Sillery, in the Marne department.

Group photo of chasseurs of the 69th Battalion of Chasseurs à Pied, June 1916. BOSSU can be seen holding the “dog with no head".