The Soldier: CORMAN Jean
His Story :
Jean Louis CORMAN is born on the 18th of December 1885 in Hem, Nord (59) to parents Jean CORMAN (with which he shares his name) and Julianne Elise LIÉNARD. The youngest of three children and man of the class of 1905, CORMAN will be awarded his certificate for good conduct in 1908 following his obligatory service, and placed in the reserve of the 45th Infantry Regiment to resume his life as a civilian. In 1909, in the commune of Lys-lez-Lannoy (59), CORMAN will marry Maria Jeanne FORNIER, and despite the back of his card mentioning that CORMAN potentially has multiple children, daughter Yvonne (with no exact date of birth) is the only confirmation.
Still in the reserve of the 45th Infantry Regiment in the year 1912, CORMAN will remain a reservist for little time before the First World War begins. The mobilization decree of the 1st of August will quickly send more than 3,500,000 men to the front, and CORMAN will find himself amongst these courageous Frenchmen defending their country. With the 245th Infantry Regiment, a regiment created using the reserve battalions of the 45th, CORMAN will cross the banks of the Meuse River and cross into Belgium, where he is surely present in the first combats of the war to repel the German invader. The regiment will fold little time later, and in the last days of the year 1914, CORMAN will celebrate his 29th birthday in the region of Reims. It is here that he is photographed with two corporals of the regiment. The 245th Infantry Regiment will occupy the sector of Reims through the course of 1915, where CORMAN will no doubt be unrecognizable from his photo as the French Army evolves in her uniform and equipment to address the circumstances of the modern war. CORMAN will suffer his first wound by intoxication at the Fort of la Pompelle the 20th of October 1915, but will luckily survive and resume his service with the regiment in good health.
As the campaign continues in 1916, the bloody Battle of Verdun will begin, and this is where CORMAN will find himself fighting in the summer. The violent bombardments and fighting will be costly for the reservists of the 45th, but through the course of June 1916 CORMAN will fight in the southern sector of Fort Souville. Returning to Verdun more than a year later in September of 1917, CORMAN will suffer his second wound on the 16th, again by cause of intoxication. This period will see over 800 men of the 245th Infantry Regiment killed, but CORMAN will remain only wounded. In October of 1917, the 245th Infantry Regiment will dissolve and CORMAN rejoins the 348th Infantry Regiment, the regiment with which he will fight in the Meuse region until rejoining the 22nd Infantry Regiment in May of 1918.
Following the armistice, the war is over for Jean Louis CORMAN, but this poor soldier will never truly leave behind its effects. Cited a few days after his birthday in 1918, now aged 33, CORMAN receives the Croix de Guerre decoration with bronze star. Few details exist following his service during The Great War, but CORMAN’s registration document is filled with mentions of reforms regarding issues to the pulmonary tract. It can be deduced that CORMAN likely suffered from a number of health issues as a result of having been gassed twice over the course of the war. We still have the great chance of preserving a photo of the courageous Jean Louis CORMAN who fought for his country for over four long years. Rest well.
Dedicated to the memory of this soldier.
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Registration Document: tinyurl.com/mv37ua8f
Geneanet Search: tinyurl.com/mr2tkd4a
CORMAN’s registration document cites his two intoxication wounds, and the date of his award of the Croix de Guerre medal.
Studio photo of CORMAN and two corporals of the 45th Infantry Regiment, 1914.
Jean Louis CORMAN, December 23rd 1914.
The back of the photo with CORMAN’s image. He writes to his wife and shares that he is worried about his family in the region of Roubaix, close the Belgian border. “Your husband who loves you more than ever”.