The Soldier: NOËL Maurice

Feb 14

His Story :

Maurice Eugène NOËL is born on the 11th of September 1886 in Angerville-Bailleul, Seine-Maritime (76) (formerly Seine-Inférieure) to parents Edmond NOËL and Adelina MARTIN. The fifth of eight children, NOËL is described as being a painter on his military registration document, but will be present in October of 1907 to complete his military service with the 132nd Infantry Regiment. He receives his certificate for good conduct in 1909. Two years later, and in the reserves of the French Army, NOËL will marry Henriette Germaine LEGAY the 19th of August 1911 before having daughters Lucienne the same year and Mauricette in 1913. The tensions in Europe will fail to calm themselves following the summer of 1914, and as a result France will enter the First World War.

Leaving behind his wife and two daughters in August of 1914, NOËL is recalled under the flag and joins the reserve regiment of the 129th Infantry Regiment during the mobilization. The 329th Infantry Regiment, a well decorated unit created using the reserve battalions of the 129th Regiment of Le Havre (76), participates in the Battle of the Marne slowing the German offensive through Belgium in September 1914. The 20th of September, during the combats of the famous “race to the sea”, NOËL is evacuated by cause of illness, but will find himself returning to the regiment’s depot October 10th 1914. NOËL will remain at the depot of the 329th Infantry Regiment through the first semester of 1915, before being sent as a reinforcement to the front the 29th of June in good health. From late September to October, NOËL will participate in the disastrous Second Battle of Champagne which will cost the lives of more than 27,000 Frenchmen in a decisive German victory. Following this, NOËL and the 329th Infantry receives their first citation by order of the army, and will occupy sectors in the Aisne region through the end of the year.

The photo and registration document of Maurice NOËL gives us little precise information for his experience in 1916 and 1917, but still attached to the 329th Infantry Regiment, it is possible to imagine his journey by following the regiment. Beginning the year 1916 north of Tracy-le-Mont (60), NOËL will find himself participating in the costly Battle of the Somme in the summer, a battle that will last multiple months and mark the first offensive conceived by the French Army and the English. The result presents 67000 Frenchmen killed for a very unconvincing 8 miles of territory gained by November 1916, and NOËL is lucky to be alive by Christmas. The first semester of 1917, through the month of March, NOËL and his regiment combat in the region of Soissons (02), before returning to the Aisne region in April. The 329th Infantry Regiment, exhausted but resilient, will find herself present during intense combats near the commune of Laffaux in June before being transported to the Chemin des Dames in July. More than 300 men of the regiment will be affected by this period, killed or wounded, but NOËL, in good health, follows the regiment as it is transported to the Saint-Quentin sector in August 1917. NOËL will end the fourth year of the war in the sector of Pontavert (02) under violent and constant artillery bombardments.

As the momentum has changed by 1918, and the German Army has exhausted herself, NOËL will participate in crucial operations defending the Franco-English front. In January, the 329th Infantry Regiment fortifies a position still at Pontavert (02), before being transported to participate in the Battle of Noyon through the month of March. NOËL is transported to the Champagne region (now the Grand-Est region) in early July 1918, where as a pioneer of the regiment, he will be stationed between Reims and Épernay, in the Courton Woods. NOËL is wounded and evacuated the 20th of July, and cited the 8th of August as being a “very good pioneer, was wounded the 20th of July 1918 organizing a position under violent artillery bombardments by explosive and toxic shells.”

NOËL’s wound marks the end of the war for him, having been evacuated and maintained in a hospital until early 1919. His journey represents the magnificent and devastating points of The Great War. Humble Maurice Eugène NOËL will have traveled through France and fought beside Englishmen faced by the Germans. He will have seen thousands of innocent men killed beside him and will suffer two wounds himself, but will have the great fortune to return home to his wife and his two young girls. His spirit and his service will have ensured the preservation of the French flag and for this, we remember him.

Dedicated to the memory of this soldier.

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Registration Document: tinyurl.com/4csujeb6
Geneanet Search: tinyurl.com/4nh6cmjt