![]() Hand grenades gave way to hand-to-hand combat as the Germans attacked through the French trench. When the bombardment lifted, the Germans attacked out of Fort Douaumont and hit de Gaulle’s men from three sides. On the night of 1-2 March, the 33 rd regiment occupied its new trenches under a horrifying bombardment of artillery. De Gaulle and the 33 rd arrived the following day and prepared to move to the front. Three days into the battle, the Germans captured the key French stronghold of Fort Douaumont. The 33 rd was immediately sent to reinforce the fortified lines around the city, which had come under the command of General Pétain. After four months of convalescence, he returned to take command of 10 th company of the 33 rd regiment, which had moved to a quiet sector on the Aisne River.ĭe Gaulle’s quiet period ended when the German 5 th army attacked at Verdun on 21 February 1916. On 10 March, at Mesnil-lès-Hurlus, Captain de Gaulle received his second wound when he was shot in the hand towards the end of the First Battle of Champagne. He was promoted temporarily to captain the next month, a rank made permanent in September. Despite his staff position, he volunteered to lead several reconnaissance missions into no man’s land, earning him the Croix de Guerre in January 1915. Those first days of the war confirmed, for de Gaulle, his prewar belief in the dominance of firepower.ĭe Gaulle returned to the regiment in October 1914 and was appointed regimental adjutant shortly thereafter. The French were unable to prevent the Germans from crossing the Meuse, and while de Gaulle recovered in the hospital, the army fell back in complete retreat. Along with many of his men, he fell almost immediately, taking a bullet in the leg. Encountering the Germans at the Meuse River at Dinant on 15 August 1914, Lieutenant de Gaulle led his section in a charge straight into machine guns. Germany declared war on France on 3 August 1914, and by 5 August, the 33 rd began marching towards Belgium as part of the 2 nd division of the 5 th army. They spoke regularly until Pétain was elevated to command of a brigade just prior to the outbreak of war. The two outspoken and self-confident men developed a mutual admiration centered on their shared belief in the strength of firepower over the spirit of the bayonet charge. His commanding officer for the next two years was Colonel Henri Philippe Joseph Pétain (1856-1951). Following his graduation from Saint-Cyr in 1912, Lieutenant de Gaulle requested to return to the 33 rd, which was then stationed in Arras. ![]() Accordingly, de Gaulle spent one year in the 33 rd infantry regiment as a private. Four years earlier, the French National Assembly had passed a law mandating prospective cadets spend a year as an enlisted soldier before entering Saint-Cyr. Here's how it works and how to save money on currency exchange.After a childhood noted for the serious nature of his military play and study, Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) was accepted to the military academy at Saint-Cyr in 1909. The currency exchange booths (Travelex) and ATMs at the airport use exchange rates much poorer than ATMs in the city center, then pile on fees and charges and tricks like " dynamic currency conversion," so that in the end you may pay 10% to 20% for the exchange, receiving as little as US$80 in euros for the US$100 you pay. You may need some euro cash for transportation to the center of Paris by train, RoissyBus, Le Bus Direct, or taxi.Įxchanging currency at airports is almost always a huge ripoff, and CDG is no exception. In Paris is only a day or two, you may want You can use Le Bus Direct airport buses, the RoissyBus, Than the vast and complicated Terminal(s) Roissypôle complex, is for newer low-fareĪirlines. On regional routes within Europe's Schengen Is for smaller planes (fewer than 100 passengers) It's used by foreignīy itself and reached only by shuttle bus, It resembles a round of that cheese, is relatively Terminal, known to locals as le camembert because On airport buses, trains and taxis to/from the centerĬDG has nine passenger terminals: Terminal 1 (Paris's other public airports are Orly and Beauvais.) Largest, busiest, and most modern of ParisĬalled Aéroport Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle),Ģ3 kilometers (14.5 miles) northeast of central
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