Lonesome Memorial #9: Samogneux's Verdun Poilu

Tiny Samogneux, France, located below the heights of the Verdun battlefield and close to the Meuse River, was captured early in the 1916 fighting after French defenders in the area had been decimated by friendly fire. It subsequently became a strong defensive position for the German Army and was not liberated until the French counteroffensive of 1917.  

Samogneux gained literary fame and considerable sympathy in the last years of the war with the Paris publication of  the plight of an imaginary character created in 1917 by Henri Frémont, editor-in-chief of the Bulletin meusien. Père Barnabé was a peasant from Samogneux, forced to leave his village in February 1916. He would become the symbol of all French refugees driven from their homes during the Great War. The 30 serialized adventures of Père Barnabé were eventually collected in a best-selling French volume titled Réfugiés Meusiens, which was later translated into English and sold in America as Refugees of the Meuse.

The Original Père Barnabé Statue and the
Work That Made Him Famous

The American sales enabled a benefactress, Mrs. Jane Matthews Gray of Cincinnati, who had served in France with the Red Cross, to raise 230,000 francs for the rebuilding of the commune's roads and bridge, its church, and war memorials. The last category included a statue depicting the fictional Père Barnabé (since supplemented with a second rendition) and a beautifully executed French Poilu.

Mrs. Gray

The Poilu sculpture is our "Lonesome Memorial" since it is very difficult to see from the adjacent road. I've driven past it at least 30 times and only recently learned of its existence.  He was sculpted by Gaston Broquet (1880–1947)  and is shown pulling on a gas mask during an attack. Broquet trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and served 32 months as a stretcher-bearer at the front in WW1. During the interwar period, he produced a number of remarkable war memorials including the well-known Andre Maginot sculpture near Fort Souville at Verdun.

Getting There

Samogneux is located 13.5 km north of Verdun on highway D964. The older version of Père Barnabé  (shown above) is at the main crossroad of the village. The newer version is on the road about 200 feet farther north, and the Poilu is about 50 feet up the slope from there at the site of the former village cemetery. This stop is at coordinates: 49.25629, 5.33742. Note:  Parking on the D964 is somewhat precarious.  If visiting, find a parking place on a side road or in the village.