Les poilus

The « poilus » were the French soldiers in the trenches. « Les poilus » really means hairy and they were named like that because it meant brave and virile in French slang. They used to write letters to their family, friends...

Sometimes friends of the dead had to inform their families.

Some letters can show us the hell of war such as the horror « at Verdun it is no longer a war but just butchery... » .

The fighting was constant and they were terrified of dying at any moment from the shells.

Despite the fear the soldiers were often patriotic and they were ready to die for France :

« I'm happy to go and defend our beloved country, as best I can, in order to make it bigger and stronger » .

Even in such terrible conditions they still made black jokes in their letters. A hundred years later these letters are a valuable testimony to the Great War (1st world war).