, London and
Aylesbury
MCMXVI
TO
DR. C.O. MAILLOUX
(NEW YORK)
MR. AND MRS. L.B. FRANKLIN
AND
JEANNETTE FRANKLIN
AND TO MY
MOTHER
WHO BY THEIR AFFECTION AND PRACTICAL
SYMPATHY HELPED ME IN ALL THE
WORK I HAVE UNDERTAKEN.
10th August, 1916.
We left Paris determined to undertake the journey to the front in the
true spirit of the French _poilu_, and, no matter what happened, "_de ne
pas s'en faire_."
This famous "motto" of the French Army is probably derived from one of
two slang sentences: "De ne pas se faire des cheveux" ("To keep one's
hair on"), or "De ne pas se faire de la bile" (or, in other words, not
to upset one's digestion by unnecessary worrying). The phrase is typical
of the mentality of the _poilu_, who accepts anything and everything
that may happen, whether it be merely slight physical discomfort or
intense suffering, as part of the willing sacrifice which he made on the
day that, leaving his homestead and his daily occupation, he took up
arms "offering his body as a shield to defend the Heart of France."
Everything might be worse than it is, says the _poilu_, and so he has
composed a litany. Every regiment has a different version, but always
with the same fundamental basis:
"Of two things one is certain: either you're mobilised or you're not
mobilised. If you're not mobilised, there is no need to worry; if you
are mobilised, of two things one is certain: either you're behind the
lines or you're on the front.
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