Marthe did not marry her Aussie
Friday, 11 September 2009

The Australian War Memorial blog has this update on the letter from the French girl to her Aussie during World War I:

"Marthe and her family were evacuated from Armentières, on the French/Belgian border, to Saint-Sulpice-Les-Feuilles during the First World War. Armentières was destroyed during the war and rebuilt afterwards.

It was in Saint-Sulpice-Les-Feuilles that Marthe met her sweetheart. However, the identity of Marthe’s sweetheart and his fate remain a mystery. The two never married as he rejoined his battalion and never came back to her." The AWM has not yet discovered who he was.

I am sure this was fairly common. Anyone who has read Jo Maxwell's "Hells Bells and Mademoiselles" will get a good idea of the 'interaction' between the Australian soldiers and the French girls while the raged nearby. I found a French girl who did marry her Aussie and come  to live near Sydney - and a Belgian girl who did likewise. In fact I was delighted to discover after Love & War was published that these women became friends in Australia. 

 

Last Updated ( Friday, 11 September 2009 )