Emilienne Moreau: grieving but undefeated

 

Emilienne began to receive a series of awards and medals from key people in the British military and government, including King George: she had suddenly became a living symbol of the French-British alliance. But she had also become a symbol of hope for the French, who were overwhelmed by the enormous number of French soldiers who had been killed by this point. When the French newspapers published photographs of Emilienne winning the Military Cross while dressed in black (in mourning for her brother), it was as if she were suddenly representing all the women of France: grieving yet undefeated...

 

Excerpt from "Emilienne Moreau: The Teen Who Became a National Symbol" from Women Heroes of World War I.

Emilienne Moreau takes note of German defenses

Emilienne noticed Loos children playing in the rubble every day, obviously not attending school—without teachers and with few children remaining in the town, the schools were closed. She began to teach some of them in one of the village’s abandoned homes. Because there was so little fuel to keep them warm, Emilienne and her students would regularly visit the slag heaps of coal pit number 15. During each trip, while collecting remnants of coal, Emilienne would make a mental note of German defenses—such as nests of machine guns—on the coal pit. She realized that if the Allies returned Loos might become an area of intense fighting. 

She was right...

Excerpt from "Emilienne Moreau: The Teen Who Became a National Symbol" from Women Heroes of World War I.