In Soldier at a Game of Chess, how is the Mobilization of the Description elucidated?
The number 24 on the soldier's collar represents the 24e régiment d'infanterie. That regiment participated in a brutal offensive on 25 May 1915 in Aix-Noulette, where contact with a bitter enemy caused unusually heavy losses. Metzinger had been stationed further south of the devastated area. The town of Sainte-Menehould, located south of the Forest of Argonne, became a command and control center of the Marne.From January 1915, St. Menehould was the command post of the IIIe armée française under General Maurice Sarrail. The city suffered its first bombing campaign by canon the same year. Thereafter, aircraft and zeppelins took over the skies. In September 1915 the successful counter-offensive moved the front closer to the German border.
Forest of Argonne Sainte-Menehould Aix-Noulette zeppelin 24e régiment d'infanterie Marne IIIe armée française Maurice Sarrail