Frédéric Henri Wolff
Frédéric Henri Wolff (born June 4, 1869 in Colmar , † September 1, 1914 in Remenoville ) was a French officer. He was born on September 1, 1914 for cowardice before the enemy firing squad .
Life
Wolff was the son of an officer who was stationed in Colmar with the 69 e régiment d'infanterie . After the Franco-Prussian War and the associated cession of Alsace-Lorraine to the German Empire , the Colmar family left and moved to the mother country. Here Wolff visited, among other things, the Prytanée national militaire in La Flèche .
In 1889 he entered the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr , from which he was retired in 1891 for infantry .
During his career, which he spent largely in Indochina , he was decorated with the Légion d'honneur , the Médaille commémorative de l'expédition du Tonkin and as a Knight of the Ordre du Dragon d'Annam .
First World War
On August 25, 1914, he tried to surrender to the Germans with his people as chief de bataillon and commander at the head of the 4th battalion of the 36 e régiment d'infanterie coloniale (36th colonial infantry regiment) . He did not succeed, however, and Wolff was sentenced to death by a court martial at the headquarters of the Second Army on September 1, 1914 for attempted surrender and for fleeing the enemy . For this he was demoted and his medals and awards were declared forfeit.
He was the first French soldier to be executed during the First World War .
An application for rehabilitation made in 1933 was rejected.
Awards
Legion d'honneur
Medal commemorative de l'expédition du Tonkin
Order you Dragon d'Annam
Web links
- Mémoire des hommes. French Ministry of Defense
- Base des Morts pour la France de la Première Guerre mondiale. In: Mémoire des hommes. French Ministry of Defense
- Patrick-Charles Renaud: L'oublié de la Grande Guerre. Fusillé pour l'exemple. In: La nouvelle revue lorraine. No. 27, August – September 2014, pp. 26–29 (PDF; 1.19 MB)
Footnotes
- ^ Military high school
- ^ Frédéric Mathieu: 14-18, les fusillés. Éditions Sébirot, Massy 2013, pp. 801-804, ISBN 978-2-9532726-4-2
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wolff, Frédéric Henri |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 4, 1869 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Colmar |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 1, 1914 |
| Place of death | at Remenoville |