WAR 1939-1945. Captain Maurice DAUVERGNE. 157 L.A.S. "Mauric - Lot 477

WAR 1939-1945. Captain Maurice DAUVERGNE. 157 L.A.S. "Maurice", July 3, 1939-July 12, 1940, to his wife Marie-Antoinette in Kasba Tadla (Morocco); approx. 320 pages, various formats (qqs defects; plus 5 telegrams, 3 postcards, and circulation card from his wife at the Courtine camp). A bronze commemorative medal diploma is enclosed. The war as seen by an engineer captain in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. We can only give an overview. 1939. Kasbah Tadla July 9: "Track work begins tomorrow for the Colonial Artillery group.... the Legion must go to work around the 20th... I go to Khenifa every fortnight... The night is hard, it's difficult to fall asleep without taking one or two showers during the night"... July 21: "We have four military workcamps and we may have a fifth"... July 31, visit to the workcamps by Commandant Berthezène... In August, the international situation becomes tense, and "all travel is forbidden [....] God will not allow men to kill each other once again"... On September 1, he left Morocco for Algiers, via Casablanca; he commanded the 1st Company of the 85th Engineer Battalion. On September 11, he was in Thelepte (Tunisia) and headed for Gabès, in southern Tunisia, to carry out road and highway works; "we're staying under the stars" ... Sept. 27: "we're in the countryside, or rather in the desert" .... Oct. 1. October 8: "Each of us is ready to make an effort to settle the Hitler affair once and for all"... On the 29th, he leaves for Sfax. November 10: "Tomorrow is the feast of the Arabs, we have bought 5 sheep and from 3 a.m. we are going to prepare them to be cooked on the spit"... December 25: "We are going to make an effort to settle the Hitler affair once and for all".., he recounts the trip from Casablanca to Oujda... 1940. Arab Day (January 26); "there are no Jews around here, and there's only one in the Company, who's a very good fellow, by the way"... June 14: "Tunis has seriously emptied out... in the streets we see more and more people with packages. Yesterday there were 3 alerts, one of which enabled us to see the Italian planes above us. The soldiers who were with us fired at them with machine guns... there were also the D.C.A. cannons, which sent them some pretty good shells. We also saw the French planes arrive and put the Macaroni to flight"... June 15: "The German occupation of Paris has caused a lot of heartache; the French in Tunisia are wondering what they're doing here defending Italians and Jews when France is in peril"... June 17: "The news isn't great, and my morale is taking a beating"... June 20: "We're fighting somewhere in southern Tunisia, or rather Tripolitania, since we're the ones attacking, and the Italians are going to see what war is all about... Everyone is determined to carry on fighting. With the English, the Belgians and the Dutch, we have all of Africa, or almost all of it, and we are capable of holding.... the war is not over"... June 22: "Here, the idea of resisting in North Africa has new supporters every day"... July 11, departure orders for Casablanca and Tadla... Attached is a diploma for an 1870-1871 bronze commemorative medal for Officer Chappuis of the 6th Regiment of Prussian Grenadiers, Posen Oct. 21, 1871 (engraved decoration)...