TTKAS: The Heroine of Loos

When I was carrying out research on the Wipers Times, I came across the following comment, made by the editor Fred Roberts, about their time in Loos:

'Of course, the life was a subterranean one and the cafés, cinemas, etc., were not doing business, but one could go and look at the pile of brick which once was the house where the Heroine of Loos lived. If that excitement palled one could always go and climb up the side of the crassier in daylight'.¹

It was an epithet I had not come across before, and I had no clue about the person behind it, so I went off to do some digging. As it turns out, the heroine was Émilienne Moreau-Evrad (1898-1971), a resident of Loos, who was awarded the Croix Du Combattant and the Croix de guerre for helping wounded British soldiers in September of 1915, along with the Military Medal, the Royal Red Cross, and being made a member of the Venerable Order of Saint John.

As this is a series of articles that celebrate triviality, I want to clarify that I am in no way suggesting her actions were trivial — ordinary people often do extraordinary things in times of adversity. However, there is a problem with her story that needs to be addressed; from day one, it was picked up and exploited by both British and French propagandists. As a result, it has been spun and re-spun, as Figure 2 attests, so I thought I would see if I could find the most trivial account out there.

The Propagandist Account

I've gone into depth on this site about British propaganda but haven't yet mentioned anything about French efforts. Thankfully, it can be summed up with just one phrase: 'bourrage de crâne', which translates quite literally as 'to stuff the skull', and is precisely as it sounds.

Her story was presented as follows: She was a 17-year-old schoolteacher living in Loos and taught out of the ruined basements of the city. When the Battle of Loos took place and British troops entered the streets, she left the basements' safety, gave them water, and helped dress some wounds. When the reinforcements arrived (naturally singing 'God Save the King' at the top of their voice) she began to sing out the 'Marseillaise' and everyone joined in — which I think we can take safely with a pinch of salt. Some accounts go further, adding that she also led a chant of 'Viva France!' while draped in a Tricolour flag. The second serving of salt arrives when, while a field hospital was being set up, she picked up a revolver and some grenades, joined the British soldiers — as in the Stanley Llewlyn Wood illustration above — and offed five German soldiers, all before teatime.²

The Trivial Account

After much searching, the following comes from the 1926 book The Fifteenth (Scottish) Division 1914-1919:

No account of Loos would be complete without reference to Mlle Emillienne Moreau, the 'Lady of Loos'.

Living with her mother, brother, and small sister, she and her family had remained in Loos throughout the German occupation. On September 25, after the 44th Brigade had stormed the village, she attached herself to the dressing-station of Captain Bearn, M.O. to the 9th Black Watch. Throughout the day she and her mother supplied the wounded with coffee made in the cellar of their ruined home, and rendered what assistance she could to Captain Bearn. Three times the dressing-station had to be changed on account of shell-fire, but on each occasion Mille. Moreau accompanied it. Whilst occupying the third, Captain Bearn and his party found they were being sniped from some houses opposite, but they could not make out from which particular house the fire came. Snatching up a revolver lying on a table in the dressing-station, Mlle. Moreau ran out, and disappeared behind the opposite houses. A few seconds afterwards two shots, and two only, were heard, and almost immediately the girl returned, laid down the revolver, quietly remarking 'C'est fini,' and continued her work of attending to the wounded as if nothing had happened. Although the firing from the houses stopped, Captain Bearn could hardly believe its cessation was due to any action of Mlle. Moreau's. Later in the day, when there came a lull in the stream of wounded, he questioned her, and was taken by her round the back of the houses, through some gardens, up a flight of stairs, and there in the front room lay the bodies of two Germans she had shot. Asked why she had gone by herself, she replied that she knew the way, and others might have found it difficult. She made no fuss about what she had done, and by no means looked on her action as anything out of the ordinary. A few days later, after the Fifteenth Division had left Loos, the exploit was officially reported to General McCracken. A car was sent for Captain Bearn, and he was told to go and find this gallant Frenchwoman. With a good deal of trouble, as by this time all civilian inhabitants of Loos had been evacuated to the neighbouring villages, Captain Bearn managed to find first the mother, then the brother and sister, and lastly, Mile. Moreau herself, and conveyed them to Divisional Headquarters.

After some difficulty Mile. Moreau was persuaded to give an account of her exploit, and very shortly afterwards she received the British Military Medal as an immediate reward. Later she also received the Croix de Guerre with palms, and shortly afterwards the medals of the British Red Cross and St John Ambulance Society. 'Only 17 years of age at the time,' said the citation, ' Mile. Moreau displayed the courage of the bravest of the brave.' ³

The Captain Bearn mentioned was Captain Frederick Arnot Bearn (1890-1981) DSO, MC, and while it doesn't mention the singing or the grenades, it is still an extraordinary story. As further testament to her character in the Second World War, Moreau was a member of the French resistance — part of the Brutus resistance network. She was further awarded the Ordre de La Libération, being only one of six women to receive the award.⁴

There is much more to say about her story, but within this series of articles is not the place, and sadly, there also seems to be an absence of reliable sources in English. She did write a biography in 1970 — La Guerre buissonnière. Une famille française dans la Résistance — but this appears to be out of print. Of interest, between 5 December 1915 and 16 January 1916, her memoirs were serialised (in French) in the Le Petit Parisien newspaper, which you can find online at BnF Gallica. Even with the propagandist angle, it makes for an interesting read.