[Hugh]

Another fifty-cent postal card ... It was posted in France and has a single ring CDS that reads CRÉCY EN PONTHIEU / SOMME inside the ring and 8. -8 in the centre. Contextual evidence suggests the year was 1915.

   

As near as I can make out, this one is addressed as follows ...

Correspondance des prisonniers de Guerre [Correspondence for Prisonniers of War]
au Soldat de Neuil Henri [To Solider Henri de Neuil]
sapeur du 3ème Génie, Cie 4/4 [Sapper, 3rd Engainer Corps, Company 4/4]
Interné au Camp de [Interned at the Camp at]
Friedrichsfeld, Baraque 5 [Friedrichsfeld, Barrack 5]
Wesel, N° 2208 [Wesel, No. 2208]
(Prusse Rhénane) via Pontarlier [Rhenish Prussie, via Pontarlier]

There is a lot to unpack here. A woman named Catherine is writing to Henri, her younger brother, a French soldier who is interned at Friedrichsfeld POW camp in Germany during World War I.  She writes,

Mareesquelt, le 8 août 1915
Cher petit frère,
Sommes heureux d’avoir reçu ta carte de bonne santé.
C’est nous souhaitons qu’elle te trouve de même.
Je t'envoie un mandat ce Mardi.
Notre frère Charles et
notre Grand père, grand’mère, tantes, les cousins ainsi
que ta sœur Marcelle t’embrassent.
Je termine en t’embrassant bien fort.
Ta sœur qui pense à toi,
Catherine

[Maresquel, August 8, 1915
Dear little brother,
We were happy to receive your card letting us know you're in good health.
We hope this one finds you in the same condition.
I’m sending you a money order this Tuesday.
Our brother Charles, our grandfather, grandmother, aunts, cousins, and your sister Marcelle all send their love.
I’ll close now, embracing you warmly.
Your sister who is always thinking of you,
Catherine]

Maresquel was about 25 kilometers from where the card was postmarked.

The letter is being sent to the German POW camp via Switerzland. As can be seen, it is being routed to the French town of Pontarlier. From there, it will be moved accross to the border to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Switzerland (ICRC) who as a neutral party will facilitate the POW mail exchange between France and Germany. In August 1914, the ICRC established l'Agence Internationale des Prisonniers de Guerre [International Agency for Prisoners of War] in Geneva. Each side maintained the right to inspect and censor mail.

On the cover, we can see on the lower right a blue hand-stamp. This is a censor mark from the authorities at the Friedrichsfeld Camp. I can make out part of the printed text (Friedrichsfeld) confirming it was applied to the card at the camp.

Kriegsgefangenenlager Friedrichsfeld was a significant German POW camp during WW1. It was one of the larger camps and was located near the town of Wesel, in the Rhineland region (then known as Prussian Rhineland or "Prusse Rhénane"), close to the Rhine River. This area is in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

   

The picture side of the card shows a photo titled: MARCHEVILLE (Somme). — Entrée de Marcheville sur Danvast.

The Publisher appears to be Lèon Cueillez of Marcheville.

That was a lot of fun for fifty cents.

[Carmen]

Thanks for this Hugh. Very interesting indeed! I have something in common with Sapper de Neuil: while in the army reserves, I too was a member of 3rd Field Engineers... 3rd Field Engineer Squadron (Ottawa), that is! 

One possible correction to the translation though (I'm French): "C’est nous souhaitons" is grammatically incorrect. But the word she uses is very hard to read. It ALMOST looks like "J'estime" (literally "I estimate"), maybe? It might be in the sense of "I *assume* our postcard will find you in the same state." Although with him being in a prisoner-of-war camp, I don't know why she'd assume that? But hey...

Anyone else with French in the background have any thoughts?

[Hugh]

Hi Carmen ... thanks for your thoughtful comments. 

Transcribing old postcards is always an interesting challenge. First there's the wear and tear on the cards themselves. Then, how it was written ... pencil, pen ... messy, rushed, heavy or light. Then the handwriting ... ouch! Some write with textbook precision, others write hardly more than a scrawl. French is a lot easier than German or Cyrillic languages in that the letters themselves haven't changed that much in the last hundred plus years ... that's a plus. Then the language and orthography. Was it an obviously well-educated writer? Or, someone who was barely literate? Perhaps someone in between. Spelling and grammar mistakes are quite common (as they still are today - smile). Was a regional dialect evident in the writing and did they use words or abbreviations only their family or fellow villagers would know. Always fun.

Thanks for your insight into the phrase used by the writer of this card. Much appreciated. I'll add your observation to my notes on this card.

Cheers, Hugh