Delpérier, Louis/Guillemot, Pierre-Baptiste Les cantinières

Volume 14 of the "Compagnie d'Elite" series. In our military history, the canteen girls provide material for a subject that is as unusual as it is difficult to define. Are they a French exception? "At no time did the armies of Europe, with the exception of France, have uniformed women grocers attached to the regiments and following the armies onto the battlefield", according to the 1890 brochure "Les Cantinières françaises" (The French Canteen Girls). As the protagonists of this unique national history rarely took up the pen and were on the fringes of the armies, direct testimonies were lacking and administrative sources were also scarce. All too often, all that remains are lists of names that lack credibility, war anecdotes tinged with fabulousness or the depiction of everyday life corrected by a very male gaze. The military historian Robert Laulan (1929) wrote: "To mention the story of the canteen girls of France is to take up the most picturesque, emphatic and popular chapter of female heroism, namely that of the female soldier who, with the advantages of her sex, which she does not wish to deny, combines masculine qualities such as resourcefulness, perseverance, vigour and bravery". This booklet describes her role, her uniform and her everyday life.