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Mea Culpa: A French Confession

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Part III
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    • Part III

    "So to the war, something I was fortune to observe from a desk in the Ministry instead of from the end of Berthier rifle. It was, perhaps, a detached and comfortable war, though you of all people should know that at times it was anything but easy. However I'm sure I did more for France with my pen than I could ever have done with a rifle!"

    "Sometimes though, late at night after a good Armagnac from the old country, I find myself wishing I had fought my battles in uniform not a suit..." The voice tailed off leaving just the whirring of the tape and the background hiss of dead air. Finally the voice restarted.

    "But enough of an old man's self absorption, I set out to record the story of my war and that I shall do. So September 1939, the battle for Poland. For some in the ministry it existed as a series of telegrams, those in the situation room saw it as a flowing picture on a map, personally however I remember it as the changes on one man's face."
     
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    • A, someone behind the frontlines. Always interesting to hear their perspectives on the war.
     
    Kurt_Steiner - It's a multi-faceted Fall. Hopefully.

    MidEvil - Nice to have you along, hope it lives up to your expectations.

    Sir Humphrey - That's a spiffing haircut, if perhaps a bit 1980s.

    Carlstadt Boy - Well I didn't want to stray into the realms of complete fiction. ;)

    Myth - The extent of the Fall has yet to be determined.

    DonnieBaseball - Well he has many matters on his conscience, but that's all I'll say.

    gaiasabre11 - Excellent.

    Atlantic Friend - They sound most useful, I'm surprised it's taken this long for you to find a use for them. :D

    Myth - I'm not aware of anyone doing a mid-level civil servants view on war before (though I may be mistaken) it's either soldiers on the front lines or the generals and ministers at the top of the tree. So something a bit different hopefully.
     
    I agree. It must been awful to be chained to a desk and to drink Armagnac. At least in the frontline you have the hope of a bullet or a shell... :D
     
    Kurt_Steiner - The sacrifices those behind the lines made, often going days without a decent bottle of wine.

    MidEvil - Short but regular hopefully.

    Atlantic Friend - Keep fighting the good fight sir.
    ja_zps42369c2d.gif
     
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    Part IV
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    • Part IV

    "The man was our Polish Military Attaché, a bull of man who strode through the ministry each morning for the early morning briefing, then strode back every night after the last signal had been received. Though much of that time has faded, some of it I think just through shear force of repression, his face and his stature are etched on my memory, even if his name is now lost to me. As he walked through he passed my desk and, as the war progressed, his demeanour changed to reflect the latest news. In the beginning anger dominated, glaring at the clerks he passed as if to blame us for the tardiness of France's promised offensive, an unpleasant experience certainly but, sadly, just a shadow of what was to come."

    "When Gamelin launched his Saar Offensive a flicker of hope crossed his face, soon replaced by contempt when Gamelin returned with his tail between his legs after a few short miles. At the time I though that phase was the worst, the disdain on his face was so visceral I dreaded his passing, each site of him forcing me see France's abandonment of Poland given human form. Looking back it is now the final phases that haunt me, his shock at the speed of the collapse then, worst of all, his resignation after the fall of Warsaw and the end of formal resistance. To see a proud man so broken down, his fire doused and his hope lost.." the voice trailed off, the emotion tangible across the years.

    "A terrible sight to see my friend, one made worse in my memory by the knowledge of my own, similar, descent scant months later."
     
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    • Compassion for French Generals? Heresy I say! Booo! :mad:
     
    I could see that. Granted, it was in a posh hotel lobby, but I still saw the man walking by every day. His face always grim, save for a couple days of light and hope. And then, it just lost all life.
     
    Talk about baiting an audience.

    Just enough to keep me begging for more!
     
    trekaddict - You can't blame one man for a country's mistakes. Well I suppose you can, but it wouldn't really be fair and would allow others to get off scot free.

    Myth - It's a terrible sight to watch.

    Vann the Red - That as is nothing as compared to my shock at winning Best Character Writer of the Week! :eek:

    TheLoneGunman - Your in luck, I'm trying for regularish updates. However I'm also trying for 'episode' style updates so expect a good deal more 'bating'. ;)

    On which note;
     
    Part V
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    • Part V

    "Thus Poland fell, her army beaten and a proud nation subjugated. Almost incidentally we in the Ministry were forced to confront the unfortunate reality that all our pre-war predictions had been quite spectacularly wrong. But did we let such inconvenient truths get in the way of our plans and schemes? No we did not." The speaker paused, his voice a mixture of contempt and regret.

    "To my shame I was part of that cosy consensus, drafting memos and reports in favour of ploughing on despite the evidence, and despite my own doubts. So while Germany digested Poland, and divided the spoils with the Soviets, we in the ministry re-wrote our old plans with new words, my fear of speaking out prevailing over my concerns. Logically I know dissent would have made no difference to official policy. Objectively I'm well aware it was far from the only bad decision I made. And yet not speaking out that Winter still weighs heavily on my conscience, all the rationalisation in the world will not stop the feeling in the pit of my stomach that by keeping quiet I was to blame for what followed."
     
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    • Old plans with new words, ever the bane of the complacent strategist!
     
    This person seems to want to damned himself quite thoroughly.

    The first update reminded me, in part, of Babyon5
     
    gaiasabre11 - Thanks! I confess I never imagined I'd write a narrative AAR, let alone a French one, so the award utterly unexpected.

    Myth - An alarmingly common problem.

    stnylan - Interesting, I hadn't thought of a B5 link. My inspiration for that scene in fact came from, of all, places the Italian Job, particularly the final line.

    As to his fixation on damnation, he worked in the Ministry of Defence but France was not defended. If you identify very strongly with your job then the failures of your workplace become your own failures, a heavy (if self imposed) weight to bear.

    Jape - Your back! Huzzah! I'm glad the different PoV is working out, the pacing certainly is - I have (for the first time ever) a buffer of updates! :eek:

    Technically I suppose it's actually words I've written that need a polish before posting, so any comments and/or criticism would be most gratefully received.
     
    Jape said:
    This is very tasty Monsueir Pip, very tasty indeed.

    Not only is pacing very interesting but as you mentioned the POV being that of a mid-level civil servants is terribly good.
    Click to expand...

    I shall protest in the name of junior-but-should-be-mid-level civil servants everywhere. The world would function much better if the sewer flotsam clogging the upper levels had the good grace to die suddenly and leave us in charge ! ;)
     
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