Léon Buffet

Officer Cadet Buffet was leading. He, his company and a handful of other soldiers judged superfluous to the ongoing battle had to leave Fort Vaux. Under cover of darkness, they crossed the moat and continued away from the fort, with adrenaline pumping and fear in their hearts. They had to be completely silent, because German soldiers armed with machine guns were keeping watch above the fort. Despite the hazards, the group managed to get away. But the showers of machine-gun bullets, the screams and the ballet of illumination flares told Léon Buffet that those who had followed had been less fortunate. He reached Fort Tavannes and reported the dramatic situation at Fort Vaux to his superior officers. The fort had been besieged by the enemy for three days: the explosions in the narrow passageways, the smoke, the appalling heat, the pleas of the dying and above all the terrible thirst, enough to drive a man mad. The garrison, under the orders of commander Raynal, was exhausted and required assistance.

A counterattack was promised to free them, but it would only be possible if the besieged men could be informed so they could support the action. Léon Buffet volunteered to go back into the hell-hole to tell his comrades of the plan.

So out he went again, in the dead of the night of 5-6 June 1916, from one shell hole to the next, across the ground whose jagged contours emerged briefly, lighted by the pattern of illuminating flares and the flashes of explosions. A few blasts sounded around him, throwing up the earth and enveloping it in heavy smoke. Suddenly, a familiar dark shape, damaged by the shelling, loomed up in front of him: Fort Vaux. But how would he let his comrades know he was there? With short, muffled shouts, he called the men holed up inside the fort. Eventually, an opening appeared in the barricade of sacks of earth. A corporal peeped out and pulled Buffet inside. Instantly, the defenders of the fort recognised him. They were amazed. “Buffet’s back!” Risking his life, Léon Buffet had succeeded in escaping from the besieged fort and getting back in again, driven not only by a sense of duty, but also by his loyalty to his fellow soldiers. He spend the last two days of the siege of Fort Vaux with them.