Émilienne Moreau - The heroine of Loos Émilienne Moreau (1898-1971) was born to a

Émilienne Moreau - The heroine of Loos 

Émilienne Moreau (1898-1971) was born to a family of coal miners. Her father moved to Loos-en-Gohelle where she helped him run his shop. She was 17 in when the First World War broke out and was studying to obtain the qualification for becoming a schoolteacher. The German soldiers, however, advanced toward her city. Émilienne warned the French troops of the position of the German artillery, but the French had to retreat.

The civilians began to live in difficult conditions. Émilienne’s father died due to the “privations and anguish” of the occupation. She set herself as a teacher for the local children due to the school having closed. In September 1915, the British troops approached tried to retake the town. Émilienne thus warned them of the positioning of the German defenses.

During the battle, she nursed the wounded in her house. Émilienne also took arms to defend herself. She notably threw grenades to help a fellow Scottish soldier. As she recounted in her memoirs: “I had killed men. Everything happened within minutes. I didn’t even have time to think(…)”. She grabbed a gun and killed two German soldiers who fired at her through the door. 

The town was liberated and she and her family evacuated. Émilienne was awarded the Croix de Guerre from the French and received two additional medals from the British. The newspaper Le Petit Parisien also commissioned her to write her memoirs. 

Émilienne didn’t give up on her dreams and became a schoolteacher. In 1932, she married Just Evrard, who was like her involved in the socialist party SFIO. In 1934, Émilienne became the Secretary General of the socialist women in the Pas-de-Calais.

As Germany invaded France again in 1940, Émilienne took the path of resistance. She pursued her militant activity and accomplished many missions in Paris, ToulouseorMarseille. She barely avoided arrestation twice in 1944 and managed to escape to London.

Back to France in September 1944, she became one of the six women to be made Compagnon de la Libération (”Companion of the Liberation”) and received the Croix de la Libération (”Cross of the Liberation”). She remained politically active and played a leading role within her party. She died in Lens, in 1971.

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Bibliography:

Fell Allison F., Women as Veterans in Britain and France After the First World War

Malassis Frantz “Emilienne Moreau-Evrard”