@JTam
In French my friend !! Not in Spanish 😅
Quiqui was the name of the dog of Major Raynal, commanding officer of the Fort.. a cocker as far as I remember.
Quiqui is a very French term that could be wrongly translated in English as Whowho (or Whoswho) cause of the fact the correct spelling is Kiki, a typical nickname for dogs in France like Loulou for instance.
Kiki is an very dated term for "neck" or "throat"; so "Serrer le kiki de quelqu'un" means "to strangle somebody" and you know how much soldiers were eager to name their mascot pet to "honour the enemy"
But Kiki is also synonymous of Zizi as described below (taken from Wikitionnary)
Found an article about Quiqui I translated in English.. just in case 😅
And do not forget the messenger pigeons of Fort de Vaux.. and more especially Le Vaillant (The Valiant)
This First World War commemorative postcard depicts a normacolour photograph of "The last pigeon of Fort de Vaux". It commemorates, in French, the flight of the last passenger pigeon of Commandant Raynal, which departed from Fort du Faux during the Battle of Verdun on 4 June 1916. The French title translates to "For Pigeon Lovers / Died for France / The Pigeon of Verdun".
The pigeon Vaillant accomplished its mission to transmit Raynal's order, but due to poisoning by gas, it arrived dying. Due to its success, the first of five French relief forces arrived the next day but failed. Nevertheless, the bird received a citation à l'Ordre de la Nation (citation at National Order):
"Despite enormous difficulties resulting from intense smoke and an abundant emission of gas, [Valliant] accomplished the mission entrusted to him by Commander Raynal. Sole means of communication of the heroic defender of the fort of Vaux, transmitted the last information which had been received from this officer. Heavily intoxicated, arrived dying at the dovecote".
Below is a commemorative postcard based on a picture of Le Vaillant taken before the Siege and the famous sentence of Raynal.
Here is a picture from the Mont Valérien Military Colombophilia Museum of the embalmed Vaillant and its citation at National Order.
@Brian Van De Walker
Close-Quarters Combat?
The Siege of Fort de Vaux should be played just like a Kill Team or Necromunda game with very specific rules like:
- French defenders could be able to scavenge/looting dead German attackers (ammo, weapons, water and food) with the appropriate penalty resulting from gas and smoke.
- Germans attackers were equipped with functional gas masks unlike the Frenchs so no penalty from smoke and gas but should have a restricted field of vision.
And I think such a Siege could be easily transposed to Death Fields with Grognards as defenders and Eisenkern stromtroopers as attackers. The Fort could be a major objective for both factions. 😅
