A correspondent in Limoges cables:
“On a train loaded with wounded which passed through here was a young
French officer, Albert Palaphy, whose unusual bravery on the field of
battle won for him the Legion of Honor.
“As a corporal of the 10th Dragoons at the beginning of the war Palaphy
took part in the recent violent combat with the Germans. In the thick of
the battle the brigadier, finding his colonel wounded and helpless,
rushed to his aid. Palaphy hoisted the injured man upon his shoulders,
and under a rain of machine gun bullets carried the colonel safely to
the French lines. That same day Palaphy was promoted to be a sergeant.
“Shortly afterward, although wounded, he distinguished himself in
another affair, leading a charge of his squad against the Baden Guard,
whose standard he himself captured. Wounded by a bullet which had plowed
through the lower part of his stomach and covered with lance thrusts, he
was removed from the battlefield in the night. Then he learned that he
had been promoted to be a sub-lieutenant and nominated chevalier in the
Legion of Honor.
“This incident of decorating a soldier on the battlefield recalls
Napoleonic times.”