Historical
French Army Campaign History and Unit Historicals
Armées françaises dans la Grande Guerre
The Official French Army History of the Great War:
http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr
Chtimiste
French site dedicated to the French army of the Great War, including battle histories, regimental battle histories, photographs and soldiers journals:
http://www.chtimiste.com/
JMOs
Marching and Operations Journals (JMO) of French formations (from army down to regiment), operated by the French Ministry of Defense:
Large formations:
http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr
Small formations:
http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr
Regiment-to-Division Short Historicals
French site where one can search for historicals of French divisions by regiment, division, place-name or battle:
http://champagne1418.pagesperso-orange.fr/Recherche/Page Parcours.htm
Regimental Historicals
French site that with links to historicals of many regiments/battalions in the French army during the Great War:
http://jeanluc.dron.free.fr/th/historiques.htm
Regimental Historicals
French site that features the historicals of many regiments/battalions in the French army during the Great War:
http://www.ancestramil.fr
Unit Historicals
Brief History of the 42 DI at the Battle of Pierrepont, 22 August 1914:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6528817g
Unit Historicals
Historical of the 151 RI prior to 1900:
https://archive.org/details/historiqueduerg00schmgoog
French Soldier Research
Death Certificates
Memoire des Hommes site where one can search for the death certificate of a French soldier who died in the Great War by name, place or unit (not a comprehensive listing):
http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr
Memoire des Hommes site where one can search for the personal files, including Courts Martial records and death certificate, of all French soldiers, civilians and spies executed by firing squad the Great War:
http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr
Graves/Memorials
Site operated by the French Ministry of Defense where one can search for the grave location of French soldiers who died in the Great War (including a search by unit):
http://www.memorial-genweb.org
Graves/Memorials
Site operated by the French Ministry of Defense where one can search for the grave location of every (identified) French soldier who died in the Great War:
http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr
Site where one can search the war dead memorials and national cemeteries for the soldiers memorialized or interred at that location:
http://www.memorialgenweb.org Serial No. (Matricule) Databases by Department
Site where one can search the war dead memorials and national cemeteries for the soldiers memorialized or interred at that location:
https://en.geneanet.org/explore/french-ancestors/post/4-online-departmental-archives/
Legion of Honor Rolls
Digital archive of the "Illustration" War Honors Table, featuring portrait photos of soldiers who received honorable mentions and a brief description of the merit:
http://pvsamplersla6.immanens.com/fr/pvPage2.asp?skin=illus&puc=005973&pa=1&nu=19153001
http://www.culture.gouv.fr
Legion of Honor Rolls
French site featuring a table of every French soldier or officer who was cited in the orders of the army or the Legion of Honor, and those who received the Military Medal:
http://jeanluc.dron.free.fr/th/THindex.htm
POWs Database
Database of POWs from the major belligerent nations in the Great War:
http://grandeguerre.icrc.org
General French Army
French site dedicated to the French army of the Great War, including battle histories, regimental battle histories, photographs and soldiers journals:
http://www.chtimiste.com/
French site dedicated to the Séré de Rivières fortress system with diagrams of all forts:
http://www.fortiffsere.fr
French Army Order of Battle in 1914:
http://home.comcast.net/~markconrad/FR1914.html
French site where one can search for all units on a corps, division, brigade or regiment level based off a number of parameters, including geographic:
http://www.memoiredelagrandeguerre.com/
French site listing of all large formations, especially order of battle of divisions, taken from the official history of the French army, 1914-1918. Also see the abbreviations listing:
http://toaw.free.fr/afgg
French site about the French army at the Battle of Verdun:
http://orkide.club.fr/index.htm
French site on French army losses, by period, region, class, etc.:
http://vestiges.1914.1918.free.fr/Pertes.htm
French site with a breakdown of the French Army Corps by division, brigade, regiment and region:
http://iabem.free.fr/meet.html
French site about tirailleurs, zouaves and colonials:
http://vinny03.club.fr/1418.htm
French site on the French military postal system, including the different types of postal stamps:
http://www.cpfm1418.eu
Excellent French site on the history of the 167 RI:
http://167e.regiment.free.fr
Website of the 151st R.I. Military Veterans Association:
http://anciens-du-151-rancourt-verdun.perso.sfr.fr
Historicals of the 9th Engineers Regiment, 6/3 and 6/53 Companies (assigned to the same division as the 151 RI):
Historical of 9 Genie, 6/3 Cie. and Historical of 9 Genie, 6/53 Cie.
French Army Manuals
Infantry Manual for the Usage of NCOs and Officer-Candidates, Corporals and Lance-Corporals (1915 ed.):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6518139c/f7.planchecontact.r=
Infantry NCO Book: for the Usage of Corporals, Lance-Corporals, NCOs of Infantry and Engineers (1915 ed.):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6514973x/f11.planchecontact.r=
Manual of the Infantry Platoon Leader (1916 ed.):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6556175q/f5.planchecontact.r=
Manual of the Infantry Platoon Leader (1918 ed.):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6556416w/f5.planchecontact.r=
Infantry In One Volume: Military Instruction Manual for the Usage of Corporal-Candidates, NCOs, Reserve Officer-Candidates to Saint-Maixent or Saint-Cyr Schools (1915 ed.):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65673164/f1.planchecontact.r=
Quarter-Master Guide, 1916-1917: for the Usage of Officers of All Arms and Services:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6516897m/f5.planchecontact.r=
Instruction on Field Works for the Usage of Troops of All Arms (December 1915):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6529160c/f5.planchecontact.r=
Field Works Manual for the Infantry Officer, (by Lieutenant C.L. Gatin):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6526499b/f5.planchecontact.r=
Provisional Instructions On the Automatic-Rifle M1915 CSRG (Chauchat):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6550550d/f7.planchecontact
Manual of Military Kitchens in the Field and on Maneuvers (May 1915 ed.):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k64133591/f5.planchecontact.r=
Manual of Military Kitchens in Garrison (October 1916 ed.):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62353945/f5.planchecontact.r=
Bulletin on Mobile Field Bakeries (1910):
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62353767
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6237012w/f1.double.r=
Manual of Military Instruction: for the Usage of Lance-Corporals, NCOs, Officer-Candidates (1915 ed.):
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6237012w
Instruction on Infantry (Rifle) Fire (31 August 1915):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6564593p/f5.planchecontact.r=
Conduct for the Instruction of the Skirmisher and Small Groups of Skirmishers (1916):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6550542v/f1.planchecontact.r=
Instruction on Offensive Combat of Small Units (1916):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6550810x/f1.planchecontact
Instruction on Offensive Combat of Small Units (1918):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6551906p/f3.planchecontact
Physical Training for the Combatant (1 September 1918):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6545214s/f7.planchecontact.r=
Provisional Instruction on the Model 1915 Automatic-Rifle (C.S.R.G.) (1 February 1916):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6550550d/f5.planchecontact.r=
Provisional Instruction on the Model 1915 Automatic-Rifle (C.S.R.G.) and its Assembly (11 Sept. 1916):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6550538z/f1.planchecontact.r=
Provisional Instruction on the Model 1915 Automatic-Rifle (C.S.R.G.) and its Assembly - Supplement (1917):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6550539c/f3.planchecontact.r=
Instruction on M1892 Musketoons, and M1890 and M1892/16 Carbines (27 March 1918):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6551889m/f1.planchecontact.r=
Instruction on the Nomenclature, Use, Disassembly and Training for the 7.65 mm Automatic Pistol (20 Jan. 1916):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6552341c/f1.planchecontact.r=.langEN
Instruction on Combat with the Grenade (7 April 1916):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6550508t/f1.planchecontact.r=
General Headquarters Regulations on Instruction (15 July 1916):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6150327h/f1.planchecontact.r=
General Headquarters Regulations on Instruction of Offensive Combat of Large Formations (26 January 1916):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6545322p/f3.planchecontact.r=.langEN
General Headquarters Regulations on Instruction of Offensive Combat of Small Formations (8 January 1916):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6550810x/f1.planchecontact.r=
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6235202k.r=
Practical Instruction For the Signalers Service (1887 ed.):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k61052955.r=
Clothing and Camping: Verification of Materials and Articles (1912 ed.):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6422697q/f3.planchecontact.r=
Weaponry and Equipment
French site featuring extensive uniform pages:
http://www.lesfrancaisaverdun-1916.fr
French site featuring detailed information, with many photos, on all French army fire-arms:
http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/sommaire.html
Site featuring photos, diagrams and basic descriptions of French grenades:
http://members.lycos.nl/lexpev/hobbies0.html
Another site featuring diagrams and basic descriptions of French grenades:
http://militaria14-18.pagesperso-orange.fr/p3.htm#aasen
French site featuring, among other things, information on the medals rewarded to French soldiers and civilians:
http://www.memoiredelagrandeguerre.com/
French site featuring information on the medals rewarded in the French army:
http://medaille.decoration.free.fr/France/P_Medaille/Fourragere.htm
Site about the Lebel 8 mm bullet (translation available on site):
http://www.8lebel.org/
French site about the Adrian helmet:
http://salg71.free.fr/page2.html
Another French site about the Adrian helmet:
http://www.world-war-helmets.com
French site covering all of the machine guns of the Great War:
http://www.mitrailleuse.fr
French site about the artillery canons of the Great War:
http://87dit.canalblog.com
French site about the artillery canons of the Great War:
http://www.passioncompassion1418.com
French sites with information on artillery shells used in the Great War:
http://canonspgmww1guns.canalblog.com
French site about the 75 mm canon:
http://canonde75.free.fr
French site featuring info on the tanks and armored cars of the French army:
http://www.chars-francais.net/des-origines-a-1930.htm
French site about the war of gas -- types of gas used, masks, etc.:
http://www.guerredesgaz.fr/
French site on the issued Instruction Handkerchiefs prodcued in the late 19th century:
https://www.lecarredartiste.com/magazine/mouchoir-militaire
General Great War History
Comprehensive site on multiple facets of the Great War:
www.worldwar1.com
Site containing multiple articles on different facets of the Great War:
http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Copy_index.htm
A nice French site on multiple facets of the Great War (Note: particularly check out the "Documents" section):
http://www.grande-guerre.org
The Western Front Association -- a UK organization dedicated to the study and to the memory of the Great War (Note: check out the "Map Room"): http://www.westernfront.co.uk/
French site about POWs during the war:
http://prisonniers-de-guerre-1914-1918.chez-alice.fr/
Site dedicated to the memory of the Great War, focusing on recovered battlefield debris. Notable also is the grenade description section: http://www.passioncompassion1418.com
French site that has, among other things, a listing of many smaller French villages and the nearest large town or city in relation to it. Also see the list of French military abbreviations:
http://cecile_meunier.club.fr/divers.htm
Maps
A site featuring a clickable map of the Champagne front in 1915: http://perso.orange.fr/champagne1418/icone/gcarte.htm
USMA site featuring operational maps of the Western Front from 1914-1918: http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/Our Atlases.aspx
A maps site featuring, among other types of maps of France, military ordnance maps: http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr
Site in English where you can search for maps of towns, cities, departments, and regions of France:
http://www.map-france.com
Digital topographical map of France operated by the Institut Geographique Nationale:
http://tab.geoportail.fr
Discussion Forums
Pages 14-18 -- An excellent French forum on all things Great War, with particular attention paid to the French army:
https://forum.pages14-18.com
Histoirémilitaria14-18 -- Another excellent French forum on all things Great War, with particular attention paid to the French army:
https://lagrandeguerre.1fr1.net
Places
French site solely on the Battle of Verdun:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~verdun/
An English site solely on the Battle of Verdun:
http://www.war1418.com/battleverdun/
French site on the butte of Vauquois, in the Argonne:
http://www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_vauquois.htm
"The Friends of Vauquois" organization which maintains the site:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/vauquois.guerre.14.18
French site dedicated to the town of Bétheny, France in the Great War:
http://betheny1418.free.fr
French site about the caverns and mines excavated by the armies during the war:
http://souterrains.vestiges.free.fr
Image Galleries
Vallois Collection of place locations in the Great War:
https://argonnaute.parisnanterre.fr/search/home
https://argonnaute.parisnanterre.fr/search?query="albums valois"&search-query=1&adv[0][type]=_all&adv[0][value][0]=&view=list
A wonderful gallery of stereotypes from the Great War:
http://grandeguerre3d.blogspot.com
A fantastic gallery of original Great War artwork of the French army (on homepage page, click on 'Chercher'):
http://www.dessins1418.fr
Another gallery of original Great War artwork of the French army:
http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/index.htm
Artwork of Alphonse Robine:
https://transcribathon.com/en/documents/id-10265/item-119112
An excellent gallery of Great War photographs of the French army:
http://bac.d.free.fr/guerre_14_18/
A gallery of color photographs from the Great War:
http://www.tournassoud.org/photo/militaire.php
Another gallery of color photographs from the Great War:
http://www.crdp-strasbourg.fr/alsaGuerre/HR_1917/index.php
A great gallery of French sepia photographs from the Great War:
http://perso.orange.fr/kah/encadres.htm
Multiple galleries of photographs of the French army from ECPAD's archives:
https://imagesdefense.gouv.fr/fr/nos-collections/chronologie/premiere-guerre-mondiale.html
An exhibition of war photographs taken by Captain F. Hurley (AIF):
http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au
Literature
(In English)
A huge listing of links to war-time literature (letters, diaries, manuals) of all nationalities (in various languages):
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi
University of Pennsylvania online books listing of French first-hand narratives (both in French and English):
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu
Online Library of French soldier testimonies of the Great War (Témoignages de 1914-1918):
http://www.crid1418.org
Gallica's online listing and repository of French army trench newspapers:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/histoire/journaux-de-tranchees
Online repository of the French periodical "L'Illustration":
https://hetarchief.be/en/zoeken/illustration
Gallica repository of the French periodical "Le Miroir":
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb34419118b/date.item
Link to La Baionette trench paper on Gallica:
http://gallica.bnf.fr
An online listing and repository of French army trench newspapers and units they correspond to:
http://www.bdic.fr/journaux_tranchees_titres.html
A digital scan of Roger Campana's "Les Enfants de la Grande Revanche" -- his memoirs of his service with the 151 RI in 1915-16:
http://digital.wlb-stuttgart.de/sammlungen/sammlungsliste/werksansicht/?id=6&no_cache=1&tx_dlf[id]=4836&tx_dlf[page]=1
A digital version of Raymond Jubert's "Verdun: mars -avril - mai 1916" -- his memoirs of his service with the 151 RI in 1916 at Verdun:
https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Verdun_(mars-mai_1916)
Vive le France by American war correspondent E. Alexander Powell (1916):
http://archive.org/details/vivelafrance00powe
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000447094 My .75: Reminiscences of a Gunner of a 75mm battery in 1914 by Paul Lintier (1917)
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000486402 Neath Verdun: August-October 1914 by Maurice Genevoix (1916)
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006065160 Covered with Mud and Glory by Georges Lafond (1918)
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009568059 Territoriaux de France ("French Territorials") by Francisque Vial (1918)
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112052742423 Vie des Martyres: 1914-1916 ("Life of Martyrs") by Georges Duhamel (1919)
https://archive.org/details/viedesmartyrs19100duhauoft
Diary of a French Army Chaplain (1915), diary of Félix Klein:
http://www.archive.org/download/diaryoffrencharm00klei/diaryoffrencharm00klei.pdf
Journal of Herbert Ward, an Enlishman who served in the British Ambulance Committee in the French army:
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/memoir/MrPoilu/Ward1.htm
Narrative of Henry Sheahan, an American who served in the American Ambulance Corps in the French army:
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/memoir/Sheahan/Sheahan1.htm
The letters of the American poet, Alan Seeger, who fought in the French army with Foreign Legion:
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/memoir/Seeger/Alan1.htm
A translation of Henri Barbusse's, Under Fire: The Story of a Squad:
http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/wwone/underfire.html#toc
(In French)
Gallica's online collection of digitized Trench Newspapers written and edited by the troops themselves:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/html/presse-et-revues/feuilles-de-linfanterie
Website of Joseph Lesage, soldier, artist, and trench newspaper editor of Le Mouchoir:
http://josephlesage.com
Dictionary of French Soldier Slang (L'Argot des Poilus) published in 1918:
http://archive.org/details/largotdespoilusd00dcuoft
Journal Charles Bordinat, a soldier in the 151st RI:
http://www.chtimiste.com/carnets/Bordinat/Bordinat.htm
Journal and narrative of Joseph Sourdaine, a soldier in the 94th RI which was in the same division (42nd) as the 151st RI and has repeated references to it:
http://sourdaine.org/03JS_ap.htm
Journal of Sgt. Bernier Clovis of the 94th RI, which was in the same division (42nd) as the 151st RI and has repeated references to it:
http://www.chtimiste.com/carnets/bernier.htm
French site on the 99th RI, which includes multiple journals and letters of the soldiers:
http://perso.orange.fr/neuf-neuf
Journal of a Volunteer Solider (not conscripted), who became a Chauchat gunner:
http://www.muad.com
Online copy of Mon Régiment : dans la Fournaise de Verdun et dans la Bataille de la Somme by Paul Dubrulle:
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b743642
https://archive.org/details/monrgimentdansla00dubr
"Froc et Epée": Narrative of the French Chaplain R.P. Joseph Raymond:
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/memoir/Raymond/froc1.htm
Narrative of the artillerist, Georges Grousilleau in PDF:
http://ludovicfournier.free.fr/download/14-18.pdf
Narrative of Pierre Hammes who was a telephonist in the artillery:
http://genhames.free.fr/carnet.htm
A glossary of poilu slang:
http://dtriaudmuchart.free.fr/vocabulaire_poilu.htm
Narrative of Pierre Hammes who was a telephonist in the artillery:
http://genhames.free.fr/carnet.htm
Michelin Guide of Soissons:
https://www.bibliotheques-clermontmetropole.eu/overnia//media-dam/CLERCO/grandegu/PDF/Apres_guerre_185714_I_26.pdf
Miscellaneous
Article on historic flash lights:
https://www.reconstit.fr/2018/12/01/les-lampes-de-poche-en-reconstitution-historique
Listing of Great War period songs, including lyrics and MP3s:
http://dutempsdescerisesauxfeuillesmortes.net
Online language dictionary:
http://www.wordreference.com
Dictionary of French phrases:
http://www.linguee.fr
Online language dictionary, which provides the phonetical pronunciation of words:
http://www.ultralingua.com/onlinedictionary
Another on-line language dictionary, which includes rarer entries often found in poilu slang:
http://www.languefrancaise.net
Site to perform French verb conjugation:
http://machaut.uchicago.edu/conjugator