But he could not endure the
restraint, and his nerves broke down.
It was found impossible to hold him back, and on October 8 the
military authorities consented to his return to his regiment, and with
the permission was combined the news that he had been nominated for
the cross of the Legion of Honour. The letter in which he announces
that fact to the ladies at home--"mes cheres Grand'mere et Tante"--is
charming in its simplicity. "La croix gagnee sur un champ de bataille,
c'est a mes yeux le plus beau reve qu'un jeune Francais put faire; je
regrette seulement de ne pas l'avoir meritee davantage; mais l'avenir
me permettra, j'espere, de justifier cette recompense, que je
considere comme anticipee." The official notification specifies the
wounds which he had received and the fact that, by the testimony of
all who saw him under fire, the young lieutenant gave evidence of very
great courage and of indomitable energy. That he was, by what he calls
a queer coincidence, the youngest officer of his regiment and its only
member of the Legion of Honour, afforded him an unaffected
satisfaction.
From this time--the end of October 1914--the letters of Camile Violand
testify to the rapid development of his mind and character.
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