Lucien Bersot’s Bloody Trousers

In 1915, a French soldier named Lucien Bersot served on the front during World War I when his unit was ordered back into the trenches after heavy losses. Quartermasters could not find him a proper pair of uniform trousers, so they handed him a bloodstained pair taken from a dead soldier. Bersot refused to wear them, and his commanding officer treated the refusal as an act of disobedience. The officer had him court-martialed and executed by firing squad to make an example of him.

Previous Fact Next Fact