“You have to tell your story.” Thus ends the chorus of the song “First Soldier” (first soldier in French) by the Swedish metal band Sabaton, which is performing this Friday night before a full house at the Zénith in Paris.
This story is that of Drômois Albert Roche, a soldier of the First World War. Hairy the most decorated of the war of 1914-1918, he was named “first soldier of France” by Marshal Foch at the end of the conflict. According to the archives, he would have captured 1,180 soldiers between 1915 and 1918 in the Aisne.
“An incredible story”
Although Albert Roche is quite unknown in France, this song written and performed by a Swedish metal band is intriguing. However, Joakim Broden, lead singer of the group, explained: “It’s an incredible story that theirs is the outsider, the guy you don’t expect, who becomes a hero.”
This Friday night, during the Parisian concert in front of thousands of people, several great-grandchildren of the soldier were invited, as well as the mayor of his hometown, Réauville, France Bleu Drôme Ardèche told us.
“I was pleasantly surprised, it makes him go down in history, he who has been forgotten, despite his exploits,” confided Norbert Perrin.
Even his descendants did not exactly know his great-grandfather’s story until Sabaton told it. “I didn’t know there was a raid in Réauville growing up. My grandparents, my mother, told me the normal story of a soldier who served his country to the best of his ability and who had come back,” Tommy told local radio. However, he asked not to make him a “hero” because he wouldn’t have wanted to be in the spotlight.
Source: BFM TV
