Family members of the first fallen soldiers from France and Germany in World War 1 gathered in north-eastern France on Saturday to mark the centenary of their deaths, reports RFI.
French Lance Corporal Jules-Andre Peugeot and German Sub-Lieutenant Albert Mayer died in a fire exchange on August 2, 1914, one day before Germany formally declared war on France.
The commemoration took place in the north-eastern French border town of Joncherey, near Belfort, where Mayer led a small group of mounted soldiers as they crossed over into France.
Upon meeting face-to-face with a local surveillance unit on the morning of 2 August, Mayer opened fire on Peugeot.
Mayer then died as the French returned fire, marking the first two deaths of the Great War.
France’s entry into the war had already been brewing for two months and the French army conscripted 3.8 million soldiers to join the 800,000 soldiers already in active service.
While the French town remembers Peugeot every year, this year marks the first time representatives from the two countries joined together.
Read more of this report from RFI.