Armenia honors memory of Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet

ArmInfo. Armenia has honored the memory of Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet, as reported by the French Embassy in Armenia.

"Together with the musicians of the Republican Guard, we paid tribute  to Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet and his French sailors, who in  the summer of 1915 saved 4,092 Armenian resistance fighters on Musa  Dagh from the Armenian Genocide," the French Embassy posted on its  Facebook page. The post was accompanied by a video from the Musaler  memorial, dedicated to the heroic defense of Musaler in the village  of Musaler,  Armavir region.

Louis Rene Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet gave an unauthorized   order in the autumn of 1915 to evacuate more than 4,000 Armenian men,   women, and children. If it were not for the courage of Louis Rene   Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet, these people would have perished in   the foothills of Musa Dagh in what is now southeastern Turkey. This   story began in the summer of 1915, when most of the inhabitants of   six Armenian villages refused to join the columns of Armenians who   were to be deported by order of the Turkish authorities. The few who   did obey were sent on a death march. Almost all of them died on the  way, never reaching the Syrian desert. The remaining villagers –   about 5,000 people – left their homes and took refuge in the   foothills of Musa Dagh (Mount Moses or Jebel Musa). There they   organized a militia and courageously fought off Turkish attacks for   more than fifty days. There were only 600 fighters among the   Armenians.

On September 5, when the Musa Dagh people had been fighting for a   month, the crew of the French warship Guichen saw their signals. One   of the militia members, Pierre Dimlakian, reached the cruiser,  boarded it and directly addressed the French commander asking for   help. He promised to do everything possible.  According to the diary  entry of Louis Rene Charles Marie Dartige du  Fournet, on September  6, 1915, the vice admiral received a telegram  describing the  situation and changed the ship's course. The next day,  the flagship  Saint Jeanne d'Arc approached the shore to conduct  reconnaissance.  This time, one of the militia leaders, Tigran  Andreasian, boarded  it. He asked to take away at least those who were  not participating  in the fighting: women, children and the elderly.  He was again  assured that the French fleet would come to the aid of  the  Armenians.

"I realized that it was our duty to help these unfortunate people,"   wrote Louis Rene Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet in his diary. He   sent an urgent telegram, but was afraid that the slow bureaucracy of   the French command could turn into a tragedy for the besieged.   Risking his career, the vice-admiral, without waiting for an answer,   ordered all the ships at his disposal to head for Musa Dagh and   immediately begin the evacuation.

"There was no time to wait. Whatever the answer, everyone had to be   evacuated," wrote Louis Rene Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet, whose   words are quoted by the Aurora humanitarian initiative.