The group Sabaton will perform this Friday evening its song “First Soldier” on the Drôme war hero Albert Roche, whose story remains unknown to the general public.
“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 evening to a sold-out crowd at the Zénith de 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 1180 soldiers between 1915 and 1918 in the Aisne.
“An Incredible Story”
While Albert Roche is rather unknown in France, this song written and performed by a Swedish metal band is intriguing. However, Joakim Broden, singer of the group, explained: “It’s an incredible story that his is the outsider, the guy you don’t expect, who becomes a hero.”
This Friday evening, during the Parisian concert in front of thousands of people, several great-grandson of the soldier as well as the mayor of his birthplace, Réauville, were invited, we learned France Blue Drome Ardeche.
“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 didn’t know their great-grandfather’s story exactly until Sabaton told it. “I didn’t know there was a bust in Réauville growing up. My grandparents, my mother, told me the normal story of a soldier who served his country the best he could and who had returned,” Tommy told local radio. However, he asked not to make him a “hero” because he would not have liked to be in the spotlight.
