During World War I, Château d'Esnes[2] was used as a makeshift French military hospital for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Verdun. The nurse and several doctors and orderlies worked there tending to the wounded brought in for surgery and recovery.[1]
History[]
In September 1916, Remy Baudouin had been shot during battle and was brought to the hospital[1] in Ward Eight,[3] where his bullet was removed during an operation. While recovering, he began shouting that the bullet remained in him and he needed further surgery. The nurse came to calm him, but as he persisted, she got two orderlies to try to restrain him. Henri Defense (Indiana Jones) arrived and got Baudouin to calm down, giving him some German cigarettes and getting Baudouin to confess that he had been lying about the bullet to avoid being sent back to the trenches.[1]
Injured soldiers at the hospital.
Jones reminded his friend that he needed to let the wound heal, and that the penalty for trying to injure himself to avoid duty could be execution. Baudouin cried out that he hadn't wounded himself, but was shot when he followed the order to charge. Calming Baudouin down, Jones promised to return. On his way out, the nurse told Jones that Baudouin, though not fully healed, was nevertheless scheduled to head back to the front on the next day.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The structure holding the Verdun hospital in "Verdun, September 1916" varies by adaptation. The Mata Hari Affair uses "Château d'Esnes", naming it within Indiana Jones continuity,[2] and suggests it's the real-world castle which did house injured soldiers during World War I[4] though the geography places it on the left bank of the Meuse River,[2] where Esnes-en-Argonne is situated and a different location to Esnes. The Day of Destiny describes it as a country house where Field of Death instead says the building was a church before the war.[5][3][1]
Appearances[]
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Verdun, September 1916" → Demons of Deception
- Field of Death
- The Day of Destiny
- Verdun, September 1916 comic
- The Mata Hari Affair (First identified as "Château d'Esnes")