DURING OUR RECENT (January 2025) stay in Pondicherry,  we passed an interesting looking doorway several times but it was always closed. Above the doorway are the words “Foyer du Soldat”, and these are superimposed on the French tricolour (red, white, and blue).

 

On the last day of January, we passed the doorway yet again and this time it was open. Through the doorway I saw what looked like a life-sized statue of General Charles de Gaulle.  We crossed the road and entered the building. In the hallway, the large statue,  which stands on a plinth with small white plastic wheels, is labelled “Charles de Gaulle”. High above his head, there is a framed photograph of French President Emmanuel Macron. His photograph was not the only one. There were others depicting several past Presidents of France, including: Mitterand, D’Estaing, Sarkozy, and Chirac.

 

Next to these portraits, there is one of Georges Montout, who has eight medals pinned to his chest and is described as “Fondateur du Foyer du Soldat de Pondichéry”.

 

Foyer du Soldat institutions were set up to provide French soldiers with a link between the battlefront and visions of the peace that would reunite a soldier with his family. “They help men to fight, to live, to hope.” (https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/31176). Another source (https://www.loc.gov/item/99613500#:~:text=Les%20Foyers%20du%20Soldat%20was,such%20as%20music%20or%20films)  revealed:

“Les Foyers du Soldat was one of the three official welfare organizations; the Red Cross and the Y.M.C.A. were the other two. They set up canteens for soldiers to go to while on leave, providing a place to sleep, relax, eat, bathe; they even provided entertainment such as music or films.”

 

Many men of Indian origin living in French colonies such as Pondicherry fought for France during wars including the two World Wars.  A French monument to those Indians who died can be seen near the seafront in Pondicherry.  The city’s Foyer du Soldat was restored in 2010. It is housed in a colonial building, but I do not yet know when it was first established in Pondicherry. 

 

When we stepped inside the hallway of the Foyer, there was a meeting in progress in its adjoining assembly hall. Although it was built to serve soldiers from Pondicherry as well as local veterans of wars fought for France, I imagine few of those who fought in these campaigns are still living.