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  "description": "Of all the postcards I inherited from my grandfather, I find the ones depicting locations from the First World War the most fascinating. We are so used to being surrounded by images nowadays that we forget it was not always the case. Those postcards most likely served an important illustrative purpose. I’m not even sure if newspapers had pictures at the time.\n\nThis postcard shows the church in the small village of Vassincourt in the Meuse department, and the damage that the building sustained du",
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  "publishedAt": "2026-04-14T08:01:53.000Z",
  "site": "https://davidbilla.net",
  "tags": [
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    "First Battle of the Marne",
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  "textContent": "Of all the postcards I inherited from my grandfather, I find the ones depicting locations from the First World War the most fascinating. We are so used to being surrounded by images nowadays that we forget it was not always the case. Those postcards most likely served an important illustrative purpose. I’m not even sure if newspapers had pictures at the time.\n\nThis postcard shows the church in the small village of **Vassincourt** in the Meuse department, and the damage that the building sustained during the First Battle of the Marne.\n\nThese days, Vassincourt is a tiny village with fewer than 500 inhabitants. I had never heard of it before seeing this postcard.\n\nHere is a picture of the church as it looks a century later:\n\n(source: Wikimedia)\n\nThe card was written by 'G. Billa', who was one of my grandfather's cousins. The G stands for Gaston.\nApart from the fact that he was drafted and seems to have survived the war (he’s not in the database of soldiers who died), I don’t know anything about him.\n\nThe text is nothing special:\n\n> May 26th, 1915\n>\n> My dear Adrien,\n> You tell me that the views I send you give you great pleasure. Whenever I think I can, I will send you some.\n> Your cousin\n> G Billa\n\nI have a few more cards written by him, but not that many.\n\nStay tuned for more.\n\n## Sign up for Memories from a New Century\n\nPostcards from the early 20th Century, talking about World War One, daily life in rural France and more.\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nNo spam. Unsubscribe anytime.",
  "title": "First Battle of the Marne – Vassincourt",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-14T08:01:53.000Z"
}