Commemorative Medal Portraying Yvonne Vieslet

Yvonne Vieslet was 10 years old when she was shot dead by German soldiers at Marchienne-au-Pont on 12 October 1918. A group of about 20 French soldiers, shabby and starving, were trapped in the garden of the Cercle-Saint Edouard. Yvonne, along with her mother and sister, was on her way to see her father when she decided to give her…

Yvonne Vieslet was 10 years old when she was shot dead by German soldiers at Marchienne-au-Pont on 12 October 1918. A group of about 20 French soldiers, shabby and starving, were trapped in the garden of the Cercle-Saint Edouard. Yvonne, along with her mother and sister, was on her way to see her father when she decided to give her school cake to a prisoner. Arriving at the fence, Yvonne approached closer but was pushed away by the German soldiers. She then threw the cake through the bars from a distance and was shot by the guard. She died the next day. The incident caused a stir and a monument was erected both in Marchienne-au-Pont and in the playground of Yvonne's school in Monceau-sur-Sambre. The medal was sold with the aim of raising funds to build a "Maison Yvonne Vieslet" that would be a women's centre for French culture and Franco-Belgian friendship.