His father was a decorated infantry second lieutenant (Legion of Honour and Croix de guerre), killed on 2 August 1916 at Fleury, next to Douaumont fort.
In Roger Martin du Gard's novel The Thibaults, Monsieur Chasle, the proprietor of a store that markets various inventions, mentions that one of his designers has created a portable jeu de l'Oie des Alliés imprinted with scenes from the Battle of the Marne, Douaumont, and other battles of World War I.