Tuesday, 21 December 2010

Catudal Military Corrections

In my book The Extended Catudal Family History I had said that no Catudals fought in the First or Second World Wars. Since then I have learned two things: I was wrong and never say never.

There were at least two Catudals who fought in WWI, Narcisse Avila Ferdinand Horace Catudal from Québec and Emile Marie Catudal from Bretagne, France. There were 28 Catudals who registered for the draft in the USA but that doesn't mean that any of them actually went to war. It was a requirement that all men between 18 to 45 sign-up for the draft. Of the 24 million who signed-up for the draft only three million actually were inducted.

There were at least six Catudals who fought in WWII, four of  whom were captured by the Germans and held in POW camps. There were 18 Catudals who registered for the US draft, and again, that doesn't mean that any of them went to war. All men between the ages of 18 and 65 were required to register but those between 46 and 65 were very unlikely to be called-up to serve.

There are probably many more Catudals who served in these two wars but finding that information is another matter.