Red Cross Volunteers Killed by Germans

This memorial to an event at the end of World War II sits on the side of the road between Loches and Ligueil. There are dozens of similar roadside memorials in this area, most dating from the summer of 1944.

The memorial says:

To the memory of Aimé Papillaut, Albert Bertrand and Jean Poulin, members of the Red Cross in Ligueil taken as hostages and assassinated here by the Germans on 20 August 1944.

On 20 August 1944 German soldiers fleeing eastward took Aimé Papillault, Albert Bertrand and Jean Poulin, three members of the Red Cross, hostage in Ligueil as 'insurance' to shield their escape. They were intercepted by the maquis (Resistance) at a place called La Blanchardière, the edge of a small wood on the road to Loches. The three hostages were killed.

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A la cuisine hier: A batch each of cherry plum and mirabelle clafoutis. Also big batches of stewed Sainte Catherine plums (small yellow ovals), cherry plums and mirabelle de Metz. All the plum haul from Mme G's orchard is now processed.