A Rare Memorial

You don't see many memorials in France to events that took place early in World War II, but there are a few in the Loire Valley. One such is to a young tank driver who was killed at Descartes. The early days of the War are not talked about much. The French prefer more often to highlight the Resistance and the struggles for liberation which came at the end of the War. The events leading up to the surrender are presented as not very glorious, even humiliating. Soldiers are even sometimes presented as cowards who fled from the enemy. 

Second World War memorial to Lieutenant René Mennesson at Descartes "fatally hit in his tank" on 22 June 1940.

While Marshal Pétain was in the process of accepting Hitler's armistice conditions, the fighting continued. On the morning of  22 June 1940, at the top of the hill above Descartes, a small Renault tank advanced alone. It was stopped and set on fire by a shell. Its occupant, Lieutenant Mennesson, was burned alive inside the tank. 

Memorial to Private Anghelos Hajopoulos, on the road between Descartes and Ligueil.

Also at Descartes, a couple of kilometres from the other memorial, is one to a young career soldier, Private First Class Anghelos Hajopoulos, of the Moroccan Division. He was lying in a ditch at a bend in the road and with his single machine gun, put seventeen Germans out of action, including one officer, before being shot down in his turn.

A total of fifteen men died in a few hours between the road to Ligueil and the suburbs of Buxeuil. At least one of them had been rescued earlier in the year off the beaches of Dunkerque, been taken to England, then subsequently returned to France. Civilians were also killed by bombardments or stray bullets. The same day the armistice was signed in Rethondes.    But what drove these soldiers to fight so valiantly when all seemed lost and the highest echelons of the State were negotiating with the Nazis? Militarily, this operation had only a limited value, the goal was quite different. It was necessary to stop the German column coming from Ligueil for twenty-four hours, to allow the gold reserve from the Bank of France to be evacuated from Poitiers. This mission was accomplished since the Germans took thirty-six hours to cover the 13 kms which separate Ligueil from La Haye-Descartes.

************************************************

For details of our private guided tours of chateaux, gardens, wineries, markets and more please visit the Loire Valley Time Travel website. We would be delighted to design a tour for you.

We are also on Instagram, so check us out to see a regularly updated selection of our very best photos.