Photos of the Liberation taken by an American Soldier

Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Libération

Late last year I bought 20 or so original photos from a seller in the States that an American Soldier had taken in France during the last part of 1944 and into 1945 as his Battalion made their way from Le Havre, Dieppe through to Belgium and Holland.

Georges Lautrette "Eric"

Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Brigade Rac, Portrait

Georges Lautrette était né le 4 février 1913, à Thiviers. Il exerçait la profession de garagiste dans sa ville natale.Dès le début de 1943, sollicité par Savignac, il est acquis à la résistance et commence un travail effectif avec Rac.

Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation à Angoulême

Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Musée

A couple of years ago I visited le musée de la résistance et de la déportation in Angoulême. Sadly it closed last year, but temporarily I hope. However its website (link) is still up and running and is an excellent source for research on the resistance and civilian life during the war in the Charente.

La Brigade Rac dans les bois de Boudeau (Dordogne)

Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Maquis Parachutage Réseau

Photographies réalisées dans les bois de Boudeau en mai 1944 près de Thiviers. Tous mes remerciements à la famille du Capitaine Fred pour avoir eu la gentillesse de partager ces documents rares. Les photos sont de André Léonard le photographe de la brigade Rac.

R.A.F plane crash La Moranchie

Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Lieu de mémoire, Opération spéciale

During the night of 20th august 1944 an RAF Stirling carrying arms and supplies for resistance groups to the north west of Toulouse (Maquis Bigourdans) crashed killing all six of its crew. The exact cause of the crash was never verified but it is believed that their navigation instruments might have been affected due to a heavy electric storm in the area at the time.

Insigne de la brigade Rac

Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Brigade Rac

German map of Royan 1944

Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Document et livre, Le coin du collectionneur

Earlier this year I managed to obtain this fantastic map of Royan and its surrounding area.The map is in german and printed in 1944, at the top it says "certainly not for the general public".

At some point late in 1944 this map fell into the hands of the FFI. They have then used the map to mark out where all the german mines, machine gun posts and fortifications are and all this is shown added in red ink and in french.

Serge Quinot "Le Parisien"

Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Brigade Rac, Portrait 

Serge Quinot (sometimes Guinot and Guigniot on the monument at Mas de Sarrazac) had been a combattant during 1939-1940 and in 1943 arrived at Sarlande and joined the Maquis of the A.S. Violette. On the 29 march 1944 at Mas, a village near Sarrazac, he was fatally wounded during an attack on a German patrol.

Les livres du Capitaine Fred

Rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Brigade Rac, Document et livre 

There are three books written by Capitaine Fred (Alfred Dutheillet de Lamothe), member of the Bataillon Violette, that follow the incredible story of the Brigade Rac, from a maquis group camped in the woods of the Dordogne and follows their many combats and adventures and finally arrives on the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean where the retreating German army finally surrendered.