Article rédigé par Alain dans la rubrique Brigade Rac, Libération, Portrait
The following is one of my favourite stories from the book La Brigade RAC. The story is told by Guy Lapeyronnie "Lapeup" at the time of the Liberation of Nontron (one of the first towns in the Dordogne to be liberated) on the 10th june 1944.
The following is one of my favourite stories from the book La Brigade RAC. The story is told by Guy Lapeyronnie "Lapeup" at the time of the Liberation of Nontron (one of the first towns in the Dordogne to be liberated) on the 10th june 1944.
"I will always remember the day I was on guard in front of la Mairie. A lady, in her fifties I guess, arrived on a push bike, parked it against the steps and came over to me and said - "This morning in Angouleme, the word going round is that the Maquis occupy the town of Nontron. I wanted to find out for myself. Now that I have seen you I can say that it's true".
She kissed me and said - "I leave for Angouleme as I don't know anyone here in Nontron".
This lady had made that day a 100km round trip on a bike".
Je reverrai toujours, dit Lapeup, alors que je montais la garde devant la Mairie, une femme d’une cinquantaine d’années arrivant à vélo, le déposant contre les marches et, venant à ma rencontre, me disant : « Ce matin, à Angoulême, le bruit a couru que les maquis occupaient la ville de Nontron. J’ai voulu m’en assurer. Maintenant que je vous ai vu, je pourrai dire que c’est vrai ». Elle m’embrasse et me dit : « Je repars à Angoulême car je ne connais personne à Nontron ». Cette femme avait fait ce jour‑là 100 km à vélo.
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| Guy Lapeyronnie "Lapeup" |
Guy Lapeyronnie was born in Paris in 1920 and like many of those born between the 1st of january 1920 and the 31st of december 1922 was called up for compulsary labour conscription in German factories by the Vichy government under the ruling S.T.O. (le Service du Travail Obligatoire) and like many others refused to go and joined the Resistance. He became a member of the Mouvement Liberation-Sud at Nontron and from early 1943 distributed clandestine newspapers for Raymon Boucharel (one of the founders of the Mouvement). He joined La Brigade RAC and took part in all the combats of the summer of 1944 and then on to the Atlantic front until the germans surrendered in May 1945.
Later he was President de l'amicale des anciens du 1er bataillon de la Brigade RAC and collaborated alongside le Capitaine Robert Rol to help le Capitaine Fred write the book dedicated to the A.S. Dordogne-Nord - 'La Brigade RAC'.