Times Past

This is the 70th anniversary of the French capitulation at the start of World War Two. There are a lot of programs on the TV about it, and quite a few have talked about the situation the British were in. Terrible times for both countries, especially at Mers-el-Kebir.

But you don't need to spend much time in France or do a lot of studying to understand how badly the country has been affected by wars over the last century or so. You can arrive in the smallest village in the countryside, where there may be less than 50 people living nowadays, and find a Monuments aux Morts with the names of more than 10 soldiers killed in the First World War. Even allowing for more people living in the countryside back then it's hard to comprehend what a huge slice of the young, adult, male population was lost.

The names of the dead almost always adds more poignancy to the horror. On this memorial (in La Mure), you have 2 Aime, 2 Pacal and 3 Auguste - almost certainly all brothers in 3 separate families.

Yesterday morning I was surprised to see new flowers on the memorials to two resistants killed by the Germans; it was the 66th anniversary of their execution. Right after D-Day there were many acts of resistance across France, and they almost all received draconian punishments by the Germans.