This Thursday, November 11, 5 hairy people forgotten by time were inscribed in the war memorials of the town of Saint-Apollinaire (Côte-d’Or). It was a city councilor, a history buff, who found traces of these soldiers who sacrificed their lives for France.
As everywhere in Burgundy, Saint-Apollinaire (Côte-d’Or) honors its heroes who died during the First World War on November 11. But this year’s commemorations are a bit special. Five new names have in fact been engraved on the town’s war memorial. Forgotten, these hairy have been found thanks to the work of an amateur historian of the town.
Auguste Remoissent, François Maître, Léon Morisot, Jean-Baptiste Roux and Vincent Jarlaud, these are the names of these 5 forgotten soldiers, but finally engraved on the war memorial of the town, more than a century after the armistice of 1918 They thus join the 12 other peelers who died for France…
An oversight repaired
These war heroes were found thanks to the work of Charles-Louis Pénez, city councilor and amateur historian. By consulting the city’s guest book in 2019, the official document which lists the names of the dead in each municipality during the First World War, he realizes that a soldier, François Maître, is registered in the registers and but not on the monument to the dead. “It appealed to me, he explains. While doing my research, I discovered that 4 other dead peelers were not inscribed on the monument. I started to take steps “.
In total, 9 months of research between November 2019 and July 2020 made it possible to retrace the journey of these long forgotten soldiers. Charles-Louis Pénez searched the birth certificates and inspected the registration registers. A real work of goldsmith, or of investigation, it is up to the choice, which plunges him back into history. “Bringing out the names of people a century later is moving. For me, the duty to remember is something that is close to my heart. I have always been passionate about contemporary history”, confides this former mechanic of the air force.
People did not want to stir up this state of war at the time. Two, three years later, they no longer wanted to talk about it.
According to the research of Charles-Louis Pénez, François Maître was then a Dijonnais who lived in Saint-Apollinaire. “To be inscribed on the monument, the law says that one must be born or be a resident of the municipality. So he has the right to be there”. Umbrella fitter, he was sent to the front where he was killed, in Noulette, in Pas-de-Calais at the age of 21. Léon Moriset died at the same age and in the same department. Jean-Baptiste Roux died for France at the age of 26 in the Battle of Linge (Vosges).
Another soldier, Auguste Remoissenet died under enemy bullets in 1914, at the age of 19. Last death for France discovered, Vincent Jarlaud, killed at 43 in Seine-Maritime. “It’s a big oversight that is now being repaired. They are in their place by inscribing them on the monument. We bring them back to light”, expresses with emotion the amateur historian.
From now on, Charles-Louis Pénez hopes to find the descendants of these five hairy people. “I can’t find any. I would like to chat with them a bit. The memory work never stops.”, he concludes.
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