the essentials 80 years ago, André Moncassin from Massy joined the ranks of the Corps Franc Pommiès to face the Nazis and “pursue the enemy into his lair”. Today, he talks about his commitment and his fallen comrades. Interview.
“When asked ‘Were you scared?’, I always answer: no, I was scared to death.” At 98, his memory is intact. André Moncassin has not forgotten a single thing about a commitment that dates back to the summer of 1944. Barely 18 years old, he made up his mind at the Café Lafontan in Masseube with a few childhood friends the day after the Normandy landings and the nearby massacre in Meilhan.
Learning that there were resistance fighters in the ditches along the road to La Barthe, André got on his bike and set off to meet them, accompanied by his faithful friend Louis. “Equipped with information from a non-commissioned officer on surveillance at that location, we gathered our comrades around a good aperitif,” the nonagenarian testified.
André Moncassin, 98 years old, remembers his passage in the Vosges, in 1944. DDM – Salomé Dubart
On the terrace of the café, the group of teenagers organizes their departure for the same afternoon. They then join a group stationed in the Noilhan district, on the hills of Clermont-Pouyguilhès. The young people are then welcomed “like newbies” by a former core of the Corps Franc Pommiès.
“The Gers department having been liberated, the aim of my engagement was to pursue the enemy to his lair,” says the Massylvain, who underwent rudimentary training in the handling of weapons, with a quick introduction to mortars. This was followed by a crossing of the south of France, with a first stop in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. “We didn’t find any Germans, we only found Spanish fighters, dressed like everyone else, while we were dressed like beggars,” jokes the former resistance fighter.
“Committed for the duration of the war”
After a few days in the Basque Country, the unit left Toulouse and then the East, in “gas-producing trucks loaded with ammunition”. André Moncassin then discovered the first combat effects, and their first victims. “We found our first Germans in Autun (in Saône-et-Loire, liberated on September 9, 1944, Editor’s note), we took 3,000 prisoners”, says André Moncassin, remembering the three bottles of Armagnac he found in the back of a cart, “they didn’t go very far”.
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Masseube. André Moncassin remains in the service of the Corps Franc Pommiès
The fighting continued in the Vosges, in the middle of winter, with temperatures sometimes reaching -34 degrees. “The equipment of these young people was very light, the living conditions were very difficult”, testifies Jean Moncassin, son of the resistance fighter.
André Moncassin’s first comrades fell in combat. He signed a contract as “Enlisted for the duration of the war” on September 20, 1944. It was also in the Vosges that the Gers native was wounded. “That’s where the shell fragment hit me,” he explains, pointing to a war scar just above his right eye. “I was evacuated to Besançon, operated on by an American colonel who told me in very good French: I hope I succeeded,” he jokes today.
André Moncassin during his battle in the Vosges. Archives – Jean Moncassin
Quickly, this “committed for the duration of the war” was sent back to the field, and changed commandos. “From there, there was the crossing of Alsace, the Rhine, the famous battles around Stuttgart which are now one of the strong points of what becomes the 49th infantry regiment, because the Corps Franc Pommiès was renamed”, recounts Jean Moncassin.
“I preferred to meet my fiancée Thérèse at my place”
Once in Stuttgart, André Moncassin was given a French horn from the opera, he was then a member of the harmony of the Corps Franc Pommiès. At this memory, the Gersois hums the tune he played during the march on Berlin.
The harmony of the Corps Franc Pommiès, in 1945. Archives – Jean Moncassin
“Following all this, the Corps Franc Pommiès was the first regiment to have the right to enter Berlin to represent the French delegation,” explains Jean Moncassin.
“Then I was offered a trip to Indochina, with the rank of sergeant… But I preferred to find my fiancée Thérèse at home, in Masseube, in March 1946”, concludes André Moncassin, who would become a baker and father of two children after the war. 573 volunteers of the Corps Franc Pommiès did not have this chance and paid for their commitment with their lives.
