Pits in the Lorge forest

by , Eric Le Bourvellec

Memorial where 55 bodies of resistance fighters tortured and executed in July 1944 were found in pits in the Lorge forest.

The Lorge forest was during the Occupation a gathering center for Resistance fightersand weapons caches for the maquis.
Several executions were carried out during the summer of 1944 on the territory of L'Hermitage-Lorge by the SS, the Gestapoand miliciens du Bezen Perrot. Several mass graves were discovered in the months following the Liberation. These various graves are commonly located in the Lorge forest, whereas this wooded area is in fact the Perche forest. Those shot were both resistance fighters and hostages.

The first bodies were discovered in August 1944. The quest ofJean-Marie Madigoufrom Louargat, who was looking for his son Roger, a FTPF arrested on May 6, 1944 at Saint-Paul in Louargat, thus ended in the Perche forest along today's Route Départementale 81, near Le Gravelet. Nineteen bodies were finally brought out of the mass grave on October 18, 1944. These were the bodies of nine FTPF resistance fighters shot on May 6, 1944 at the Ploufragan maneuver camp. No memorial monument was built on site.

The second mass grave was discovered on October 20, 1944 in the Champ des Martyrs pit, some 500 meters south of the hamlet of Les Forges. Here were found the bodies of six Resistance fighters shot at this location on July 8, 1944.

The third mass grave was discovered on October 28, 1944 at La Butte Rouge, some 300 meters southeast of the hamlet of Les Forges. An old path led from the road to the pits. A new path has since been laid from the Butte Rouge area. A small-scale iron ore mining operation once operated here, leaving numerous excavations on the site. During the summer of 1944, these pits were used by the Gestapo and SS to shoot resistance fighters and hostages who had passed through their interrogation center located in the former public boys' school in Uzel, three kilometers away. Brought there by truck in small groups, shot, hanged or finished off with a bullet in the back of the neck, the martyrs were then thrown into the pits. In October 1944, a farmer in Les Fosses discovered the mass grave. Thirty-five bodies are pulled out of the pits. Among them was the body of Mireille Chrisostome. Two of them could never be identified.

The body of Joseph Le Botlan was found in 1947 a kilometer from Les Forges. He had been executed by militiamen on July 2, 1944, but had not passed through the Uzel school.

Source Wikipedia

Photo credit and contribution Le Bourvellec Eric

Memorial where 55 bodies of resistance fighters tortured and executed in July 1944 were found in pits in the Lorge forest. The Lorge forest was during the Occupation a gathering center for Resistance fightersand weapons caches for the maquis.Several executions were carried out during the summer of 1944 on the territory of L'Hermitage-Lorge by the SS, the Gestapoand miliciens du Bezen Perrot. Several mass graves were discovered in the months following the Liberation. These various graves are commonly located in the Lorge forest, whereas this wooded area is in fact the Perche forest. Those shot were both resistance fighters and hostages.The first bodies were discovered in August 1944. The quest ofJean-Marie Madigoufrom Louargat, who was looking for his son Roger, a FTPF arrested on May 6, 1944 at Saint-Paul in Louargat, thus ended in the Perche forest along today's Route Départementale 81, near Le Gravelet. Nineteen bodies were finally brought out of the mass grave on October 18, 1944. These were the bodies of nine FTPF resistance fighters shot on May 6, 1944 at the Ploufragan maneuver camp. No memorial monument was built on site.The second mass grave was discovered on October 20, 1944 in the Champ des Martyrs pit, some 500 meters south of the hamlet of Les Forges. Here were found the bodies of six Resistance fighters shot at this location on July 8, 1944.The third mass grave was discovered on October 28, 1944 at La Butte Rouge, some 300 meters southeast of the hamlet of Les Forges. An old path led from the road to the pits. A new path has since been laid from the Butte Rouge area. A small-scale iron ore mining operation once operated here, leaving numerous excavations on the site. During the summer of 1944, these pits were used by the Gestapo and SS to shoot resistance fighters and hostages who had passed through their interrogation center located in the former public boys' school in Uzel, three kilometers away. Brought there by truck in small groups, shot, hanged or finished off with a bullet in the back of the neck, the martyrs were then thrown into the pits. In October 1944, a farmer in Les Fosses discovered the mass grave. Thirty-five bodies are pulled out of the pits. Among them was the body of Mireille Chrisostome. Two of them could never be identified.The body of Joseph Le Botlan was found in 1947 a kilometer from Les Forges. He had been executed by militiamen on July 2, 1944, but had not passed through the Uzel school.Source WikipediaPhoto credit and contribution Le Bourvellec Eric