Since 1951, the La Martinerie base has stretched across four municipalities: Déols, Diors, Étrechet, and Montierchaume.

Christian Baron, mayor of Diors, asked “Les Amis de La Martinerie” to raise awareness among the students of the local school for the November 11th commemoration. We therefore decided to organize an exhibition on Monday, November 10, to highlight, among other things, the presence of an American engineering unit in the municipality between 1917 and 1919, the training of the first pilots at the La Martinerie airbase, and the Three Wars Museum.

We also decided to bring out the old flag of the town's Veterans Association and the flag of "Those of Verdun" from our exhibition hall.

This display remained in place for the public on November 11th, and the "Those of Verdun" flag, carried by Xavier, was present at the ceremony organized by the town. It was with our friends from the ARVMC of Georges Rebardeau that we attended this traditional ceremony, which included the Marseillaise sung by the hundred or so participants, before the traditional reception.

Thank you to our volunteers, Agnès, Bruno, Christian, Dominique, Frédéric, Jean-Jacques, Jérémy, Luc, Philippe, and Rémi, who all contributed at one time or another to the success of this exhibition, as well as to Francis for providing his van.

Upon returning from the exhibition to La Martinerie on the afternoon of Armistice Day, we were surprised to meet Jonathan and Xavier who, true to the mission they set for themselves, were mowing the lawn….

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Photo credit: Jean-Jacques Bérenguier