History comes to life this Saturday in Blain. 78 years after the liberation of the town by the Allies on August 4, 1944, history buffs are reconstructing scenes from the Second World War. Four associations have come together to set up an American camp open to the public this weekend, near the Château de la Groulais. A life-size way to bring this period of history to life.
A camp open to the public
This noon, the sergeant calls for the assembly to color lifting. Vintage jeeps and tents are laid out on the lawn in front of the fortified castle. Period music floats in the air, there are no smartphones or plastic bottles on the tables.
But that’s not what appeals to Louis, 7, who came to visit the camp with his grandmother. “Over there, there are earthen walls!” he exclaims. In fact, it is a trench laid out to protect the American reconstitution camp, as was done at the time.
Jaqueline, Louis’s grandmother, hadn’t planned to stop here. “Originally, we came to visit the castle, she explains. But it’s a good way to do one’s duty of memory and transmission. And then the exhibition is very well done”
Released August 1944
Here, in August 1944, the Americans held the front line to push back the Germans and liberate Blain. Kelyann, 24, wears an American soldier’s uniform. He has always been passionate about World War II. “We’ve been waiting for this for weeks, he confides. We are all very happy to meet again. It’s a human moment, let’s say.”
The most important thing is not to forget them”
A human moment but above all necessary for Alexis Flageul, president of the Château Essor Blinois association and historian by training. “It’s not a collection, it’s memory tools that make it possible to reconstruct the lives of men of the time, he explains. Because the most important thing is not to forget them.” During the school period, Alexis Flageul also intervenes in colleges and high schools to evoke this period of history.
The historical reconstruction camp is still there this Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. then from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., on the meadow in front of the Château de Groulais, in Blain. In Loire-Atlantique, there are six historical reconstruction associations specializing in the Second World War.