Once you have passed the door, a few meters are enough to take you back eighty years. Portrait of General de Gaulle, library filled with period books, her husband's latest distinctions and even old copies of “Paris Match” with, once again, the former leader of the Resistance on the cover. No doubt, we are at Lila Ruffier-Monet. Her husband Francis, who died in 2019, was a World War II veteran and a local figure in opposition to the Nazis.
“When he was little, he accompanied his mother to the war memorial. He saw people mutilated during the commemorations of the war of 14-18. And at 7 years old, a child asks himself a lot of questions. It always had an impact on him,” says his wife. He enlisted at the age of 20 as a fighter in the Free French Forces, when he heard the call of June 18, 1940.
Francis Ruffier-Monet was a fighter in the Free French Forces during the Second World War.
Archive Bastien Souperbie / SO
Prisoner then escaped
Engaged in North Africa, the artillery observer within the 1ʳᵉ Division of Free France (DFL) then participated in the Italian campaign and the battles of Garigliano, Pontecorvo, Monte Cassino and Radicofani, during which he was cited three times for the Croix de Guerre.
“I have no hope of finding these medals one day. For me, it had no market value but I would have liked to share it with the rest of the family.”
On August 13, 1944, the Pujolais participated in Operation Dragoon and the landing in Provence before being taken prisoner on January 11, 1945, in Alsace, in Obenheim, scene of the heroic resistance of the 1ʳᵉ DFL against the counter-offensive of Hitler's army. Four months later, Francis Ruffier-Monet escaped from his Nuremberg camp, taking advantage of an Allied bombing. He was subsequently decorated and received a total of 17 medals for his commitment, such as Academic Palms, the Order of the Liberation and the Legion of Honor, awarded by Nicolas Sarkozy.
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Francis Ruffier-Monet during the presentation of one of the 17 medals received for his commitment to the Free French Forces.
Victim of a burglary in January 2024, Lila Ruffier-Monet was only able to keep one distinction from her husband. “I have no hope of ever finding them again. For me, it had no market value. It is above all a sentimental value and I would have liked to share it with the rest of the family,” says the former nurse.
A normal life after the horror
“He wanted at all costs to fight against the Germans. He didn't want there to be massacres in France. Unfortunately, there were some,” she says, leafing through period photos carefully stored in albums alongside letters from General de Gaulle. After the war, returning to France was another battle, just as difficult. He then found a job as an inspector in a chocolate company in Alsace, with 17 representatives under his command.
“He only thought of his brothers in arms. All these free French people who fought, who had a conviction, that of liberating France”
Life resumes its course but the memories remain. So he does everything to perpetuate them. Francis Ruffier-Monet became president of Souvenir français du Lot-et-Garonne and departmental delegate of the Free France Foundation, created by General de Gaulle, who was its honorary president. It is with this objective of transmission that Francis visited the schools of the department for thirty years to honor his duty of memory.
Duty of memory
“They were at the front, and how many died? They shed their blood so that we could have freedom. And often, when he went to high schools, Francis only thought of his brothers in arms. All these free French people who fought, who had a conviction, that of liberating France,” remembers Lila Ruffier-Monet. Today, she took over. Even though she did not experience war, she became a well of knowledge after thirty-eight years of living together with her husband.
As with many veterans, the General was an integral part of the life and history of Francis Ruffier-Monet. It was also with one of his quotes that he used to end his speeches in the department's schools: “When, at Bir Hakeim, a ray of his resurgent glory came to caress the bloody forehead of its soldiers, the world recognized France. »
A tribute ceremony to the General
Saturday November 9, on the occasion of the 54e anniversary of the death of General de Gaulle, Lila Ruffier-Monet will be present at the commemoration organized at the Villeneuve-sur-Lot war memorial, at 9:45 a.m. The one who took Francis's place as departmental delegate of the Foundation of Free France does not miss an opportunity to perpetuate the memory of her husband. On this occasion, Georges-Leygues and République boulevards will be closed to traffic from 9:45 a.m. to 11 a.m.
