November 11: more than names, this historian traces the lives of the soldiers of this Dordogne war memorial

On the war memorial at Abjat-sur-Bandiat (Dordogne), 65 names of soldiers who died during the First World War are engraved in the stone. Like every November 11, the mayor will list these names, “died for France”. But this year, the tribute will be special. Dominique Villeveygoux, a historian of the region, retraced the lives of these soldiers. Places of birth, professions, brothers and sisters… He found snippets of the lives of these Abjacois who left to fight during the Great War.

Died at 17

It was Fabrice Chateau, the mayor of Abjat-sur-Bandiat, who proposed the idea to the historian. Initially, it involves finding the history of only three or four names. But Dominique gets into the game, “very quickly, I said to myself, it will be all the soldiers or it will be none.”

In the portraits he writes, some touch him more than others. Like that of Jean Doumain, the youngest of all. “He enlisted at just 17 years old, he died 10 months later. It touches”, testifies the historian.

“We bring their ancestors back to life a little”

After the official ceremony, the historian will present in the afternoon thee portrait of these 65 men during a conference. For six months, he searched the archives to find information about these soldiers, “it was a real painstaking job, for some their names were misspelled so that complicated things”, explains the historian.

Maryline Allafort is a municipal councilor at Abjat town hall. She helped the historian in his research. “We spent hours digging through the archives from the town hall”, she remembers. Finding the 65 soldiers was unexpected: “I think it will move the inhabitants of Abjat, we will bring their ancestors back to life a little”, she confides with an emotional smile.

A letter from a furry

Even more unexpected, it was a resident of the town who came to complete Dominique and Maryline's research. They were missing a letter written by a poilu. Pierre Castellan came to bring them Thursday November 7, 2024 a letter from his grandfather which bears witness to the horrors of war. He came to read it at the town hall, under the moved eyes of Dominique and Maryline.

The historian will read the letter at the conference. Military effects of soldiers from the First World War, on loan from the Périgueux military museum, will also be on display.