“We had seats made by a carpenter so that we could sit very high up and see over everyone. We were in the front row. I only saw the underside of the car the air [celle de Pierre Levegh], I didn’t know the distances. I said to myself: “That’s it, it’s going to fall on my head.” I will die. “.
Coming from Cérans-Foulletourte by coach
Nearly seventy years later, Denize Joyeau is still there, at home in Le Mans. From the height of her 101 years, with a profusion of details, she tells her grandchildren – including me – about this day of June 11, 1955 which remains engraved in her memory. She had just celebrated her 32nd birthday.
Hairdresser in Cérans-Foulletourte, Denize had made the trip with her husband Maurice and a couple of friends, Max and Liliane. An event ! If they had already come to watch the tests, they had never before followed live the premier competition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the first edition of which started in 1923, just seven weeks after Denize’s birth.
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After a few hours of racing, everything goes wrong. “There were too many fish tails. You had to see the speed! » In a matter of seconds, the party turns into a tragedy. The Mercedes flies into the crowd while the Austin it hit gets lost in the pits. Time freezes and then everything gets carried away. General panic.
Hit in the shoulder in the general panic
“I jumped out of my seat and ran one way, continues Denize Joyeau. There is a gentleman, strangely fat and strong, who was running away in another direction. He didn’t see me, he fell on me and bruised my shoulder. He was strong, I say! He got up, stepped over me and ran again. I don’t even know if he noticed. We were all a little crazy, that car in the air scared us so much. It was every man for himself. »
“Liliane, Max’s wife, lost a shoe in the panic. That day, I wore a yellow jacket. That’s how Papi found me. There were people, people, people coming back. “If it wasn’t for your jacket, I wouldn’t have recognized you,” Maurice told me. We decided to go back to the stands, to avoid the crowd. Before leaving, Papi looked for a conductor to say he was leaving and get a ticket to return the next day. We didn’t realize! We became aware afterwards. »
Dead and injured waiting to be evacuated
“Maurice saw many dead people with head injuries, around ten. They were lying behind the door out of sight, waiting to be evacuated. I still see a man with lots of blood everywhere, he looked like he had measles. He walked strangely, like an automaton. He followed as best he could an injured person evacuated on a stretcher, holding his foot. »
“I also remember that there were people coming home by car, next to us. They couldn’t find an English couple who was staying with them. They were worried. You have to have experienced it. We can’t even imagine. And again, I didn’t see much in the background. Some people saw dead people next to them, it was still worse. This is the case of a friend I had in Mansigné, the one who had his arm broken and received a million [d’anciens francs]. »
After the accident, many things were said, but Denize insists: “Those who say they have seen it all, that’s not true. Everyone saw where his eyes were. At the time, we didn’t realize that there were so many deaths. » Around 80 officially, but according to her, “more like a hundred, including those who didn’t survive their injuries.” »
Front row for supplies
It was only later that everyone was able to reconstruct the scale of the event: “The doctor from Cérans-Foulletourte was in the stands. He saw the engine pass [de la Mercedes de Levegh]. Your grandpa, who wanted to follow the first refueling, was in front of the stand when the car {Lance Macklin’s Austin-Healey] was embedded. He saw a man fall from the stand … Dead. »
Denize escapes with a severed tendon in her shoulder. “I did physiotherapy sessions. We went to the chamber of commerce. That’s where we got our money back. I just declared the coach costs. At the time, I did not say that I could no longer work and that I had to hire someone to replace me. »
Denize Joyeau never returned to the circuit. “Your grandpa went there the next morning. He didn’t stay long, as he was shocked to see blood everywhere and bodies still there. » But they always followed the 24 Hours on TV. And when June arrives every year, the high-pitched roar of the engines always reaches his balcony.
