Commemoration of November 11, 1918, homage to Roger Milan
“The end of the fighting of the Great War marked the conscience and recorded the memories (…) This day and this month have integrated for more than a century our common heritage“.
The words of the message of Geneviève Darrieussecq, Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Armed Forces, are illustrated this Thursday, November 11, 2021 in Labarthe-Rivière by the forty people gathered, as every year, around their mayor Claire Vougny, to commemorate this armistice signed on the end of the night, at 5.15 a.m., November 11, 1918.
The same scene is repeated in all the municipalities of France, since this anniversary date became a public holiday, in 1922.
On this morning of November 1918, the High Pyrenean Marshal of France and Supreme Commander of the Allied forces, native of Tarbes, Ferdinand Foch, secretly received the German delegation in the clearing of Rethondes, in the forest of Compiègne, inside ‘a dining car converted into an office.
The cessation of hostilities was made public the same day with the proclamation of the cease-fire, at the end of the morning, at 11:00 am, the precise time when the Barthains meet each year in front of the war memorial.
René Autier, current president of the village veterans, wrote in a message read by Marie-Paule Parmégiani on November 11, 2021: “The sacrifices of nosaïeux and their families belong to our deep respect and eternal gratitude.“. These are 43 young men from Labarthe-Rivière who perished during this first world conflict, between 1914 and 1918, or 10% of the number of inhabitants then the village.
Since a law of 2012, all the dead for France, whether civilian or military, are now honored. This makes it possible to pay tribute to those who perished during external military operations during the past year: they were seven in number to have lost their lives since November 11, 2020: their names were mentioned in Labarthe-Rivière. , as in all the municipalities of the country.
At the end of the commemoration ceremony, Roger Milan, former conscript who fought for 28 months in Algeria (between 1954 and 1962), standard bearer for 42 years during official events, was announced, honored and thanked by Claire Vougny and the Barthain city council.