Francja / Miejsce zainteresowania
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In this peaceful corner of the countryside, one of the worst known Nazi crimes of the 1940 evacuation took place. On 28 May 1940, after delaying the German advance all day, soldiers from the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, the Cheshire Regiment and the Royal Artillery were forced to surrender. The survivors were crammed into a barn, where they were massacred by the SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler at the end of the day.
The reconstructed barn contains testimonies from survivors, including that of Bert Evans, who managed to escape from the barn and hide in a pond, near which his ashes were scattered after his death in 2013. There are also tributes paid by visitors to these martyrs of Nazism.
Each tree planted for the victims of this massacre is bordered by a stele bearing the names of all the men who died at Plaine au Bois as a result of the barbarity of the SS.
The pond is still there and, at the top of the mound of earth, there is an orientation table showing the positions of the opposing forces on 28 May 1940.
Just 5 minutes from the site, on the Place d'Esquelbecq, is the Musée Mémorial de la Plaine au Bois. Here you will find objects, archives and photographs, as well as testimonies from survivors of the 1940 massacre.
Rue des Dunkirk Veterans, 59470 Esquelbecq