Posted on 2023-03-19 at 16:44 | Updated on 2023-03-19 at 16:44
Wreaths were laid in memory of the fighters who fell during the 89 months of a deadly conflict in Algeria.
© (Photo NR, Sebastien Gaudard)
On March 19, 1962, the day after the Evian Accords, the ceasefire came into effect in Algeria. A ceremony took place this Sunday in Blois in tribute to the victims of this conflict which lasted eight years.
It was just 61 years ago. On March 19, 1962, the day after the Évian Accords, General de Gaulle announced a ceasefire and the holding of a referendum on Algeria’s self-determination. The war that had started on All Saints Day 1954 was to claim many more victims until the independence of the young nation on July 5, 1962 and the departure of the French contingent a few weeks later.
A ceremony took place on Sunday morning at Place de la République in Blois in the presence of civil and military authorities and veterans’ associations. Henri Gontier read the message of the Fnaca (national federation of veterans in Algeria-Morocco-Tunisia) paying solemn tribute to the young conscripts called up for service during these 89 deadly months but also to the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed during the conflict before mentioning “wounds which are unfortunately not all healed today between the two countries”.
A speech resolutely turned towards young people. “You have this wealth: to live in a free country, in peace, in a democracy based on the values of the Republic. Become actors in your history and builders of a peace to be built every day by never letting minds get used to war. »
Symbols of this new generation, five teenage girls then took part in the laying of the wreaths alongside the chief of staff of the prefect, elected officials, veterans, then the relighting of the flame in memory of the 142 Loir-et-Chériens who fell in Algeria and whose names have been mentioned one by one.
