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12 july 1944 in Plourac'h: stories of the Resistance

12 july 1944

On Wed 15 jul 2026 at 14:58 0

In Commemoration

On 12 july 1944, facing the ennemi with weapons in hand

Andre penglaou

André Penglaou, a member of the Resistance, fell.

Francis Huiguien and his sister Yvonne, then aged 7 and 6 respectively, had witnessed the clash.
"We lived in the village of Guermoal, a few dozen metres from where the Germans and the Resistance fighters and clashed. We were in the field with our mum and a cousin, turning the hay. Our dad was a prisoner of war in Germany and our grandfather, François, born in 1875 and seriously wounded during the first world war, had stayed at home", says Yvonne...

Yvonne francis

Whilst they where working in the field, they heard gunfire and bullets whistling over their heads.
"Shots were coming from everywhere. We ran to hide behind a pile of brushwood at the edge of the embankment, which saved us. My brotherFrancis,however, was very scared. He didn't listen to mum's instructions and ran off without thinking, back home to join grandad, jumping over a fence and whithout realising the danger," says Yvonne.

 

When the shooting stopped, the trio returned home and saw the house of a neighbour, Jacques Jégou, ablaze. As an act of reprisal, Jégou had been taken prisoner, then transfered to Morlaix and tortured by the germanss for three days before finally being released.
"After the battle, the resistance fighters passed through our village to quench their thirst. My grandfather, to cover their tracks, had the idea of letting the cows loose on the muddy path they had taken, for fear that the germans might pursue them", concludes Francis.

These are events that cannot be forgotten and which remain etched in the memories of Francis and Yvonne.

Born in Calanhel on 15 january 1919, André Penglaou was a man of courage and honnour. Unable to bear the nazi occupation and refusing to live on his knees, he took part in numerous acts of sabotage on behalf of the resistance. During yet another harassment operation, he fell in enemy crossfire, right here in Toul an Heol.

"Memories fade as the number of eyewitnesses dwindles. Whatever happens, the flame of the French Resistance must not be allowed to die out!"

 

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