In 2013 and 2014, a call for a large collection of documents of the Great War was launched by the Departmental Archives of the Channel. These writings dating back a century will be the subject of an exhibition in Saint-Lô (Manche).
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the armistice of November 11, 1918, "the Ministry of Culture should make a new appeal, at the national level this time , " says Jean-Baptiste Auzel, the director of the Departmental Archives
from the Channel to Saint-Lô (Manche).
Five years ago, to celebrate the one hundred years of the beginning of the Great War, the House of the History of the Channel (the Departmental Archives) made an appeal to the Manchese citizens to collect various documents of the time. The idea, launched in November 2013, has generated a lot of interest. "We have received no less than 200 documents and objects," recalls the director.
To receive these people, the departmental archives had to hire staff. Seven in total to ensure permanence. "People were queuing up. For nearly an hour sometimes. "
Fear of censorship
This movement was renewed in November 2014 when about fifty new objects arrived "It is often the same things. Medals, photographs, uniforms, shell cases serving as souvenir vase, etc. The whole has been digitized for more than two years. A total of 17,000 scans are available on the Maison de l'Histoire de la Manche website.
Reading between the lines of the documents reported by the Manchois, we can note the difference in relationship that could have the Hairy of the Great War with their families and the fear of censorship. "We have few families who have been able to find a diary and letters of correspondence from their ancestors ," explains Jérémie Halais, head of cultural action and valorisation at the departmental archives. In the letters sent to their families, they do not write at all in the same way, they are wary of military censorship. When compared with their logbooks, the words are not at all the same. "
These findings have been used in several exhibitions. "The Manchois in the Great War" "appeared at the foot of the ramparts, rue Torteron, in 2015" . Then during the reconstruction of a Norman village and a battlefield in the summer of 1918 in the Center-Manche, in August 2018, in Guéhébert, "a real success," says Jean-Baptiste Auzel.
A fresco of 3 m
Friday, November 9, 2018, the prefect of the Channel and the chairman of the departmental council will be present for the opening of a new exhibition. "Thanks to this collection, and funds Police and Roads and Bridges, a hundred pieces will be displayed," says Jérémie Halais.
"Shoreline", which will be open to the public on Monday, November 12, 2018 in the Departmental Archives, will retrace, from a new angle, the First World War. "The sea wars, underwater, port and islands in the Channel will be discussed," warns the director. "We are, this time, in the back of the front. Did you know that 100,000 Americans had landed in Cherbourg? There are plenty of events to report on our 355 km of coast, " adds Jérémie Halais.
A 3 m fresco, from the Battle of Diksmuide in Flanders, "is one of the most original objects of our collection. They are great grandchildren of a soldier who gave it to us. Their ancestor had to buy the boards of the Belgian artist to make a fresco . She will be part of the exhibition.
Today, as the 11th of November approaches, the Departmental Archives are always interested in these relics of the Great War.
Contact : Departmental Archives, House of the history of the Channel, 103, rue du Maréchal-Juin in Saint-Lô. From Monday, November 12, 2018 to March 29, 2019, exhibition "Shore of war. Manchurian coastline at war, 1914-1918 ". Free.