The war memorial

The building of a war memorial in Fontaine le Bourg was first envisaged in 1916. On February 24th the town council decided unanimously to raise, in the communal cemetery, a monument to the memory of soldiers who had died for France. A public subscription in the town hall was started on this day and people were kindly solicited to give as generously as possible. 

In August 2016 the first funds were placed in National Defence Bonds to increase their value. Was this a decision of wisdom or of resignation because the plan then fell into a phase of profound public inertia. It wasn’t until the council meeting of May 2020 that the idea resurged. In the August meeting the council decided to erect the monument at the entrance to the town hall forecourt. The initial emplacement was therefore abandoned. In choosing to place the cenotaph in front of the town hall courtyard (where only two lime trees had to be felled) the council expressed their wish for the memorial to be accessible to  everybody. The plans drawn up by the architect Jules Duboc  in April 1921 were submitted to the works commission, which messieurs Petit and Bourgeois had joined.

Rather than choosing the verticality of an obelisk, which symbolises the flight of the soul up to the sky after death, the council preferred a column, symbolising a tree, strength and life. It was not a unique work of art but it did have a certain originality. M. Langlier, a marble-worker and builder of 

funeral stones in Petit Quevilly, was chosen to build the memorial. It was built in Euville stone and on a basement and foundations laid by J. Raillot, a stone mason from Fontaine-le-Bourg. On its summit is a cast bronze cockerel, 80 cm high and symbolising patriotism and the feeling of belonging to a nation. The war cross, placed just below, highlights the bravery of the soldiers and permits the decoration and the recognition of the bravery of all those who died. The four crowning descents, in the form of wand bundles, and the trophy of enlaced flags are the work of the renowned sculptors Messieurs Alphonse Guillot and Louis  Rose. On the ground, eight shells in cast iron, supplied by the builder mechanic, T. Vieuxbled, recall the war and mark the limits of the memorial. Only the mayor, war veterans or, possibly, school children may enter this now sacred area.

On August 6th 1922 Abbot Belot welcomed a large crowd in the choir of the church for a requiem mass followed by a lovely musical programme interpreted jointly by the Young Girls Choir and the Lyre Amicale. This was followed by a patriotic speech delivered by the resident priest. Despite the incessant rain the ceremony continued with a blessing of the memorial  to the music of the Libéra and the Marseillaise. The cenotaph thus renders a tribute to our valiant soldiers. In the afternoon the ceremony was prolonged with a reception for M. Labrégère, the general secretary  of the sub-prefecture, before an impressive assembly. In religious silence the Last Post was sounded followed by the laying of palm wreaths by the council, by school-children or by combat comrades of the dead.