A ray of sunlight cuts through the raindrops and delicately rests on their names, engraved on the war memorial in Champigny-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). Lucien, Pierre, Théophile, Alphonse, Marcel... All these inhabitants of Champigny gave their lives for France between 1914 and 1918. But on Saturday, the commemoration of November 11 — which celebrates the armistice of World War I and honors those who died for the nation — took on an additional emotion.
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The building has been restored to its original location. Since this summer, it has been located in front of the old town hall, at 14, rue Louis-Talamoni. This is the first time since 1946 that the November 11 ceremony has been held there again.
600 of the 2,000 mobilized Kempen were killed
The monument was erected on this spot in 1925. It contains the names of the 600 Kempen who fell on the battlefield during the Great War among the 2,000 men mobilised. "A butcher's shop," says Laurent Jeanne (Libres!), the mayor. A first temporary stele was erected in 1916 in the old communal cemetery, an obelisk several metres high on which no surname was engraved.
Champigny-sur-Marne, 2023. The dismantling and reassembly of the monument, which has also been restored, was entrusted to the Lefèvre company, a stonemason who restores Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. ©SGP/AC Barber
From 1925 to 1945, every 11 November, the commemoration took place in front of the town hall at the time, along the main street of Champigny, the N 4, which became the D 4. But in 1946, the widening of this axis made it necessary to move the war memorial. It was dismantled and reassembled 1 km further on, at the Jean-Baptiste-Clément roundabout, "on a much larger square", explains the municipality.
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In November 2022, Laurent Jeanne announced that the building had to move again... to find its original location this time! At issue: the construction work on line 15 East of the Grand Paris Express, which will link Champigny-centre to Saint-Denis-Pleyel (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Stonemasons from Notre-Dame Cathedral
The Société du Grand Paris (SGP) financed the transfer and the city entrusted this delicate mission to the Lefèvre company. "They are stonemasons. In particular, they are working on the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral site," says the mayor.
The stele had to be deconstructed and rebuilt stone by stone. The workers and craftsmen were able to use the original layout, the assembly plan containing the diagram of the different parts. They also took the opportunity to restore it. The transfer, which was "carried out in a very meticulous manner", was completed this summer. The ceremony on 27 August - commemorating the Liberation of Champigny - was therefore able to take place there.
Champigny-sur-Marne, November 11. The army, police and fire brigade solemnly participated in the ceremony.
"More people pass by this site than in front of the previous one, which is a little out of the way," says Claude Gascard, of the local veterans' union and president of the Friends of the Foundation for the Memory of the Deportation (AFMD94). This is an asset that will help to involve more people in the work of remembrance. »