France 1940 – Massacred!

The tragic fate of African and Indochinese soldiers in Picardy and Normandy

No, this book has nothing demagogic about it — the author neither seeks to flatter nor to promote himself. Those put forward are the men themselves: the actors of the bloody fighting on the Somme in June 1940, the massacres of which African soldiers were victims, and those that followed throughout Normandy.

Examining the fate of the colonial troops, in particular that of the 5th DIC, was no simple task. Many people wished the author "good luck"… and yet this project, which was meant to be only 80 pages long, runs to more than 200!

The title "Massacred" imposed itself as self-evident, summing up the situation in a single word: an entire generation of young men killed, massacred in combat, on the soil of a country most of them had never known.

Nevertheless, this book does not claim to be exhaustive, even if it hopes to be as complete as possible. Indeed, as sources are rather scarce, it is not unlikely that it could be supplemented by further cases in the months to come. In fact, right up until the last moment, new paragraphs had to be added to the text.

The history of the present time is a living science, and therefore an evolving one. That is precisely what makes it so compelling.