The Lauragais remembers

To mark the centenary of the end of the Great War, the History Society of Revel has published a book called 'Le Lauragais se souvient' which chronicles the experiences of the people of the Lauragais between 1914 and 1918: those who went to fight in the trenches, those who were left behind, and the memorials to the dead that were erected afterwards.

This evening I attended an event entitled 'A Hymn to Peace' which included the launch of the book, an exhibition about the war, a short film made by the local high school, and a play about the ladies of the Lauragais and the letters they received from their loved ones at the front.

The mood was reverential and sombre until one of the book's authors - my friend Jean-Paul Calvet, President of the Revel History Society - made me wear a Tommy helmet and took me for a ride in a taxi. This vehicle was one of 630 Parisian taxis used in September 1914 to transport troops to the Battle of the Marne.