Eugene OSWALD's

Eugène OSWALD, born on August 14th, 1925 in La Londe, is the son of Jacques OSWALD, a village doctor.
In 1943, he fled and joined the famous and glorious maquis of Ain to escape the STO (compulsory labour service).

On July 13th, 1944, he and three other Maquis men ambushed an enemy detachment from a hill. Spotted by the Nazis overlooking their position, they were shot on their legs and finished off on the spot. Eugène OSWALD and two of his comrades from Haute Savoie were killed. The fourth one from the Ain dragged himself to a nearby wood and survive his injuries. He described the scene he experienced after the massacre:
"I see the Germans finishing off my comrades from the woods, then they rush to a nearby farm and fill it with straw and wood to set it on fire. At this moment the farmer walks towards the German officer holding a sheet of paper. The officer ordered his soldiers to remove the wood and decided to spare the farm. The paper attests that the husband who owns the farm is a prisoner of war in Germany where he is responsible for maintaining a German farm whose farmer is fighting in France. »
A stele bearing the name of Eugène OSWALD (19 years old) and his two comrades is erected on the place where they died in the commune of SONGIEU in the Ain.

Eugène OSWALD is buried in the family vault in the cemetery of La Londe les Maures, the nursery school and the street that leads to it both bear his name.