Aujourd'hui en 1943... // Today in 1943...

Publication by Les Maîtres de l'orage.

IN ENGLISH:

Today in 1943, my great-uncle MARCEL COTTERET was shot at dawn by the nazis at Mont Valérien in Paris; he was 37 years old and was the loving father to three children. He was also an inventor and a specialist of short wave radio and photography. He managed to be a hero during the short war in 1940 before the Armistice (got a Croix de guerre for it) and joined the Resistance as early as November 1940. He sent loads of information to London and led a local network which became part of bigger ones: JOLIUSY, then JOHNNY in 1941 and finally JADE-FITZROY.
He was denounced, arrested by the Gestapo in July 1943, tortured (he never spoke) and then transferred to Paris to be shot with five fellow Malouins (of Saint-Malo) on 2 December 1943. His courage, generosity love of life and humility have always been a shining example of human greatness to me. My trilogy is dedicated to him and his brothers, and to all the people who have fought and still do fight against the forces of death, darkness and evil with all their hope, strength and life. LEST WE FORGET.

Le 18 juin 1940... // On 18 June 1940...

L'Appel du général de Gaulle lancé de Londres en juin 1940 

Chers amis, // Dear friends,

Aujourd'hui, le 18 juin, il y a soixante-quatorze ans, alors que les forces de l'obscurité se refermaient sur l'Europe et la France, le général de Gaulle lança de Londres son appel héroïque à la résistance. // Today, June 18, seventy-four years ago, as the forces of darkness were closing in on Europe and France, General de Gaulle launched from London his heroic call to Resistance. 

Peu de gens l'entendirent, mais les hommes de l'Île de Sein firent partie de cette minorité et s'illustrèrent par le courage qu'ils eurent de laisser leurs vies et leurs familles pour répondre immédiatement à cet appel. // Few people heard it, but the men of the Ile de Sein in Brittany were in that minority, and distinguished themselves by their courage to leave their lives and families to respond immediately to this call. 

À Saint-Malo, un jeune Malouin de dix-huit ans, artiste peintre plein de promesses, entendit lui aussi l'appel et, après avoir laissé un mot d'adieu à sa mère sur la table de la cuisine, il partit en voiture avec d'autres camarades pour s'embarquer à Brest sur le bateau qui emportait les archives de la ville vers l'Angleterre. Arrivé en Grande-Bretagne, il rejoignit les Forces Françaises Libres du général de Gaulle et se battit comme un tigre pour libérer le monde et la France de l'étau mortel du nazisme et du fascisme. Ce jeune homme s'appelait Henri Cotteret; il était mon grand-oncle. // At the same time, in Saint-Malo (also in Brittany), a young eighteen year old man, a promising painter, heard the call and, after leaving a farewell note to his mother on the kitchen table, drove with a few friends to Brest where he embarked on the boat that was taking the city's archives to England. As soon as he arrived in Britain, he joined General de Gaulle's Free French Forces and fought like a lion to free the world and his beloved France from the fatal grip of Nazism and Fascism. This young man's name was Henri Cotteret; he was my great uncle.

Henri Cotteret, un héros adolescent

En souvenir des hommes de l'Île de Sein, de mon si jeune grand-oncle, Henri, (tous décorés de l'ordre prestigieux des Compagnons de la Libération) et de tous ceux et toutes celles qui eurent l'immense courage de répondre à l'appel héroïque à la révolte et la résistance contre l'oppression, la haine et le mal. Un immense merci à eux. En souvenir d'eux, je nous souhaite d'avoir le courage, nous aussi, aujourd'hui, de nous rebeller contre toutes les forces obscures qui menacent la liberté, l'intégrité et la vie de tous nos frères humains opprimés. // In memory of the men of the Ile de Sein, of my young great-uncle, Henri (all of them decorated with the prestigious order of the Companions of the Liberation) and of all the men and women who had the immense courage to respond to this heroic call to revolt and resistance against oppression, hatred and evil. An immense debt of gratitude to them. In their memory, I wish us the courage to rebel also, today, against all the dark forces that threaten the freedom, integrity and lives of all our oppressed fellow human beings.

Extrait de l'album de famille 

Un des tableaux de marine de mon grand-oncle -- son pseudonyme était Lisley.