Castelnau-sur-l'Auvignon Trail of Memory and Resistance

A 500-meter discovery trail guides you through the village of Castelnau to retrace the painful past of the Battle of Castelnau-sur-l'Auvignon, as a testimony to the price paid for our Freedom.

Castelnau-sur-l'Auvignon is one of the high places of the Resistance in the Gers department.
Here, resistance fighters of many nationalities were organized around the village schoolteacher Jeanne Robert, a great lady of the Resistance, until the sad date of June 21, 1944.

On June 20, in Francescas (Lot-et-Garonne) a detachment of six Spaniards based in Castelnau, clashed with a German convoy. Five resistance fighters were killed.

On June 21st at dawn, 500 Wehrmacht soldiers moved towards Castelnau, via La Romieu, to the East. The Spanish outposts slowed their progress. To the North, the Italians obstructed the encirclement. To the South, the elements commanded by Lieutenant WEBER abandoned their positions.

The fighting converged towards the centre of the village where the Spanish (such as Captain Baldomero RODRÍGUEZ), the French (such as Captain Roger PROST) and also a New Zealand pilot, Leslie BROWN, valiantly resisted.

After several hours of fighting, Hilaire ordered the evacuation of civilians and then the retreat towards the West; around 13:30 p.m., after Robert BLOCH had prepared the explosion of the munitions depot, Camilo and his men covered the retreat. Eleven resistance fighters were killed (7 Spaniards, 4 French) and three French civilians.

When the Germans entered Castelnau, the ammunition depot was blown up, putting several of the attackers out of action. Castelnau-sur-l'Auvignon was then almost completely razed by explosions and fires.

Type : Round trip

Distance : 0.5km

Difficulty : Easy