Zoom in on...
For this first portrait, we meet Amaury, one of our most loyal members, having been present since the creation of the association when he was only 14 years old.
* At what age did you become interested in bunkers and/or World War II?
What made you want to do it?
From a very young age, I had a keen interest in history, but it was when I was about ten years old that my passion focused on the two world wars and in particular the second.
As for bunkers and more broadly the built heritage of the given period, the interest appeared around the age of 14. Indeed, at that time, I began to become aware of the historical richness of the Vannes-Meucon camp and especially of the ignorance and general disinterest of the rest of the local population. As a child, the bunkers served as playgrounds where my imagination developed many stories and memories, but without ever knowing what these structures were doing in the woods and fields, how long had they been there? Growing curiosity, along with my ability to research and assimilate information, pushed me to discuss this with the elders, to look for traces on the ground (with the simple aim of satisfying my personal curiosity at the start!).
* Today you are a career soldier, does that influence your understanding of this period of history?
Yes, my military status has made me see this heritage in a new light, both in terms of researching remains and understanding their presence in Vannes-Meucon. The strategic/combatant aspect of their locations and orientations.
I think in a way it allows me to put myself in the shoes of the occupying force and draw more precise and coherent conclusions, or rather hypotheses.
* Do you have any plans or desires for the association in the years to come?
We are fortunate to have a permanent and growing attraction to WWII (strongly helped by the 80th anniversary of the liberation), particularly on a local scale.
BA 56 is booming, so everything is to be hoped for, the opening of new construction sites and sites, the discovery of new remains and archives.
But finding more volunteers for public openings remains one of our key points.
IF I WERE...
A historic place:
I think that the castle of Guédelon could define me, certainly it is not historical strictly speaking because its construction is recent, but it is out of its time, it stands out by an attachment to traditions, traditional know-how. It owes its construction to a desire to understand the past (just like BA 56), and allows the transmission of knowledge and history/memory for educational purposes.
A historical figure:
I will affiliate myself, according to different criteria, to a leader, loving humor while knowing how to make the difference with more serious times, listened to by those close to me but criticized by others, I prefer to work alone while remaining at the service of others, my ideas and my nation; I thirst for discoveries and adventures. Jacques Cartier could be one of the historical figures to whom I resemble; he was Breton and put his skills at the service of the French crown, at the highest level without ever denying his origins .