The bronze memorial, inaugurated in 1923 was built to honour those who died in the first World war. At that time they could not possible have imagined what the future would bring.
The death toll for this rural commune was high. The names are now familiar, the families of friends and neighbours.
The many stories are a testament to a quiet courage that leaves me humbled.
The house next to ours sheltered an important member of the resistance in the medieval tower. From the highest window he could watch the Nazi officials arriving at the hotel for lunch. The owner of the hotel was a prisoner of war and his wife ran the hotel alone, relying on help from the villagers when she was obliged to produce meals for Nazis from nearby Vichy.
The fugitive in the tower survived the war and married his sweetheart. He spent many of his long hours painting the walls of the tower. His beautiful fiancé features in a lot of them. The present owners have left them intact, along with the flags and other items from that time. I shall ask them if I can take a photograph to show you.
There are many more stories, an aircraft engineer captured and sent to a concentration camp where he was ordered to work on German engines, risking his life by sabotaging them.
An army officer taken prisoner in the North, escaped and walked over many months to Marseilles where he joined the resistance and was captured again. When he was reunited with his wife at the end of the war he weighed only 5 stones.
After each war the Chateau in Job became a convalescent home for wounded soldiers.
Great care was taken to create the memorial from bronze and place it in the centre of the village. A church service followed by a procession to the memorial take place every armistice day so that we never do forget.
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