The fountain in 1930
and little has changed part from the height of the trees. The fountain flows, the shutters are open and geraniums smile at the morning sun. The small shop sells ripe nectarines and tomatoes. Bread crumbs gather by the till and large rounds of cheese are cut into manageable wedges before being wrapped in greaseproof paper. Quietly and sedately the villagers slip their baguettes under their arm, cross the square and chat in groups of two or three. Not animatedly, but earnestly nodding and taking turns to speak. The church clock strikes nine and instinctively I check my watch and wonder if it will open before I have finished my pre-breakfast wanderings.
on July 25th 2013
The fountain from the back and the monument from the front
where a young man focuses into the distance as he prepares to throw a grenade. He holds a second explosive in his left hand.
The proper way to launch this missile is to hold it against your chest while squeezing the "spoon" against the body of the grenade, and with the middle finger of the other hand pull and twist out the pin, whereas a "lefty" must hold the grenade upside down against his chest to remove the pin. Then, regardless of which hand it is in, quickly throw it while bearing in mind it has a seven second delay and take
cover. According to an instructional video on YouTube it is important to
take cover or "you could seriously hurt yourself."
Although explosives had been thrown for centuries, hand grenade designer, William Mills, patented,
developed and manufactured the "Mills bomb" at the Mills Munition
Factory in Birmingham in 1915. It was
described as the first "safe grenade" and approximately 75,000,000 safe grenades were made and no doubt thrown at someone during WW1.
Below the soldier is a large plaque with the list of local boys who died, perhaps due to the unsafe grenades.
About fifty names were engraved and gold leafed. Nine families lost two boys. The Dalous family lost three: Andre, Joseph and Jules.
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