Nistos, French Pyrenees - smallest/highest CWG?

[mrsroynie]

Since many of you travel this way en-route to or from Spain, you might be interested in the charming little Anglo-Canadian Cemetery in Nistos. The cemetery has only recently been recognised by the War Graves Commission, but has been heroically maintained by the locals since WW2. I say "heroically" because until the creation of a ski resort at nearby Nistos, there was no road to the site and it took villagers 3 hours to walk up the mountain.

Things are easier now that there is a road, but visiting the cemetery still requires an hour or so's walk from the car park. Due to its remote location on a wooded mountainside, it has an exceptionally peaceful atmosphere. Roynie and I always make a little pilgrimage each Armastice.

You can read a bit more about the history of the cemetery on my blog and there is also a link to a more detailed account on the original French site L'histoire du Maquis de Nistos Esparros.

If you are passing this way and you would like to visit the cemetery, do please PM me. If Roynie and I are in France, we would be glad to act as guides.

 

[Mrs Puffer]

What an amazing story, by coincidence there is another set of seven graves in the small village cemetary in Autrans in the Vercors. The circumstances were exactly the same in that a Halifax bomber supplying arms and ammunitions to the local resistance hit the ground killing all the crew. They were all very young men and it's a sobering thought when one considers what they where doing and the difficult conditions they were flying under. I'm not sure if the CWGC have assumed responsibility for the graves, but even so they are kept in beautiful condition and it's a very peaceful location.

 

[mrsroynie]

What an amazing story, by coincidence there is another set of seven graves in the small village cemetary in Autrans in the Vercors. The circumstances were exactly the same in that a Halifax bomber supplying arms and ammunitions to the local resistance hit the ground killing all the crew. They were all very young men and it's a sobering thought when one considers what they where doing and the difficult conditions they were flying under. I'm not sure if the CWGC have assumed responsibility for the graves, but even so they are kept in beautiful condition and it's a very peaceful location.

Thanks for that Mrs Puffer. You're right. Very similar circumstances ...

It may well be that the graves have now been recognised by the CWGC, as I found this picture of a memorial ceremony that took place at the crash site at Autrans in August 2004.

I am always touched by these local stories, as the French generally get such bad press for collaboration during WW2 when, in fact, the ordinary folk (around here, certainly) continue to remember and honour the allied servicemen who gave their lives in the name of liberty.