"Gaston, the Oflag,
Marguerite at home, 1940-1945"
Alain Bourbouze Video
In June 1940, my father, Lieutenant Bourbouze, was taken prisoner by the Germans and spent five long years in captivity in an OFLAG (Officer Training Center) under conditions that complied with the Geneva Conventions, which stipulated that officers were not required to work. From 1941 onward, the practical and intellectual organization within the OFLAGs reached an astonishing scale thanks to the establishment of veritable universities and numerous cultural and sporting activities. My mother, for her part, was responsible for this family of three children while also working as a schoolteacher. She maintained close contact with her husband by sending monthly parcels and smuggling uncensored letters through, thus mitigating the hardships of captivity. After several failed escape attempts, my father was sent to Colditz Fortress at the end of 1944. Released in April 1945, his return was certainly celebrated, but proved more complicated for the family than anticipated.
The Phoney War
& the French Campaign
Alain Bourbouze Video
September 1939 marked the general mobilization for my father, a reserve lieutenant. He would experience the "Phoney War" with its comic and tragic episodes, and then, as a liaison officer for the 5th Colonial Infantry Regiment (5th RIC), he would be engaged south of Sedan, in the heart of the storm, during the Battle of France in May and June 1940. There, the resistance was far fiercer than has been written, and the losses in men, both French and Senegalese, were considerable. His war diary from September 1939 to June 1940 details the operations and battles in which he participated... until the armistice, when he was taken prisoner and sent to spend five years in captivity in an OFLAG (French Forces of the Interior).
"Gaston, the Oflag,
Marguerite at home, 1940-1945"
Alain Bourbouze Video
In June 1940, my father, Lieutenant Bourbouze, was taken prisoner by the Germans and spent five long years in captivity in an OFLAG (Officer Training Center) under conditions that complied with the Geneva Conventions, which stipulated that officers were not required to work. From 1941 onward, the practical and intellectual organization within the OFLAGs reached an astonishing scale thanks to the establishment of veritable universities and numerous cultural and sporting activities. My mother, for her part, was responsible for this family of three children while also working as a schoolteacher. She maintained close contact with her husband by sending monthly parcels and smuggling uncensored letters through, thus mitigating the hardships of captivity. After several failed escape attempts, my father was sent to Colditz Fortress at the end of 1944. Released in April 1945, his return was certainly celebrated, but proved more complicated for the family than anticipated.
