Memorial Bernard Harent Montmorillon

This monument commemorates Bernard Harent, 1916-1944, Lieutenant in the 4th SAS Squadron of the French Free Forces.

Bernard Harent began his military career in 1935 with the Colonial Infantry in Lebanon. He refused to surrender when France capitulated in June 1940 and joined the Free French Forces, fighting alongside the British Army in North Africa, among other places.

He volunteered for the French section of the SAS and was dropped in Brittany on 10 June 1944 with the aim of joining the Maquis in that region and together disrupting the German counter-reaction after D-Day as much as possible.

On 13 June 1944, he led a reconnaissance mission in the Plumelec region. After being warned of a group of Germans who had barricaded themselves in a café in Plumelec, he decided to attack with his men. The operation went well until Harent was hit by a burst of machine-gun fire as he left the café and was killed instantly. He was taken back to the Saint Marcel camp, where he was buried.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Roel Boons