An astonishing place in more ways than one, situated on the heights of the commune of Maizy: destroyed during the First World War, the church was left as it was to bear witness to the ravages of the conflict, and we contemplate its ruins today.
But also because it was here that three soldiers of the 18th RI were shot in June 1917 – Casimir Canel, Alphonse Didier and Jean-Louis Lasplacettes – for refusing to return to the front. Another of their comrades, Vincent Moulia, was also due to be executed, but managed to escape.
A commemorative plaque, affixed to the wall of the adjacent cemetery in 2009, reminds us of this sinister episode…
Vestiges de l’église Saint-Martin de Maizy
