Resistance fighter Raymond CirouxRaymond Ciroux, a young Volunteer Fighter for the Resistance, was only 19 when he rushed to inform the Allies on the night of 11 to 12 August 1944 of the strategic error of the German troops, who had retreated 10 km to the north, in the Écouves forest, ahead of the attack planned at dawn on the 12th by German General Von Klug.
Risking his life, he entered Alençon on foot to check that the Germans were not there. He was then driven back to General Leclerc in a jeep by Captain Henri Da, an American serving with the 3rd Squadron of the 12th Battalion commanded by Colonel Ernest Gaudet, to inform him of this vital information. Leclerc immediately ordered the recapture of Alençon. The town was liberated without a shot being fired.
