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Origin and history

The monument of the Haudroy Stone, located at La Flamengrie in the Aisne, commemorates a key event of the First World War. It was at this precise place that, on November 7, 1918 at 8:20 p.m., the German plenipotentiaries arrived to negotiate the armistice. Captain Lhuillier, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 171st Infantry Regiment, welcomed them, and the clairon Pierre Sellier sounded the "ceasefire", marking the beginning of the negotiations and the end of the hostilities.

The original monument, inaugurated on November 5, 1925, was destroyed by the Germans on August 14, 1940. It was rebuilt under the direction of architect Louis Rey and re-inaugurated on November 14, 1948. The central stone of the new monument comes from the construction site of the Ravensbrück camp in Germany, reported by Ernest Gernez. Since 1997, the site has been listed as a Historic Monument.

Every year until his death in 1948, Pierre Sellier returned to the site to ring the "ceasefire" in commemoration. The monument bears several inscriptions, including one dedicated to the tenacity of the hair. It was built thanks to a public subscription initiated by the UNC and the AC 1914-18 committee, chaired by A. Daublain.

Today, the monument, surrounded by the remains of the original stone destroyed in 1940, remains an emblematic place of memory. It is located at the edge of the departmental road 285, between La Capelle and Haudroy, and belongs to an association. Its sober granite architecture of the Vosges makes it a symbol of peace and resilience.

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