#Story
Gabriel Ottelet is killed
Gabriel Ottelet is an accountant at the Citroën garage on rue d'Havré, Mons. Refractory to forced labor in Germany, by day he hides on the garage floor; by night, he goes down to the office to carry out his tasks.
He communicates with his secretary, Gilberte, by leaving her notes under his typewriter. Gabriel is reputed to have killed at least one German, if not several. Once married, he moved to a more comfortable room in a house in Mesvin.
On the evening of June 4, 1944, a knock came at the door of this house. The German authorities, accompanied by militiamen (five or six men), came for a former letter carrier to question him about thefts from a post office. Gabriel Ottelet thinks it's him they've come for. He slips through the snuffbox onto the roof to escape. His escape obviously makes him a suspect and will condemn him. The militiamen are equipped with a powerful searchlight. The fugitive is spotted on the roofs. Shots are exchanged. A German is mortally wounded. Gabriel Ottelet was shot dead a little further on, at the edge of today's wood, where you can see the commemorative stele dedicated to him.