The death of Maurice Langlois at La Cuarde

Maurice Langlois (born in 1913) worked at the Ministry of Industry and, since 1941, had been providing information to the underground intelligence services. The increasing number of arrests made him realize that he was in danger. Thanks to a network, he made his way to Biarritz with his wife Marie-Louise in early October 1943. Caught by chance in a Gestapo raid, Marie-Louise managed to escape but Maurice was arrested. On October 18, he managed to escape and rejoin his wife, but the conditions of his detention and escape caused him to develop pulmonary congestion. As soon as he had recovered, he and his wife returned to Pau and, while waiting for the right moment, stayed at a relay station where they were joined by Michel Poniatowski, a 21-year-old man who had refused to perform compulsory labor and would later become a French minister. At the end of November, the decision was made to leave. The first stage of the journey to the meeting point—a barn near Cette-Eygun in the Aspe Valley—was made separately. The Langlois couple took the train, while Michel Poniatowski traveled in a timber truck, which picked up a dozen other escapees along the way. 

In Escot, two guides took charge of them and they continued on foot along the railway line. After reuniting with the Langlois couple, the eleven people in the convoy, led by the smugglers Louis and Tino Troïtino, set off at 8:30 p.m. on November 30, 1943. “Fog is falling, snow is drifting lightly and slowly to the ground. Everything is surreal, starting with the silence. We move forward slowly, flanked by the two guides,” wrote Michel Poniatowski in his memoirs. During the ascent, Mr. Langlois fell into one of the streams that crisscross the Lhers plateau. 

After a short rest in a barn, the journey continued in the fog and snow. Despite their experience, the Troïtinos had difficulty finding their way and the journey took longer than expected. On December 1, 1943, at around 6 a.m., they made another short stop in a cabin. Mr. Langlois was exhausted and had extreme difficulty walking. After half an hour, the smugglers were forced to carry him. Around nine o'clock, they explained to Marie-Louise that the border was too far away to carry Maurice there. At that moment, after a minute of agony, he died without regaining consciousness.