Telephone kiosk
This view shows the telephone kiosk which was installed in 1945 in order to provide communications from the ruins during the visit of General de Gaulle. This telephone was not present at the time of the massacre on 10 June 1944 and was later installed on the Rue Emile Desourteaux in the position shown. In the 1940's public telephones in the street were relatively rare in rural France and normally people had to go into the Post Office building (known as, "La Post") in order to make calls. In France today, telephone kiosks are still often located within the Post Office building and in this case payment is made over the counter at the time of use (which obviously means that the Post Office has to be open at the time). Notice that in this case the user had an insulated platform on which to stand, but was left exposed to the weather whilst making the call. The Post Office building itself is to the left and rear of this view on the other side of the Rue Emile Desourteaux.
© Michael Williams: January 2012, revised November 2013