Vieu-d'Izenave

Stele in memory of FFI (Force Française de l'intérieur - French Forces of the Interior - French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II) lieutenant Léon Feltin, and of three deportees named Félix Varraux, Auguste Thomasset and Fernand Ducarne.

Water & Forest guard and  former officer during World War 1, Léon Feltin was placed in command of an operational FFI section after the landing on June 6th. The Feltin Company was composed of elements of the AS (Armée Secrète - Secret Army) of Hauteville-Lompnès, youth from the plateau and workers from the Albarine valley. On july 11, 1944, the Treffenfeld operation was launched by the German against the maquis of the Ain and of the Haut-Jura. Léon Feltin and his unit, supported by the fifth JUFP (Forces Unies de la Jeunesse Patriotique - Patriotic Youth United Forces ) company, were ordered to hold the Lèbe pass, on the Hauteville plateau. However, this position was very exposed to recon aircraft, which had probably spotted the numbers and equipment of the Resistance fighters. At first, the members of the Resistance held the German offensive through violent confrontations in the Hauteville quarries on july 12. Léon Feltin died in action this day. A first order of retreat was given to the remaining resistants to join the nearby woods. On july 13, after several hours of bitter fighting, the Resistance fighters finally dispersed before a new German assault. Some of them decided to go back home while others rejoined their respective units.

Léon Feltin was awarded of the mention "Mort pour la France" ("Died for France").

Auguste Thomasset and Fernand Ducarne were deported to the Gusen camp in Austria. Thomasset died on january 31, 1945 and Ducarne on april 19, 1945. Félix Varraux was deported to the Brême-Osterot camp in Germany, he died on february 25, 1945.

Inscription : "In memory of Léon Feltin, Water & Forest guard in Poncin, knight of the Legion of Honor, officer in the Resistance, fallen gloriously in combat at the Hauteville quarries on July 12, 1944, for the Liberation of France - remember Félix Varraux, brigadier, Auguste Thomasset, guardsman, and Fernand Ducarne, guardsman, deported and died in Germany."

Sources :

- Le Maitron, Notice Feltin Léon, par Jean-Louis Ponnavoy. https://maitron.fr/spip.php?article201356

- Site Web de l'association des Amis du Musée de la Résistance de Nantua, les représailles dans l'Ain. https://www.resistance-ain-jura.com/1939-1945/les-represailles/dans-l-ain/lieux-des-sites-treffenfeld/452-hauteville-les-carrieres.html

- Musée de la résistance en ligne, Stèle d'Hauteville-Lompnes (Ain). http://museedelaresistanceenligne.org/media9277-StA

- Fondation pour la mémoire de la déportation. http://www.bddm.org/

- Mémoire des Hommes - portail culturel du Ministère des Armées, Base des morts en déportation (1939-1945). https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/