ZZ42 fuzes are fuzes that can be used for booby trapping German anti-tankTellermines...
The village of St Cezaire, located near the drop zones of Operation Dragoon, was liberated by the US 517th Parachute Infantry on August 22nd 1944. In the following days, two French youths and one Czech German army deserter decided to clear the fields around the town of the mines the retreating Germans had layed. Local civilian Max S. explains what happened:
In the FTP camp, there was a young Czechoslovakian named Ferdinand Koblas. He had been forced into the German army and had managed to desert, because of course he was against the Germans, and he wound up in our region, where he joined the communist maquis, the FTP. Koblas had a few notions about mines because he had been in the German army, and a few days after the liberation he decided to get rid of the mines that had been laid in three or four paths around here. He had a guy from St Cézaire named Edmond Roux with him, who was 22-years-old; another guy called Antoine Colmars, from Nice, who had ended up in the maquis here; and there was another guy, Marcel Martinetti, who was only 18. He was the youngest, so he had stayed hidden behind a wall. That is what saved him.<O
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The mines had been laid in a rush and could be seen easily. Martinetti told me that once Roux had seen Koblas take out several mines, he told him: “It’s not difficult, I see how you are doing it, now I will take out the next one.” Koblas told him: “Okay.” He hadn’t thought that they might be booby trapped. Roux did exactly what Koblas had done: he unscrewed the plate, then the fuse, and then he lifted up the mine. Martinetti told me: “At that moment I saw a thin wire under the mine, and Koblas saw it and told him: “Kaputt!” As he said kaputt: “bang” they blew up... Roux and Comars were killed and Koblas was disemboweled, his guts were hanging out.<O</O
I was in a property we had in the country when the mine blew up. I was walking on a thick wall that separated two properties. There was a wild peach tree, with peaches that were starting to redden. I remember I was feeling one to find out if it was good when I heard a huge explosion that made me drop the peach. The ground shook, even though the explosion was one kilometer away. At the exit of the village I saw a crowd. I went there and it was Koblas, the Czechoslovakian, lying on a stretcher, asking for something to drink. The village doctor, Grimaldi, was there and told us: “You can give him whatever you want, he is done for.” His bowels were shredded. They put him in a car anyway and wanted to bring him to the Military Hospital in Draguignan, but when they got to the other side of the valley, he died and they brought him back.
Below: a photo of St Cezaire and of the monument to the three men.
The village of St Cezaire, located near the drop zones of Operation Dragoon, was liberated by the US 517th Parachute Infantry on August 22nd 1944. In the following days, two French youths and one Czech German army deserter decided to clear the fields around the town of the mines the retreating Germans had layed. Local civilian Max S. explains what happened:
In the FTP camp, there was a young Czechoslovakian named Ferdinand Koblas. He had been forced into the German army and had managed to desert, because of course he was against the Germans, and he wound up in our region, where he joined the communist maquis, the FTP. Koblas had a few notions about mines because he had been in the German army, and a few days after the liberation he decided to get rid of the mines that had been laid in three or four paths around here. He had a guy from St Cézaire named Edmond Roux with him, who was 22-years-old; another guy called Antoine Colmars, from Nice, who had ended up in the maquis here; and there was another guy, Marcel Martinetti, who was only 18. He was the youngest, so he had stayed hidden behind a wall. That is what saved him.<O
</OThe mines had been laid in a rush and could be seen easily. Martinetti told me that once Roux had seen Koblas take out several mines, he told him: “It’s not difficult, I see how you are doing it, now I will take out the next one.” Koblas told him: “Okay.” He hadn’t thought that they might be booby trapped. Roux did exactly what Koblas had done: he unscrewed the plate, then the fuse, and then he lifted up the mine. Martinetti told me: “At that moment I saw a thin wire under the mine, and Koblas saw it and told him: “Kaputt!” As he said kaputt: “bang” they blew up... Roux and Comars were killed and Koblas was disemboweled, his guts were hanging out.<O
</OI was in a property we had in the country when the mine blew up. I was walking on a thick wall that separated two properties. There was a wild peach tree, with peaches that were starting to redden. I remember I was feeling one to find out if it was good when I heard a huge explosion that made me drop the peach. The ground shook, even though the explosion was one kilometer away. At the exit of the village I saw a crowd. I went there and it was Koblas, the Czechoslovakian, lying on a stretcher, asking for something to drink. The village doctor, Grimaldi, was there and told us: “You can give him whatever you want, he is done for.” His bowels were shredded. They put him in a car anyway and wanted to bring him to the Military Hospital in Draguignan, but when they got to the other side of the valley, he died and they brought him back.
Below: a photo of St Cezaire and of the monument to the three men.
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