MAQUIS DE LA MAISON ROUGE

The Maison Rouge Maquis, the first Maquis group in the Loire Atlantique region

It was the scene of the first maquis movement approved by London on 16 October 1943. It was a farm run by Mr Martin des Touches. Mr Martin took in draft dodgers from the S.T.O. (Service du Travail Obligatoire, a compulsory labour service set up by a law passed by the Vichy government in 1943 under pressure from the occupying forces to provide labour for Reich factories).
Then on 16 June 1944, the maquis was transferred to the Saffré forest, as the Maison Rouge was not a flat, fairly protected, isolated and discreet site covering several hectares.