Sidi-Ferruch Monument Revisited (2022)

Wandering down past the Poisson Rouge restaurant in a little cove, where we swam and tried but failed to get lunch (book ahead!), we decided to walk up towards what looked like a ruined fort. Dotted along the path were old lookout posts, and a couple of large cannons, trained mercilessly on the approach routes into Port Vendres harbour. When we got closer to the fort, we noticed another set of monuments, 'aux militants francais disparus'. The monument looked new - I saw that it was dated 2022, erected by SOLDIS ALGERIE - but was taped off behind red and white rope. The main stone detailed the circumstances of the monument: to the 652 French soldiers who were presumably killed during the Algerian War of Independence, but whose bodies had never been recovered. The monument was intended as a memorial to them and a site of contemplation for their families and friends. Farther inside, a series of other stones contained the names of the disparus. A final carved slab was perhaps more pointed, noting that the families could not believe that France had abandoned her soldiers.