Ambush at Thorame-Haute: archaeological traces of a fifteen minute Ambush by the French resistance

ABSTRACT On 18 July 1944, a convoy of German trucks was ambushed by the French Resistance near the village of Thorame-Haute in SE France. According to reports by French witnesses, the first German truck exploded. After a brief firefight, the Resistance pulled out without casualties, claiming that 58 Germans had been killed in the attack, including a high-ranking officer. The current project used witness interviews, archives materials, and metal detecting to validate the descriptions of the ambush. The project confirmed that at least nine German soldiers had been killed in the attack. The metal detecting survey recovered numerous small artefacts whose condition and dispersal indicated that a violent explosion had indeed occurred and had probably been preceded or followed by a fire. A grouping of fired cartridge casings was found in the former Resistance positions. The project was able to confirm the French accounts apart from the casualty figures.