Would you believe this street is named after a real hero? I am talking about Rue Henri Clauteaux. This unassuming street carries a weighty story of courage and sacrifice during World War II.
Henri Clauteaux was born in 1902. He was a military man. He lived a quiet life with his wife Alice. They had a daughter born in 1925. The family first lived in Montesson. Later they moved to Sucy-en-Brie.
In 1944, Henri was an adjutant in the army. He joined the French Resistance. He fought for the liberation of France.
On August 26, 1944, Henri and a group of thirty resistance fighters attacked the Boissy-Saint-Léger train station. German soldiers were retreating. They fired automatic weapons from the railway. Four resistance fighters died. Five were wounded. Henri Clauteaux was one of them. He was mortally wounded. He died on the operating table.
The town of Sucy-en-Brie honored Henri Clauteaux. On March 15, 1945, the town council renamed his street after him. Before it was rue Fernand-Fourcade. Now it is Rue Henri Clauteaux.
In 1947, Henri Clauteaux was posthumously made a Second Lieutenant in the French Forces of the Interior. He was recognized as “Mort pour la France” in June 1947. His name is on the war memorial in Sucy-en-Brie. It is also on the memorial in Boissy-Saint-Léger.
Standing here on Rue Henri Clauteaux, remember the man behind the name. He fought. He sacrificed. He helped liberate France. His story reminds us that even ordinary streets can hold extraordinary tales of bravery.