Imaginary renovations
and a quick-thinking hero
Mysterious scaffolding
To welcome and share the charm of the property with its visitors, the Lawrence family will likely be carrying out some renovations at the Château, a project which will no doubt be viewed with amusement, tinged with a certain pride by the locals. This is because building work at Lascombes still serves as a reminder of a day in June 1940, when France was in the early stages of the German occupation.
That day, a German command car arrived in the Château’s courtyard.
A dashing officer emerged and knocked on the door, where he waited some time for it to open. The friendly, courteous owner ushered him into the lounge. Observing some scaffolding and concluding that the Château was in the midst of renovation work, the officer quickly departed to find a more suitable residence for his troops.
Brutinel, Marcus and Overlord
Fortunately, what the officer didn’t realise that day was that the scaffolding was fictitious and that the courteous owner was Brigadier-General Raymond Brutinel of the Canadian Army, who was there leading the Médoc Resistance. From Château Lascombes, under the code name “Marcus”, he organised the escape to Spain of Allied airmen who had fallen in France and the rallying of volunteers to General de Gaulle in London.
A few years after the Allied landings – legend has it that Brutinel predicted Operation Overlord two years in advance – the brigadier-general was awarded the Médaille de la Reconnaissance Française (French Recognition Medal). This was in 1952, the same year that the Château was acquired by a new owner, Alexis Lichine.