The Abri (shelter) Sadi Carnot in central Brest is an extraordinary tunnel system, 250m long, built in 1942-3 as a refuge for citizens from sustained allied bombing of the German submarine base. Occupying troops also used one end and unfortunately stashed munitions there. At 2H30 in the morning of September 9, 1944, as inhabitants sheltered in what had come to mean a place of safety, there was an explosion and fire ripped through the tunnels. Hundreds died. After liberation, excavation uncovered the remains, including a mass of the vital possessions people had been desperate to preserve: car documents, pension books, the savings account of a young woman called Renée Mercier, a red leather wallet... The shelter is now a memorial space.
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Wasn't aware of this.
looks full of atmosphere