In Air-aines an atrocious drama unfolds.
The village was set up as a fortified strongpoint on the night of June 4 to 5 by Commander Seymour and his battalion, 1/53° R.I.C.M.S., supported by a battery of 221° R.A.C.
At dawn, like most of the other French positions, the 1st battalion was attacked. There again, the Germans suffered a crushing defeat, particularly against the 5th company, established on the northern outskirts, in a group of scattered houses, forming an isolated position.
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- Captain N'Tchoréré
This 5th company is commanded by one of the few African officers, Captain N'Tchoréré, a thirty-five-year-old Gabonese. As a volunteer, he slowly conquered all his stripes by sheer strength. Ten years ago, he was awarded the epaulette during a brilliant campaign in the Levant. N'Tchoréré is notably the author of a report on the social promotion of native non-commissioned officers, which initially earned him the animosity of his immediate superior, but whose accuracy and intelligence made him , since adopted in most African units. He feels perfectly at ease in his command; moreover, his European executives themselves are proud and satisfied to be under his command. N'Tchoréré is a chef. This is one of the reasons why Commander Seymour placed it in a crucial place for his defense. All day of the 5th, all the following night, the Seymour battalion clings to Airaines. For the Germans, it was a vital position, an important crossroads, essential for bringing reinforcements and various supplies to the units engaged to the south, Arbre-à-Mouches, Mesnil-Eudin, and, beyond, towards Poix.
The I/53rd does not weaken. Very quickly, it turns out that the position is bypassed, and tightly squeezed on all sides. But the Senegalese are fighting, without giving up an inch of ground. At dawn on June 6, a terrible combined artillery-Luftwaffe bombardment destroyed almost the entire village, which burned until evening. The assault soon starts again; from early morning to late afternoon. Seymour is still holding on.
At dusk, parliamentarians protected by a white flag come to suggest surrender - Fighting is useless. We arrived in front of Feuquières.
Seymour shrugs. Feuquières is about forty kilometers north-west of Airaines.
If my defense is useless, why bother to attack it?
The parliamentarians leave, threats in their mouths.
We will annihilate you, they promise. Seymour does not answer. Almost immediately a new attack emerges. The Germans are trying to infiltrate the northern and western edges whose houses, which are burning, are difficult to defend. A counter-attack by the 5th company, which took them from the flank, forced them to retreat.
The night comes, populated by the din of an artillery bombardment like never before the Senegalese have suffered. They take refuge in holes, cellars, sheltered by sections of wall, hands over their ears, unable to find either rest or sleep. Very early in the morning, while a dirty mist still stagnated at ground level, the enemy voltigeurs went back on the attack. Seen from their side, Airaines is no more than a heap of smoking ruins from which life can only be absent. They still have about fifty meters to go when, to their great amazement, they see the battlements lined with black faces screaming their hatred and shooting, shooting again. The 1st Battalion is not defeated. Nor is it annihilated.
A few elements have slipped between the rubble. They attack the battalion headquarters with grenades and, with one hit, reach the ammunition depot which blows up, further completing the destruction of the village. From the blazing fire emerge a dozen Senegalese, machete in hand, who cut the grenadiers to pieces. They are the cooks
Meanwhile, another infantry attack escorted by tanks is repulsed by the 5th company. Eight Panzers are put out of action. This time, for the Germans, it is too much. All the artillery available, all the fighter-bombers in the air are rounded up on the village of Airaines, the fires of which rekindle. It has now been three full days since the 1/53` R.I.C.M.S. fights alone, without even hoping for the slightest help. Since the day before, the provisions themselves have been exhausted. It's 8:30 p.m. Commander Seymour understands that he won't last much longer.
The next attack will take everything away, he said. We no longer even have the hope of saving the front. We have fulfilled our mission beyond what was asked of us. He wants to take advantage of the night to retreat the soldiers in a condition to resume the fight elsewhere. For this reason, he had the wounded and some sixty German prisoners, captured during the fighting, gathered in the church, then he instructed Lieutenant Guérin, battalion doctor, to make contact with the enemy as soon as the survivors were gone. At this moment a courier arrives - Captain N'Tchoréré asks for the honor of staying here, to deliver the last rearguard fight. Seymour agrees.
The night has come. Seymour and his men begin to evacuate Airaines. Very quickly, the first elements hooked the enemy, to the south of the village. The fight, which had slumbered, is reignited. Realizing that the French were leaving, the Germans launched a new assault on the north face. Perhaps they hoped to easily achieve their goal, they must be disillusioned. The debris from the 5s company is still there and blocking them.
To reduce them, the panzerpioneers then take out the flamethrowers. my. And it is in the light of jets of flaming gasoline that the last fights are fought, of an incredible savagery. The Germans have to reduce each location one by one. At ten o'clock in the evening, ammunition exhausted, reduced to about fifteen men, the 5th company lays down its arms. Captain N'Tchoréré comes out first, held at gunpoint by dozens of machine guns. He wants to prevent his men from being shot, at close range as has already happened, he knows. Impressed by the roughness of the combat, the fantastic resistance which was opposed to them, the winners are ready to admire. But a few SS are watching. They sort out the prisoners, separate the blacks from the Europeans and, brutally, send N'Tchoréré back to rot with the troops. — I'm a French officer, protests the captain.
A gesture of haughty contempt, the SS do not allow a "subhuman" to have access to the epaulette. They seize Captain N'Tchoréré, push him against a wall and immediately shoot him, despite the protests of his comrades, and even of the German prisoners who have been freed, in the church. N'Tchoréré was a hero. The Colonials will make a symbol of it.