Noëlla Bisson Recalls the Blackouts
Photograph
Date: October 12, 1943
Source: The Guardian / Verdun Borough
Audio clip
Date: 1994
Source: Courtesy of Serge Durflinger
A blackout was an anti-air raids measure that involved plunging an area into total darkness. During a blackout, all house lights had to be turned off, and opaque curtains could be drawn across the windows.
In the audio clip, Noëlla Bisson (N.B.) talks about her memories of the blackouts in an interview conducted by historian Serge Durflinger (S.D.).
Translated from French to English:
S.D.: Were there blackouts?
N.B.: Oh yes.
N.B.: We had two or three blackouts I think.
N.B.: There were sirens.
S.D.: Was the city really dark?
N.B.: Totally, totally dark, no light and even the police, the soldiers, they’d walk around and if they saw a house and could see light, they’d warn them.
Transcription of the article:
VERDUN IS GIVEN TEST OF BLACKOUT
Citizens Are Caught Unawares When Sirens Blow Although the blackout test came as a surprise Tuesday night, from Reports by the local C.P.C. organization the experiment was fairly successful.
As soon as the sirens blew the alarm street lights were turned out and all traffic was stopped on the city streets and the wardens immediately got busy going around seeing that no lights were left burning in the business places and homes so they would show from the outside.