Albert Pommier

From 1905 he was a regular exhibitor at the Salon des Artistes Français and in 1914 won a prize and received a grant which allowed him to travel to Algeria and study there at the Villa Abd-el-Tif, although the outbreak of the war and his mobilization meant that he could only take advantage of this fully in 1919.

After Algerian independence the dismantlement of the memorial began and the marble plaques recording the names of the men honoured were destroyed.

Carved from Magenta stone the edicice was 12 metres high with three French soldiers at the top.

The inscription read "Le département d'Oran à ses enfants morts pour la Patrie - 1914 – 1918" At the monument's base the names of famous battles were listed "Charleroi, Marne, Aisne, Flandre, Artois, Lorraine, Somme, Champagne, Verdun, Argonne, Dardanelles, Orient" and on the side the inscription "Souvenez-vous" reminded the passer-by to "Remember".

After Algeria gained her independence the decision was made to move as much of the monument as was practical and La Duchère, Lyon was chosen as a suitable site.

Negotiations started in earnest in 1967 and Pommier's sculpture was shipped to Marseille on 11 December of that year.

Various plaques and inscriptions were added to the monument including ""En souvenir de leur terre natale, la ville de Lyon à ses enfants d'Afrique du Nord qu'elle a accueillis"[3][4][Note 1] This plaster statue dates to 1933 and is held in Poitiers' Musée Sainte-Croix.

[5] This prize winning bronze work dates to 1937 and was commissioned for the 1937 Paris Exhibition Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne and placed on the main terrace of the Palais de Chaillot gardens.