On the evening of 21st August, 2 battalions of the 25th Cherbourg Infantry Regiment bivouacked at Sart-Eustache. The following day they would go to battle at Presles and then at Le Roux. That day, the inhabitants quickly left the village.
At 10 in the morning, the first injured French arrived at Sart; they were taken to the château where Priest Servais welcomed them with the volunteers who had stayed in the village.
Sart-Eustache first-aid post was installed in the château. It came from Fougères in Brittany and was composed of six doctors, a pharmacist, nurses, seven surgical carriages, a pharmacy, etc. The château basement was furnished with mattresses on which officers and bloodied soldiers - some unrecognisable - lay outstretched...
The French troops and the first-aid post left the village on 22nd August.
The first Germans reached the château where Priest Servais was alone, in the midst of the injured: "I saw the first Germans arrive, led by an officer. (...) He then set about looking round the whole château. I had to lead him everywhere. I was allowed to spend the night in the middle of the injured French whilst the Germans got drunk."
From the morning of 23rd August, the battles would pit the French soldiers against the German. Lieutenant Souvré fell amongst the first and six other French perished fleeing via Les Ruelles. Two others would finally be found dead in the village.
After the war, the bodies of the Breton soldiers were buried in the municipal cemetery and a commemorative plaque was placed there.
