Bombed, rebuilt, bombed, repurposed…

The events of WWII had a devastating impact on the historic site at Limoges.

In fact, the factory was bombed twice. The first time was in February 1944 when three quarters of the facilities were destroyed, and the factory was rebuilt identically. It was then bombed again in June 1944, which marked the end of activity until 1946 when it was taken over by the Minister of Armaments and became the ACAA (Atelier Centrent des Automobiles de l’Armement).

This marked the beginning of the factory’s role as a dedicated site for the repair and maintenance of the French Army’s rolling stock. During this time, the facilities specialised in the renovation of Citroen vehicles, trucks and other army vehicles - and also embarked on an ambitious programme to renovate American Dodge vehicles.

With no existing facilities or technical capability to support this vehicle type in the whole of France, necessity accelerated innovation. This programme saw the complete rebuild of the site for the second time, with work beginning in 1947 and lasting five years.

Despite its titanic proportions the programme was a success, and the Limoges site became the reference for the renovation of all the mechanics in the French Army’s vehicle fleet – a critical role it continues today as Texelis, supplying critical spare parts for the French Army’s operational vehicles.

Over the following decade a number of features appeared at the Limoges. The fireplace, the front door known affectionately as “big blue” and the water tower. Some of them are still recognisable today. We expect them to remain for many years to come, marking out the Limoges site as home to one of France’s leading industrial centres!