translation

[isabelle hayes]

"Avec trois hommes j'ai commence a "detire-fonner" la voie (nos cles cette fois etaient bien enroulees de chiffons) en laissant en place quatre tire-fons afin que puisse passer le train de vogageurs."

the context is a resistance attack on a train carrying german soldiers on leave;

my translation: With three men I began to "detire-fonner" the track (our keys this time had been well covered in fabric) leaving in place four vises before the train of travellers could pass.

am i close?

tia

isabelle

[Frank]

Hello Isabelle,

Yes, your translation is excellent.

A "tirefond" is a screw.

"dé-tirefonner" isn't a verb you can find in a dictionnary (thus, the quotes), the author composed it, but it's easy to understand. The "dé-" prefix means "un-". So "dé-tirefonner" just means to unscrew. He began to remove the screws.

"clef" means a key, but also a wrench. I guess the later is probably the one he used here.

HIH.