Jean Ballestra

Jean Ballestra (June 20, 1924 - August 28, 1944) was a French railwayman and a resistance fighter, member of the French Forces of the Interior. He died during the battle for the Liberation of Nice, on August 28, 1944.
Biography
He was born in Nice, France, where he attended a single-sex school for boys, Vernier. After finishing his elementary studies, he began to work in the maintenance of locomotives for the recently formed French National Railway Corporation, following the example of his father, who was an employee for the French railway company PLM.
In July 1943, during German occupation, Ballestra joined the Francs-tireurs of the Alpes-Maritimes. During the battle for the Liberation of Nice, on August 28, 1944, he participated on several ambushes on the level crossing of the Chemins de Fer de Provence railway that connects Nice and Digne-les-Bains. He died near the end of the morning, as a result of an injury sustained the night before.
Memorial
After the battle, the crossing was renamed as the Carrefour du 28-Août (the intersection of August 28). A commemorative plaque was placed at one corner of the intersection to honor Ballestra together with fellow fighters Roger Boyer, Lucien Chervin and Auguste Gouirand, below a plaque to honor René Barralis.
His body rests on the Caucade cemetery in Nice at the French military square n° 58, individual grave n° 1398, and it is marked by a memorial from Le Souvenir français.

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