Let me get this straight...
When the residents moved out, they left tinned provisions behind because they thought it would only be six months before they would move back. After 4 years of war and severe rationing and knowing that the village would be used "for military purposes."
And 6 months? You'd almost think that they knew that D-Day was planned for May of the following year and that Germany would capitulate immediately.
Obviously, the blacksmith died of a broken heart. It couldn't possibly have been because he was almost 70.
And the timber staircase had to be replaced having been shot full of holes - despite there being no bullet holes in the walls.