Our Land, Our Memories
60 years on...
…local people of the Canton of Juvigny le Tertre remember their childhood experiences during the summer of 1944.
Many of these stories are centred on the D79 road that runs to Juvigny le Tertre, the scene of battles during the unsuccessful German counter attack against the Allied offensive.
A few of these stories were originally gathered in 1994, for the 50th Anniversary of our Liberation. My grateful thanks go to those who worked on them before me. The majority of these stories, however, are recorded here for the first time, and I would like to thank the many people who have helped me to realise this book.
To those of you whose memories are recorded here, my grateful thanks for sharing with me your experiences of that terrible period in our history.
Clément Joseph,
Le Mesnil Adélée,
2004
Notes:
In these stories, the roads, tracks and lanes referred to, are characteristic of the Normandy ‘bocage’; sunken roads lined with hedges often 6’ high. These traditional lanes, although sadly disappearing, are still possible to find. To walk along these shady tracks, gives a much greater understanding of the challenges that faced the Allied soldiers in their fight to liberate Normandy. Reconnaissance photographs taken before the D-Day landings, failed to alert the allies to this feature of the Normandy terrain that would hinder the advance and cost so many lives. They assumed that the hedgerows they saw in the photographs were like those in England, easily crossed. The bocage in Normandy formed an excellent system of defensive trenches for the Germans and the allies literally had to fight for every field they came through.
‘La Boutinais’, ‘La Haute Broize’ …They sound like house names but are, in fact, the names of ‘hamlets’ or groups of houses each with barns, outbuildings and land; hamlets where more than one family lived and worked. These hamlets are part of a ‘Commune’ (Village) with an elected Mayor. The communes of Le Mesnil-Adelée, Le Mesnil-Tôve, Bellefontaine, Chérencé le Roussel, Reffuveille, Chasseguey, La Bazoge, Le Mesnil Rainfray and Juvigny le Tertre itself, are part of the Canton of Juvigny le Tertre. Most of the villages and hamlets featured in these accounts can be found on maps 1415O and 1315E of the IGN Série Bleue available at bookstores. For copyright reasons they cannot be reproduced here.
René & Lesley Verbrugge, La Boutinais, le Mesnil-Tove
Contents…
“Fighting at Mesnil-Adelée Village”
“He had a little dog on his lap”
“Those trenches became their tombs”
“Strange noises from the empty house”
“We had to use gas masks”
Mr Roland Joseph: L’Aumondière, Le Mesnil-Adelée.
My Dad, Ernest Joseph (Born November 15th 1926) was a farmer at L’Aumondière. By July 1944 we had refugees from Cherbourg, who stayed for a while then left to travel south.
At L’Aumondière there were about 4 families living along 300 metres of road. The place was occupied by enemy troops preparing for the counter-attack. Trucks, guns and soldiers everywhere; in the buildings, the sunken tracks, and under the apple trees. For several days we lived alongside the troops and saw how they were affected by the Gestapo influence: checking any movement, firing on the hay where we slept, frightening the horses, even firing at the horses.
At the time of the counter-attack, shells were exploding in our field and that of our our neighbour Mr Julian. The German attack started the night of the 6-7th August but stopped the day after the Typhoons fired rockets. Edmund, our farm worker, hid his bike before the battle – he didn’t find it on the way back!
August 9th 1944
We had to return to the farm to feed the animals and check on the damage. The chimney pot had fallen from the house into the kitchen and furniture was splintered with bullet holes. On the west side of the house, wounded soldiers lay on stretchers and covers, their guns planted upside down in the ground to hold intravenous drips. In the stable were suitcases, dressings and three dead bodies.
August 10th 1944
The Mayor, Mr Boutin, sent for my father and advised him to bury the bodies temporarily.
The smell from the bodies was so
strong, that Edmund Rault and I found some German gas masks to wear whilst
moving the bodies. We buried the soldiers alongside the hedge up the track, to
wait for identification and repatriation to the war cemetery or their families.
Two of them had been killed almost at Le Mesnil-Tôve. Eldrid Reynolds and
Private Thompson of the 3rd Armoured CCB, were operating as forward
air controllers in a jeep, with a driver and a gun operator. A Captain Leary
was also wounded.
Roland
Joseph
“Fighting at Mesnil-Adelée Village”
Mr Raymond Joseph: La Haute Broize, Le Mesnil-Adelée.
Born
26th November 1924, I was almost 20 during that summer.
Saturday July 23rd 1944
On this day about 50 German soldiers took away 30 head of livestock on the Mesnil-Gilbert road. This was a requisition to feed the troops.
Monday July 24th
German troops arrived in the village of Le Mesnil-Adelée and settled in the farms around. We were all young boys, helping to evacuate machinery from the buildings so the Germans could hide their trucks and guns.
Then we had to go to Le Bois Ambroise with two carts and horses to carry five trees and bring them back to plant them for hiding the artillery. After a few days the Germans left to go back to Mortain.
Monday July 31st
It was early morning, when 2 columns of German trucks arrived at La Haute Broize, the farm where we used to live. They used the barns and dug in along on the road from La Basse Broize to L’Aumondière.
During the evening a captain arrived in a car. He spoke French and he said that we had to leave because there would be fighting here. We didn't believe that! The following night they left the farm but they remained further east towards La Prevelière and L’Aumondière.
Tuesday August 1st
Harvesting wheat in the afternoon, we heard artillery batteries. 3 guns fired from La Prevelière at Les Cresnays and Cuves. Around 5 o'clock the shells were whistling so much that we stopped work because the horses were frightened. It was like this for about 5 hours.
Wednesday August 2nd
In the morning we could still hear the shells exploding in the fields. By the afternoon, there was still artillery fire and we decided to hide in the narrow track behind the farm.
Around 4 pm it was quieter, we left the track and at this time, Renée Auvrouin, a neighbour, noticed a column of tanks, artillery and infantry. It was a different army. We decided to go to see them.
My
dad, Victor Joseph, my mum Germaine, Louis Lefloch, Renée and my sisters went
to see the first American soldiers. We offered them some coffee and Calvados.
They asked for a translator for us, but were moving slowly without stopping. At this time, we didn't realise that there were Germans at the next farm and it was dangerous for all of us.
By evening, at sunset, an attack happened around the crossroads. Five bursts of firing frightened us so much what with the noise and the flares that we stayed hidden in the house.
Thursday August 3rd
Early in the morning we crossed the fields with my father and Louis Lefloch the farm worker. We were really surprised to see the bodies of seven soldiers. There were four Germans lying in the ditch on the right, one was squatting and seemed to be still alive. We sat him up and saw that his chest was open. On the left hand side further up, were the bodies of three Americans. We went back home feeling sorry and sad.
Around 11am the Mayor Mr Louis Boutin came to see us and told us to go back and bury the German bodies. We buried them in the pasture near the crossroads of Le Chatet. The American bodies were left for their troops to identify. On the way back, we suddenly heard the creaking of metal and we wondered what was happening now.
Three planes were turning in the sky. Scared of the firing, we quickened our pace. Arriving home, my mother and younger sisters told me that something had come down in the field behind the house. It was a plane. We could see through the dust cloud that the pilot was trying to get away and was crawling on the wing. Worried about the chance of being fired on by the three planes still in the sky, we waited a few minutes before we went into the field. Mr Boutin, Louis Lefloch, my dad and I started to walk towards the aircraft, but halfway there we had to stop because of the smoke and the dust cloud. We then saw the pilot; he was desperately trying to get away. Despite the risks, we quickly reached him. Gasoline was dripping below the fuselage of the aircraft so we moved the fuel line away and picked up the pilot, holding him by his parachute and his knees. When he saw us he fell unconscious and stayed that way whilst we carried him. He had a broken left arm and his head was covered in blood. The three other planes left at this time.
We took the pilot behind the house of La Haute Broize and hid him in some straw. Feeling better, he tried to talk to the mayor "Boches, Boches?" M Boutin pointed to the East. The pilot asked "Yanks?" and M Boutin pointed to the West.
I set off on my bicycle to find the American column that was on the road again. I spoke to the first soldier I met, but of course he could not understand me and called for a translator. I explained the situation at La Haute Broize. When I’d finished, they thanked me and I went back. It was hot that day and the pilot tried again, to talk "wall, wall!" We couldn’t understand what he was saying. After a while, Renée Auvrouin arrived at the farm expecting to help to harvest the wheat. She understood what the pilot was trying to say; he was thirsty and she served him some water.
The farm was protected when three trucks full of soldiers arrived and took up position around the farm. They knew that the enemy was really close. We were now worried for our own safety.
Around
3pm a major arrived with a jeep. He gave the first medical help to the pilot.
I remember that the pilot stretched out his right arm, he had a smile and managed to talk. Soon after, another jeep arrived in the farmyard – we were really impressed by the radio conversation. An ambulance arrived with a stretcher and took away the pilot. He was safe now and away from the war. The soldiers gave us cigarettes and chocolate to thank us, which made us all feel a bit better! But that wasn't the end of the story for us……
We heard nothing about the pilot then, but we had the number of his plane and Mr Defumichon, the owner of the farm, helped us to write to him. About a year later, we received a letter written by Henry Russell Quimby from the 322nd Fighter Squadron. He had been flying a P47 Thunderbolt fighter.
Friday August 4th
All day long, American Troops were on the road from Le Mesnil-Adelée to Juvigny le Tertre. In the afternoon, 2 German soldiers arrived at La Haute Broize farmhouse. They were demoralised, wanting to leave us their ammunition and guns on the table. My dad, Victor Joseph told them to put their stuff back on their shoulders and asked my mum to get them a white towel. They walked 500 metres away surrendering to American troops who treated them well.
Saturday August 5th
Everything was quiet but Germans were on a front position still from La Prevelière, Laleus and L’Aumondière The American front was moving back but was still on the road to Juvigny.
Sunday August 6th
It seemed to be quiet and all finished, but then 32 people arrived at La Haute Broize, refugees now because Germans had taken their houses.
Monday August 7th
In the morning, Louis LeFloch the farm worker had been to look on the road. He met Germans moving to Le Mesnil-Adelée. They told him to return home quickly because it was dangerous again.
Around 10am the fighting started. Some of us hid in the cellar and some in the barn. We could hear the noise of the guns and through the dormer windows, we could see German infantry, artillery and tanks still moving on the road. It was like hell. There was no way to get outside, the tanks were firing and many buildings were on fire. There was smoke everywhere.
By 3.30 that afternoon it was quieter and Dad went outside and walked down to the little pond. He was really surprised to see four Americans crouching to the left of the stream.
They had left their tank at La Chauvinière, the farm opposite and crawled along the river from there. "Pas Boches? Pas Boches?" (No Germans?) they asked Dad - he looked and said there were none. Immediately they walked back to the farm and then to La Basse Broize by the narrow track, to reach their line to the west.
Around half an hour later, four soldiers walked up from the valley. We recognised the German uniform although they were covered with mud. Those guys were really losing heart. By this time we were hiding in the cellar. "Pas Americains? Pas Americains?" (No Americans?) we told them how it was and then they left through the fields to reach their line to the east.
At 5 o’clock American planes arrived - there were about 10. They were firing and the noise was so loud as they turned in the sky. Suddenly a bomb fell on La Chauvinière –they were trying to destroy the bridge. We’d never heard anything so loud and 500 metres away; the door of the cellar was blown open.
They missed the bridge and still Germans were running back. Tanks were crossing through the field and hedges.
It was about 6 o’clock now, and the Americans were still firing, then the night became quieter, and we hoped to get out of the cellar. A first group of women and children left at about 8 pm, but we were still within enemy lines.
Tuesday August 8th
That morning it was still quiet, but when we came out of the cellar, we could see four American tanks in the field where we'd buried the German bodies. They were, of course, targeting to the east but we were expecting a bad time, as they were so close.
Dad gave orders that all the farm animals were to be left in the pastures and the machinery to be driven out of the barns to avoid them being destroyed by fire. Then we walked up the hill to Reffuveille. Now we too, were refugees.
I remember coming back to the farm with Louis Lefloch, to check the animals at our farm. There was no way through because of the shells exploding. It was the fight at Le Mesnil-Tove and it lasted 3 days. We had to wait for those 3 days before we could reach the farm. There were 4 cows killed near the stream and Roulotte, one of the mares had returned to the stable with her foal and pushed one of the doors closed. We let her out into the pasture to feed again.
Raymond Joseph
Raymond died in November 2005
“He had a little dog on his lap”
Mr Edmond Rault: L’Aumondière, Le Mesnil-Adelée
I was born 16th November 1920. During the war I was a farm worker for Mr Ernest Joseph on his farm at L’Aumondière at Le Mesnil-Adelée. My father was a veteran of the 1914-1918 war and was concerned when my brother had been called up. As a soldier in Eastern France, my brother was badly dressed against the cold. Sometimes he had frozen feet, and very little ammunition. That explains the French Army’s defeat.
At St Michel de Montjoie where my family lived, there were many Italians working in the granite works. Staying there whilst Germans occupied France wasn’t a good omen because Italy was allied with Germany at that time. By this time, the gendarmes at Juvigny called for me to go to Cherbourg.
When we returned after August 7th from Reffuveille where we had hidden, to our home in Mesnil-Adelée, it looked like a slaughter ground. Tanks were in the village, there were burned bodies of soldiers, a house burned and the church was badly damaged, its doors and stained glass windows broken. On the Juvigny road, the D70, a dead German half sat on a motorbike. It was hot, and he was covered in flies. On his lap sat a little dog as though calling to its master.
Edmond Rault
“The village honours a pilot”
Mr René Marie: La Linière, Reffuveille
At the time, I was a student teacher in a military college at Avranches. My parents were farmers in a place called La Linière near the village of Reffuveille. I was 20 years old.
August 3rd 1939
My father, 51, was a veteran of the 1914-18 war. On that day, we were both working in our field near the cemetery of Reffuveille. Suddenly the bells were ringing. The war had started. It reminded him of his time during WW1, and the thought brought tears to his eyes.
From then on, everyone reacted differently. One day, I found leaflets in the town centre with the words “With an innocent wooden gun, it starts… With a torn up body on barbed wire, it ends”.
There was only one newspaper available – Ouest Éclair – to tell us about the Global situation. Some families had TCF radio, but the Germans scrambled the transmissions. We regularly listened about the Resistance movement on Radio Paris.
The German HQ was stationed in Avranches, and while I was studying there, I saw German soldiers everywhere. From the window in the grain store, where I slept, I could see the German flag and guard changing. My room was near one of the German guards. I shared with him a few moments, and I remembered him often, eating omelette and drinking beer.
Before the fighting.
Dad, as a reservist, was requested to ride horses at a stud farm at St Lô for the German army. I was instructed by the Germans to dig trenches behind the banks in preparation for the allied invasion.
July 1944
After D-Day, people moved from the north shores of Normandy. One day, at St-Hilaire Market, I heard talk amongst the crowd, of moving south. The road to Brittany was full of people moving towards the Atlantic shore.
July 29th 1944
A P-47 Thunderbird crashed near La Cour at Reffuveille. The plane was on fire and we could do nothing for the pilot. With Mr. Louis Vennat (The Mayor) we decided that on the following day, we would organise a funeral for the pilot, as though he were a member of our village. The Germans were nervous; we were only three days from our liberation.
July 30th
We held a vigil over the coffin that was in front of the boys’ school, until the morning. Many people came to pay their respects. The ceremony was held during the afternoon, and attended by the residents who brought a lot of flowers, many more than was usual, for that first American who came and left his life on our land. He was Lieutenant Robert Holtham, born 1920 in Goodyear, Arizona. His body was later repatriated to America.
August 1st 1944
The first shell exploded around 11am.
August 2nd 1944
For the 3rd American Division, their main priority was to take Hill 242, because of its high point over both valleys of the Sée and the Selune rivers.
Near a field and a dirt-track called Le Télégraphe, G.I. Private Stein was ordered to scout ahead. We had sought refuge in a farm located approx. 600 yards away from Pvt. Stein’s location. It was a still day, and we couldn’t hear anything. Then suddenly, we heard the explosion from a mine he’d stepped on. He was one of the first Americans to step foot on our land… he didn’t have a chance of survival. At our place, La Linière, many Germans were taken prisoner, surprised to see the first GI’s invading.
August 3rd 1944
With German shells still falling, troops from the 3rd were arriving. The Sherman tanks went straight through the fields, to avoid the sunken dirt tracks where they couldn’t be efficient.
August 5th-6th 1944
“Why do you leave?” I asked a retreating GI.
“We have a big problem.” he replied. At this time, German shells were falling at anytime and anywhere, which would explain the American retreat.
Every night, with my parents and my brother, we left to stay at another farm at Le Mesnil-Ozenne. Everyone else in Reffuveille also left, except Mr Victor Breux and his wife, who would come back each night to sleep at home. One night, Victor went outside after 11pm. He didn’t understand what the troops were shouting at him and being so on edge, they opened fire on him.
After August 7th 1944
About 2,000 shells fell on and around Reffuveille and the Church steeple was hit a lot. Our farm, close to the village, didn’t receive much damage; just a couple of cows were killed. Dad used to get the machinery out of the buildings in case there was fire. The crops in the fields were destroyed. Our mare was still all right, but after that time she was deaf.
Troops set up communication wires everywhere. I remember the first US medical orderly tent that was attacked by German shells. Women were working there and I remember asking why they would choose to be there? One of them was really pretty – she told me that when her boyfriend was killed in the Pacific, she had felt the need to do something to help the guys who were fighting.
Behind La Linière a hospital was set up – Large tents for surgery and management and many small tents for the medical staff. For almost a month, surgeons, doctors and Nurses cared for injured soldiers and civilians. That was America: powerful and generous with the latest technology. Using penicillin and pentathol, giving chewing gum, coffee, chocolate and “cigarettes for Dad”. There were men and women cutting clothes off injured soldiers, sometimes cutting off an arm or a leg when necessary. Near the hospital was a special section of men. Back home they had been mechanics and tractor drivers. Every night they worked behind the frontline repairing the tanks. Sherman tanks were more vulnerable than Panzers and were often left damaged on the lanes. The team came to fix the broken vehicles and send them on to the front line again.
René
Marie
“The taking of Mount Buon”
Mr Roger Garnier: Le Mesnil Gilbert
Born in September 1921, I was nearly 23 in summer of 1944.
The Mesnil-Gilbert battle was extremely violent. From Mount Buon there is a view of Avranches and the Mont St Michel that was the route Patten’s Army was to take to get to Brittany. By the night of August 2nd/3rd Germans had settled Infantry and Tanks on Mount Buon.
Thursday 3rd August 1944
I passed German tanks and guns, pretending to be a farmer milking his cows on different fields. About 2 km further on, I observed the tank placements to report to the American troops.
There was 1 tank near the pond, 1 tank on the Brécey road 200 metres away, 1 Tiger tank in the village targeting on Juvigny, 6 tanks on the way to Mont Buon. 3 of those were damaged and were still there after the fight.
Friday August 4th
The next morning I walked to the village of Mesnil Gilbert and once again I was “on my way to milk the cows.” Unfortunately, the Germans were onto my plan. They stopped me and treated me as though I was a spy. I was imprisoned in the old mill with a guard posted outside.
I was expecting a really bad time, so when I saw the guard walk off to get a map, I jumped through the window and ran up the river. Just 1 km away and I was with Americans again.
Saturday 4th
From
the farm called La Teurterie in Le Mesnil-Adelée I could see the Mount Buon
battle. There were a lot of infantry moving around and there were fires in many
places and farms. I feared for the people that I knew, who were living there.
On the Gaillard field, two people were killed. Mr Viel, a 75 year old farmer,
looked out of the window of his house and got a bullet. Mr Peslin (70) was hit
whilst walking outside his house.
On the road from Mesnil-Adelée to La Gerbeudière, near the mill, a shell fragment hit Mrs Rodrigue and Mrs Godefroy, a teacher at Le Mesnil Gilbert, was also badly wounded. Near the mill at Le Mesnil-Adelée three German tanks were destroyed. Many houses were burned and farm animals killed.
Sunday August 6th
On that morning, I was with American troops at Le Mesnil Gilbert. Germans were backed up at Lingeard and Chérencé le Roussel. Many of their tanks were destroyed in the valley of Brouains.
Hard fighting on the hill of Lingeard Chateau left about 30 vehicles destroyed in the lanes.
Marie Boutin was the sister of my wife. On the lane to her parents farm, La Canardière she found a dead German lying in the tulips.
My uncle was the mayor of Le Mesnil Gilbert and with Father Blondel the priest, gave help to two badly injured soldiers. One American and one German, they were found in a ditch near Chérencé le Roussel
The villages of Perrier-en-Beuficel and Gathmo both saw terrible fighting. St Barthélémy, Sourdeval and Mortain were badly destroyed. Then the German troops retreated east to the Orne départment.
Monday August 7th 1944
After a quiet night and morning at La Teurterie no-one expected that a decisive day of World War II would take place here in our village.
My friend George Breux who looked after the church bells, came over from La Beloujerie. He knew I was there and was aware that I was in touch with the American troops. The Americans had won the Mount Buon fight and had been in the area surrounding Le Mesnil-Adelée since the previous Friday. German troops were around the church with lots of tanks, trucks and guns. Earlier, George had seen the Germans come back and settle everywhere in the village. "Roust, Roust" they told him. They were in position to attack Les Cresnays to the west, with heavy troops. I remember their uniforms, the green camouflaged helmets, and the troops with a really bad attitude. Instead of going home with George, I told him “I’m going to talk to the Americans at Les Quatre Chemins in Les Cresnays”. On the way, near La Fouasserie, I met a couple of GI's and I tried to explain the situation. They wouldn't believe me. I asked a jeep driving by, to take me to an officer. On the road to Cuves, troops were resting and there were no civilians around. Arriving at La Flamberie, I saw a lot of vehicles again and phone lines coming from the house. After a wait, I was in a big room with officers and other officials. I remember a big map on the wall. I explained all that I knew and had seen. They thanked me and told me that they would give the german positions to the aircraft. I walked near the river Sée and waited a time at La Semondière before going to Le Mesnil Gilbert. Then I heard the noise of the planes and the guns. Fighting was now going on Le Mesnil-Adelée and then at Le Mesnil-Tôve. The Germans retreated again to Bellefontaine and St Barthélémy after hard fighting and they lost the battle.
I think that Hitler made a big mistake in trying to attack Patten’s army from Mortain to Avranches. That ended with the surrounding of the 7th German Army at Chambois and Falaise, and then the liberation of Paris by August 24th 1944.
Roger Garnier
“Leave the house”
Mrs Renée Auvrouin and her sons, Daniel and René: Le Moulin Foulon, Le Mesnil-Adelée
Monday August 7th
It was 8 am and I was on my way to milk the cows when I saw Germans crawling along the hedges near Le Mesnil-Adelée. The fighting soon started and there were many soldiers. I realised that I must leave my work and return home. With my two sons and our neighbour Raymond Leboucher, we hid in the barn at La Monerie.
Days before, propaganda leaflets had fallen from the allies planes. “I was a bit of a rascal” says René, her son. I was 7 or 8 and my brother Daniel and I gathered up the papers and tied them onto the wall stone around the barn, it was great fun! When German soldiers passed on the road alongside the barn, this provoked them and angrily they shot at both sides of the barn. My brother and I were hiding inside in silence, but thankfully, the strong stonewalls protected us!
At
11am, Renée, her sons and the neighbours decided to leave going west to Sursée
where her family had a house. On the way we saw a dead German and two Americans.
Further on, troops wouldn't allow us to pass, so we had to return to La
Monerie, hiding in the barn again.
At 5pm, we set off again along the road, as refugees. On the way we saw a tank on fire, it was awful. One soldier was lying on the tower and another was in the tank. In the cow field, was a half track vehicle. I can vividly remember the woodpile burning - that big fire was very impressive for me, just a small boy.
We passed by, leaving it all behind to go to Reffuveille.
Renée Auvrouin
“Fear at La Gelinière”
Mrs Marie Blouin (née Boutin): La Gélinière, Le Mesnil-Adelée
20 days before, refugees had arrived at our watermill (La Gélinière) from St Lô. Amongst them were Madam Dubois with her daughter Genevrière, her granddaughters and a niece called Gisele. More refugees arrived from Le Mesnil Gilbert, as the Mount Buons battle was about to begin.
August 5th 1944
It was a Saturday, and at 8.30in the morning, everything was quiet. Mum was plucking a hen whilst my oldest sister Louise and Gisele were in the field above the road collecting potatoes in a wicker basket. A couple of our visitors, who were on the road, saw an American plane flying up the valley. Louise and Gisele waved white handkerchiefs at the aircraft.
At 9am Dad was working in the mill grinding wheat. Suddenly he heard an explosion very close in the village. He thought about his family and was reassured - Louise and Giselle were there away in the field and I was at home with Mum, my other sisters and a couple of guests. About four more shells exploded that worried him so much, he came out of the mill to look. Someone was lying at the corner of the mill. Louise & Gisele had been returning from the field, walking by the mill to avoid the track. Near them, an apple tree had been hit by a shell and blown away. The shock was so violent it left Giselle unconscious. There was blood on her head and shell fragments over her body. She was still holding the basket that they’d collected the potatoes in –but there were no potatoes and the basket was smashed. Miraculously, Louise had escaped although her and Gisele had been walking arm in arm. A group that had been on the road were gathered near the body of Mrs Rodrique a teacher from Mesnil Gilbert and Mrs Godefroy, another teacher was also badly wounded. This whole event worried us so much that we have didn’t eat much of the hen that mum had cooked. We just had to take care of Louise and those who were shocked by the bombing.
The following morning, an emergency team arrived to take the injured women to Mesnil Gilbert where the American troops had medical facilities.
So many American troops were backed up over the two days that they had no supplies reaching them. My Father was the Mayor of Le Mesnil-Adelée and he had to order in several calves to feed them all. That day was also the battle of Mount Buon . The fight started during the day and my dad became more and more worried. He told each of us to prepare a pack of clothes and make ready to leave. That evening we walked up to La Haute Broize where the Joseph family lived. Dad followed us after he had buried Gisele.
Sunday Aug 6th
We spent the night in the cave (basement) of La Haute Broize with these families:
Flochs 5 persons Ledos 4
Boutin 10 Sachet 4
Hédou 4 Joseph 7
Rioult 5 (Robert was born in June)
Firing was now coming from north of Le Mesnil Gilbert and the Germans started to settle to the west in Le Mesnil-Adelée, ready for the offensive.
Monday Aug 7th
The morning was quiet, but after a while the fighting became very hard. I was smaller than my sister Louise, who by now was feeling better. She was tall enough to see through the dormer window, the hand to hand fighting taking place outside on the road. It was hell for everyone. It became quieter during the day, but then aircraft attacked again. By nightfall, my father decided, to move on again and to walk to Reffuveille.
When we left that evening, others left too. Germaine Joseph, the wife of Victor, prepared some food, including a turkey. She loaded a basket full of provisions and settled it in the cart. Everyone was walking, but after a while, as we climbed the hill, Germaine became quite tired and needed to ride in the cart. As she was getting on, she stepped in the basket where the turkey was hidden under the glasses. It was so funny, everyone was laughing, and for just a few moments we forgot how serious our situation was. When we arrived near Reffuveille, GI’s gave us some candies. The village where we arrived was called the vieux Reffuveille (Old Reffuveille is along a lane off the Juvigny to St Hilaire road) and we stayed in the house on the corner of the street. During that night, the owners of the house chose to leave the place for us, and they went to sleep in a little outbuilding they used for the pigs.
One afternoon, during our stay there, a tank coming around the corner hit the stone wall of the house. Thankfully, we had all finished our lunch and no-one was behind the wall - but the grandfather clock in the room fell over – so, no more watching the time for us!
The group from La Haute Broize stayed there for about a week, at the chateau of Le Bois Adam the home of Mr Deforges.
Marie
Blouin
“Those trenches became their tombs”
Mr Maurice Bouillault: La Soufficière, Le Mesnil-Tôve
Life under occupation
I was born in 1924 and at the time war was declared I was conscripted to work on France’s eastern front. I didn’t want to go and I hid in several farms.
May 10th 1940
Germans surrounded the Maginot Line, on the eastern front of France. They invaded Belgium and got in by that route. 1,800,000 French were taken prisoner. All of this followed a strategic error on the part of the French army.
By now, we could hear more and more resistance messages on the radio, I heard General De Gaulle’s message of June 18th 1940. He wasn’t well known then. Following that time, a couple of guys left for England, like Mr Juhel from Chérencé Le Roussel. He went with friends, to train and fight. At this time, about 80% of the population supported Petain. It was a confusing situation for the 20% of us who were in opposition, like Mr Forestièr, alias Mark Boulanger a resistance worker. One day, the Germans checked his papers; he had left his original ID card in his wallet, and was taken prisoner.
Life changed little by little. We had three kinds of money, French Francs, Petain’s Francs and German Marks. I remember going to St-Hilaire, to watch a movie. At the end of the movie, a propaganda film was shown.
Another day, leaflets were thrown in the centre of town. Around this time, I caught a pigeon with a message tied on his leg. He was tired, so I let him rest a couple of days in a box, before letting him fly on again.
When the German army arrived, officers stayed in the Hotel Le Roussel. One of them had been a sales rep for the drink called Byhrr. He was well known to the hotel managers. The soldiers were often hungry, so much so, that they often ate raw meat.
Fighting at Le Mesnil-Tôve
I was living at La Soufficière, a farm on the extreme east of the village. On our road, the D-79, there were a lot of criss-crossing sunken tracks. Living with the German army, I was ordered to trench behind the banks, for camouflage. We were forced to work, because armed guards were watching us.
When the America troops arrived, the Germans retreated, and about 100 refugees were trapped on our farm, between the two lines. The German soldiers became very jumpy, and the SS Commanders arrived. Because of that, we could not move far from the farm and we knew the allies were very close, about 100yards away. There was hard fighting from August 3rd to the 7th at Mesnil-Tôve.
Monday August 7th 1944
In the early morning, the mist in the valley allowed the Germans to progress back to Le Mesnil-Adelée. At around 10 or 11am, the mist cleared and enabled the Allies to mount airborne attacks on the German columns. An airborne division had landed on the hill the night before. The Germans seemed to be retreating, although somewhere, a Panzer tank was hidden, firing on, and hitting a lot of US vehicles. It was very efficient until the Allies destroyed it.
By Monday August 7th, two aircraft were shot-down in a field. One pilot trapped upside down in the cockpit by his harness, had a broken leg, and was burnt by leaking gas. He wasn’t freed until the next Friday, when I saw American soldiers taking care of him. When he saw he was still alive, one of the soldiers said ‘Those English have got guts.’ The Germans captured the other pilot, although he escaped from them to reach Falaise. The Pilots flew Typhoons, which were loaded with anti-tank weapons.
In Mesnil-Tôve, we had a beautiful church that had a steeple with an Orthodox shape. During the violent fighting, the church was totally destroyed.
Tanks burned on the left and right. For about six days, civilians were terrorized and had to leave the area.
About 13 civilians were killed, amongst them, my mother. She was killed as she carried food to the refugees on our farm. At La Chevallerie seven more died, four of them children. Many houses and buildings were destroyed, and after that dark time, we had to bury many bodies. Some were civilians, but most were German soldiers, the trenches we were forced to dig became their tomb. We will never forget those terrible days.
Maurice Bouillault
Civilians killed at Le Mesnil-Tôve:
Germaine Bouillault Marie Daunay Louise Chancé Victorine Foulon
Arsène Costard Prosper Grange Armand Daunay Denise Julienne
Daniel Daunay Jeanne Legraverand Marie Legraverand
“The Germans have returned!”
Mr André Clouard: La Boutinais, Le Mesnil-Tôve
I remember in 1939, the mayor of Le Mesnil-Tôve came to put signs on the wall of our barn – that was the start of the propaganda. Later, while in occupation, Germans needed to feed their troops. One day, they requested calves from us, but we still had enough to feed our family. On another day, I was working in the fields when a patrol came, with the Gendarmes, to check if anyone was hidden in the buildings.
By the Summer of 1944, I was 20 years old and we had settled down to life in occupation. Germans stayed about a week, sleeping in our barn, I remember that some of them wanted to fight at all cost.
Saturday 3rd August 1944
Troops were living in our house, and on that day, we couldn’t leave the house because of them. There was shooting outside when the Allied troops arrived on the D-79 road. Tanks arrived, but they were blown up on mines, I remember parts of them hanging on the apple trees. On that same day, Margueritte Pichon’s brother ran outside the house, he was our neighbour, but the Americans mistook him for a spy and shot him. Nobody could leave until the Germans left and the fight was off.
Monday 7th August 1944
Shells had been falling for four days following that first fighting and we were still hidding in a house behind our farm. The allies had arrived four days earlier, but on that morning…. “We are invaded again, Germans are arriving!” said Mme. Langlois who had just walked back from the road. We decided not to stay any longer; each one of us got ready a pack of clothes. On the way, we met Mr Bihour who said “Where are you going with that pack on your shoulder?” we explained the situation at La Boutinais. He would not believe it, but one hour later, the fighting was so intense, that he was probably following us!
On the days following, as we came back home, we saw dead soldiers in the burnt out tanks… about seven dead, and we hurried by. Myself and another couple of young men, were asked to carry them in a horse-cart to a trench, only the tags they had around their necks could be used to help with identification.
André
Clouard
“They cried like Children”
Mr Auguste Blouin: La Boutinais, Le Mesnil-Tôve
In August 1944, I was 17, and was living in a little house called La Boutinais with my parents and my sister Alice. The Clouard family and the Abraham family were our close neighbours.
The Germans occupied our place for a couple of weeks. They settled the cookhouse near the well under the apple trees. Troops took over the buildings, yards, orchards, and hid vehicles in the sunken tracks. We got to know two of the cooks, they tried to talk French with us, explaining their lives in Germany, and showed us pictures of their families. They were about 40 years old.
August 2nd 1944
The fighting started with two shells falling on the farm fields, but they didn’t damage anything. The Germans who occupied our house had to move, officers had been here for 3 weeks. The cooks said they thought bad times were coming as they gave my mother a hug and shook my father’s hand. They said ‘Nous Kaput’ (We’re dead) They left that morning to hide in the woods. Thirty minutes later, the first American troops arrived on the D-79 road from Le Mesnil-Adelée. The line stopped at La Boutinais, and didn’t reach Le Mesnil-Tôve 800 yards away.
August 3rd 1944
The Americans were still around. Behind our farm was a barn and we saw a couple of guns by the door.
We walked in, and there, sat on the floor were 8 German soldiers who had deserted. We called for the G.I.’s to come and take them away. The soldiers had crossed their line and would not fight. We’d helped to save them. On that same day, the Americans were backing up on the road. We expected a really bad time, so we left the house – where we were hidden - and we walked in a sunken track between banks and shady hedges. Shells were falling everywhere; we wanted to be in a safer place. Each evening, Alice and I came home to check the farm animals and our house.
August 6th 1944
A shell fell on our barn, and it burnt down. That day was Alice’s birthday.
August 7th 1944
Mist was in the village that morning, and we could see troops moving again on the road through the window. They were moving to the west. The Germans returned, which frightened us, and that day, we stayed at home.
When the mist disappeared, aircraft were firing on the lines. All day long, life was hell. In the evening, three Germans arrived in a side-car. My parents sat on the bed, trying not to move. The German soldiers kicked the door open and entered our home, asking where the Americans were. They saw a pack of American cigarettes on our table, and they each lit one. They left the house, nervously, and as they reached the motorbike, we heard firing. We didn’t move for about 30 minutes, then we heard crackling outside. Alice said ‘it smells like burning’. We decided to leave, and outside, the bodies of the three Germans were lying, with their vehicles on fire on the road. We left to go to Mesnil Rainfray and then to Reffuveille.
August 9th 1944
After the fighting, we wanted to come back to La Boutinais. As we made our way home, what we saw was so incredible. There were so many destroyed tanks on the road that getting to the farm that way was impossible. There was debris more than 10ft high on the road, and we had to go through the field to get around it.
There were many tanks abandoned in the village, many tanks and trucks abandoned on the little fields around. There were also bodies strewn, both Germans and Americans. At our place, there were six Americans and six Germans. Many buildings and barns were destroyed at La Boutinais, we lost all our machinery and our livestock.[1]
The Abraham’s house (a little manor house behind the cottage at La Boutinais) was destroyed on August 15th by a German shell coming from the direction of Lingeard.
At La Boutinais, we had a war with machines; when the war reached Le Mesnil-Tôve it was hand-to-hand combat and the casualties were much higher.
“We
were smarter than them!”
Mr Henri Patin: L’Aunay, Le Mesnil-Tôve
I was 18, and we lived close to the river Sée at L’Aunay. Life changed little by little during the occupation. I had to cycle 15km away to Ducey, just to get some salt. At home, we grilled barley to make coffee. We made our own bread and you needed ration cards to get sugar. There were restrictions for many things that we needed for life. Even to make new clothes, we had to cut up old ones.
Germans used to share our house and they slept in my room, but we were smarter than they were. One day, they requested a horse from us. Our horses were hidden in a barn behind La Boutinais. The officer ordered “You will lead us to the horses”, that was in the house, and I would not help them. Little by little, I crept out of the door, and walked off to hide in the sunken way.
I know that the fighting was heavy by Mesnil-Tôve village. I recall that some families were hidden in a cellar underneath a house on fire. In other places, the inhabitants were prisoners in their own home, under guard. They were followed even when they went to get water from the well. My uncle Jules Lemauviel had to be careful when he met G.I.s: “comrades” he would shout, to stop them from shooting him.
At mid-day on August 7th, we left our home to stay at La Derée at Juvigny, whilst the counter-attack was underway.
Back home again a couple of days later; we had to bury German bodies in Mr Gretzel’s field. “at the time, we didn’t check their dog-tags… we only did that when we cared who it was we buried”
Henri Patin
“Ours is a big family now!”
Renée Clouard: La Besnardais, Le Mesnil-Tôve
Life in 1944 was so different from nowadays. My family lived at La Besnardais, to the east of Mesnil-Tôve. We all lived on little farms that were about six to twelve hectares, along side the D79 road. Every morning, about forty children went to school from that side of the village, they were all from big families like mine. In 1944, I was eleven years old. My brothers Arsène and Aimable and sister Denise, were younger. Mother was Aimee Costard, and Father was Constand Clouard. I remember Dad away for two or three days, when he was requisitioned to help the German army somewhere.
Thursday August 3rd
We saw 3 columns of Germans arriving and settling on the farms around. Civilians also arrived with them from Moulines, near St Hilaire. Mr Mette had a beautiful cart, and the Germans requisitioned it as well as one of our horses to hitch it to. At this time, we children were afraid to see soldiers with their guns, I remember one time they stayed with us; they had an omlette and then went to sleep on the floor. Although we were in our beds, we didn’t get much sleep that night.
The day after the last column arrived, the soldiers seemed to be really nervous. I remember they asked my cousin if she was single, or her husband imprisoned, or if she was a widow. We became more and more fearful.
Saturday August 5th
The Americans were arriving all day, it was quiet, and we gave them cider and coffee, and we watched the progress of their army on the road. The Germans were gone.
Sunday August 6th
The Americans were here until about 5pm and then they left -we wondered what was happening.
Monday August 7th
Many Germans arrived back on the farm; they came to our home, took the doors and furniture from the house and carried them back to cover their trenches. Then they posted everybody along the line. That day, the sky was full of planes, and there was a lot of fighting. That evening, it was quieter, and we actually slept all night.
Tuesday August 8th 1944
There was a big battle on that day, to see the fire coming from the guns was really frightening. We fled from La Besnardais to Mrs Julienne’s house, with about 20 other people. In the evening, our parents had to come back to the farm to milk the cows.
Wednesday August 9th
We were still hiding at the same place, and I remember on that day, there were a couple of victims at La Chevallerie, the nearby farm. The house where the Daunay family were hiding caught fire and although the four older children escaped from the house, Mrs Daunay was killed. Her baby, Daniel was wounded, and didn’t survive long after. That evening, Mr Constand Daunay was forced to leave his farm by the Americans; they took his children to safety, and he left after he’d buried his wife and child.
Thursday August 10th 1944
It wasn’t possible to stay at La Besnardais as shells had damaged one house and a tank had damaged our home. As we made our way to La Boutinais, by way of L’Aunay, we came across bodies on the road, which was horrible. We reached the home of the Breux family first and then we made our way to La Derée at Juvigny-Le-Terte. Mr & Mrs Leroy let us stay for about 2 weeks in their house, a couple of us slept under the stairs each night. It was much safer than at Mesnil-Tôve and our hosts treated us like their own children. Our neighbours Renée Malle and Marie Thérése were also at La Derée at the home of Mr and Mrs Poullain.
Friday August 11th
At midnight, Mr Constand Daunay arrived at La Derée, he told us about the traumatic time he’d had at La Chevallerie.
Saturday August 12th
The war was raging to the east of our village, and today Mrs Bouillaut was a victim that day.
September 8th 1944
The war was over for us and life continued. We spent that day with other children, helping our parents to harvest the apples. An American half-track vehicle had been left in our orchard and when dad arrived that evening to work, it blew up. Mum had a broken wrist, my cousin Alice was injured in the throat. My father didn’t survive; he was lying dead in the orchard.
November 1946/7?
We celebrated a Wedding that brought together two families who had each lost one of their parents during the war. Aimée Clouard and Constand Daunay had 4 children each. For the wedding, our cousin Gorgette Clouard sewed for a week, for all us children; woollen socks, short pants, and coats made from parts of shirts that we re-dyed.
Ours was a big family now!
Renée Clouard
Aged 71
28 December 2003
“Strange noises from the empty house”
Mrs Lucienne Leprovost: Le Bourg, Chérencé Le Roussel
I was born January 8th 1928 and was 16 in the summer of 1944. We lived in the village where my parents owned the local bakery. My Father was a 1914-18 veteran.
Thursday August 4th 1944
The fighting had started a few days before. We sought refuge near Reffuveille. On that day, coming back to check on our home, in the evening, we passed the house of Mr Lafontaine at Le Mesnil-Tôve. We heard people talking, which was very strange, because we knew everybody had left the house. Curious, we listened. It was a foreign language. The Americans had arrived here, and we realised that they had discovered the cellar, and were having a good time tasting Cider, Wine and Calvados. We left them to it and returned home!
Sunday August 6th 1944
In the early morning, rockets attacked Chérencé. The goal was to cut the bridges that crossed the River Sée. It became quieter and life carried on in the village. It was mass, and I was in charge of opening the church doors at the end of the service. Everybody was outside, when suddenly there was a new rocket attack. One hit to the right of the bakery, on the road. Another hit the rock in the cemetery. The crowd panicked and two people were hit - an old man, Mr Deslandes and a little girl. After that day, many inhabitants left Chérencé.
Civilians who died at Chérencé le Roussel:
Victor Anfray Emile Guilloit Pierre Pinot
Marie Hirbec Jean Hirbec Alice Hirbec
Pierre Bouvet Andre Juhel Emile Lebret
Alexandre Chauvin Margueritte Bouvet
“Just act the innocent”
Mr Adolphe Chenu: La Sufficière, Bellefontaine
I was 13 years old in 1944 and lived in the village of Bellefontaine.
June 6th 1944
“What is it that can fall like that?” asked our neighbour Mr Caprais. It was twilight and a plane was flying so low that we could see something falling from it.
“I tell you, it’s a man!” answered his son, Hubert.
The parachutist landed on our field near our farm “Brûlez le parachute!” Burn the parachute he said clearly in French when we met him “Où sont les Allemands?” where are the Germans? he asked “Ils ne sont pas ici, Ils sont plus haut a St. Barthélémy” they’re not here, they’re higher up at St Barthélémy we replied. He was well informed, as he needed to be on the Rendezvous “ou est le sud?” he asked. We showed him, and then he changed his clothes and left to go to St. Barthélémy. 20 minutes after that, as we were coming back from the field, a second plane flew as low and a second man was dropped on the area. We were thinking about spies who had a meeting point somewhere in the German area, that was a really exciting day for us. I still have a little piece of that parachute we didn’t burn.
July 1944
Every night, we heard Germans moving behind our farm along the shady sunken track. One night, it was full of trucks, the next, full of panzer tanks. They were all camouflaged behind the banks where the trees grew.
We had neighbours at La Corbinière at Le Mesnil-Tôve. For about 6 days, with the young neighbours from that farm we had a mission to fulfil at the pastures near the stream in the valley: Every day, each of us had to carry the hay for feeding the animals that were down there. In the hay bales we hid bread, butter, meat and chicken. Down there were a couple of resistance workers; hiding all day long in a hole they’d dug. Their mission was to block a road near La Chevallaie, by cutting down pine trees. The trees had to fall only while the German columns were passing, to block them. On the road to Le Fresne, they achieved their mission. Each time that I visited them, they gave me much more money than was needed to pay for the food and they hid the notes under the soles of my clogs. On the last day, I went on my bicycle and they hid a letter under the saddle. They told me that it was very important, that I had to carry the message very carefully, walking alongside the bike to Mortain, and deliver it to Mr Leforestier. I arrived there that afternoon, and Mr Leforestièr said that I’d carried out a wonderful mission, that he’d needed that letter, but he hadn’t known how to get it.
Afterwards, I carried two more letters to a Mr Baudrier near the chateau in Mesnil-Tôve. He had come from far away to organise resistance actions in our area “Don’t be afraid, just act the innocent when you work for us!” he said. He gave me more candies each time. I know that I wasn’t afraid for any of the missions, even when I was crossing the German lines. But of course, at this time, they were not really concerned about us. A few days later, when the resistance had left our pasture, German troops took my father, Mr Boulay, and me in a car to their headquarters at La Maygretière, where Mr Ernest Debon lived. There, a translator questioned us “Do you communicate with the Americans?” we assured them we didn’t, that we only fed animals in the pasture and fortunately they believed us so we were home by that evening. Because of what I did at that time, I was given the Resistance Cross as an honour, and I still have it today.
Wednesday August 3rd 1944
On that day, 47 shells exploded on our lower field of 8000m2 up near the farm. The Germans were firing and life was hell, but they were unable to cut the D33 road as they wished.
Saturday August 5th 1944
Around 4pm, 24 big aircraft flew over and dropped about 200 parachutists on the wood of Anglivet on the hill, then flew off.
At 5pm, a little plane made a tour over the woods of Montfergon to the east, then the plane turned a second time and dropped a coloured powder on the German lines. That evening, German soldiers left the forest where the powder had been dropped. They all had gas masks and we don’t know what the powder was, but we saw a couple of Germans that seemed to have some sort of poisoning.
Sunday August 6th 1944
American Sherman tanks came down across the woods from Juvigny; they didn’t stay long, as they were fired on and they turned back.
By 5pm, German tanks were arriving continuously, going towards Mesnil-Tôve and Mesnil-Adelée. There were so many, we wondered where they were going to park them all! By this time, soldiers had ordered us to leave our home. We walked along the road behind our house, and suddenly, Mr Caprais who knew some German words yelled ‘Frankreich’ (“France”) – a Panzer tank was about to run over us and he only just managed to stop. Whereas before, the troops didn’t worry us, now they were getting really nervous, and we started to really worry about them.
Monday August 7th 1944
The fight was on all day long, with no way to hide in the roads as English planes were firing. The Germans took us and kept us with other refugees at La Corbinière. There was no way out at this time, we were like prisoners and shells were exploding everywhere. That evening, all the German troops left, but the fight was still on. We could see the shells exploding on the hills, because German troops were there.
Friday August 11th
It was an unbearable afternoon. A small plane flew over the roads where the German columns were hidden. Ten minutes after that, the column was targeted by the rockets of the typhoons. I was crossing the field, returning from checking the animals with my older brother, when we met Mr Boulet, the mayor of Bellefontaine and Father Margery. They said ”get away from here, it’s full of Germans down there.” In fact, the Germans were trying once again to take up position to the west; they stayed there about an hour. In the middle of the field, we were not protected. When we heard the whistling shell overhead, we hit the ground. I had an old blanket with me that I pulled over my head. The shell bounced once on the ground and exploded twice. A piece of shrapnel wounded my forehead, but I was protected against the blast by the cover, unfortunately, my brother, who was alongside me, was not protected and got the full blast. He was lying still and not breathing anymore. Victor was 20 years old.
Saturday August 12th
That day, we were on ‘Le Mont-Morin’, a place behind our farm. We were still trying to find a safer place. The Germans were still there and a soldier tried to hide Mr Boulet and I in a trench. With that, a shell exploded. Only an officer was wounded, who was lying beside a sidecar. I remember, he was wearing a special uniform with a white rope around the collar, he was unconscious and two soldiers got him into the side-car and opened his uniform, we could see his chest was wounded. Then one of the soldiers climbed onto the side-car, checked that no-one was around and kicked the officer until he was dead. We were amazed to see the scene, and we thought about the hatred that the soldiers felt for the SS. The soldier rode off with his dead superior in the sidecar.
That evening a neighbour, Gustave Marie, was milking his cows near the stream in the valley, when he heard noises near a hedge. He saw black Americans attacking Germans who had been hidden in a trench all day. They fought hand to hand, and many of them didn’t leave that place. That was one of the hardest fights of Mesnil-Tôve, it was also one of the last fights.
Civilians killed at Bellefontaine:
Victor Chenu Lucien Poisnel Maurice Poisnel
Adolphe Chenu
Aged 70 years
14/12/03
Sadly, Mr Chenu died in early 2004
“War is never done”
Mr Louis Auvrouin: Le Mesnil Adélée
I
was just a kid of 10 then, but I remember the 1914-18 war. My father Eugene was
a veteran of that war and he said, “We had cabbage stalks to fight with” He
described so well how weak the army was.
“Good Luck” said my dad when I left for the army in 1939. I was 31 years old and in the 6th Division under General Lucien, a St Cys school officer. When I was on the line the French army just didn’t have enough supplies of food, ammunition and equipment, with which to fight the strong German Army.
I was on the northern extremity of the front at Sadan. There it was, the the Maginot Line. Every 15 metres was a 15 mm gun to stop anyone from crossing over. My posting was as a radar engineer. We had to work outside when the tanks crossing the woods cut the wires. The Maginot Line was a good defence but not complete. Once complete, that line would reach across the whole of northern France, but the Belgian government didn’t agree with the strategy and allowed the Germans to invade from the north.
In 1940 I was posted behind the line. One day I got the train at Boulay to return to Normandy to see my wife Renée and my sons René and Daniel. When I returned to the front, the situation was very confusing. The Germans were looking for my company; one of the last to keep fighting. Behind the Maginot line one day, our troops crossed a hill. The Garman army turned to follow us and cut us off at the border with Switzerland where we had hoped to escape. We retreated to Brabant hiding in a farm where a disabled elderly man gave us food and shelter. His children had already left and we cared for him for a few days, grateful for his help.
I was near Montmedi when a shell exploded near me. A fragment cut my puttees - I couldn’t use them anymore!
At Toulless, the company was hidden in a castle for several days. One morning when I was walking outside I found myself close to 2 German soldiers. When I got back inside and asked my comrades what we should do, I was told there was to be a truce and we were to surrender.
My brother Marcel was also a soldier, in the north of France. They tried to cross the channel to reach England. He had been captured as he tried to get on the boat.
Kassel, near to Landau was the place where I was held prisoner. During the day, the German guards watched over us but by night we were able to gather together and talk. That first winter in Germany, I was very cold. I had no warm clothing and I made a jacket from an old blanket. I had no waterproof shoes but I didn’t complain – some of my comrades were worse off than me. I had never known such a winter.
Life became a bit easier when I worked for a Mr Ziller who was a blacksmith. That old man was a 1914-18 veteran and his son was a marshall in the Wermach. I could talk to them, like one soldier to another about the situation at that time.
One morning I was delivering wheat to the Kornhaus and the manager said to me “the Americans are in Normandy” I replied in German that that was a bad situation. “Morgan frauhe, im wasser” (tomorrow, back in the water) he said. Mr Ziller knew I was from Normandy and knew I was worried about the safety of my family during the invasion. He put his radio in the cellar of the house so that I could listen to the news – it was all in German, but it was a way for me to try to find out how things were.
As a prisoner I was allowed to receive two postcards and one letter each month. No envelope and no pictures attached. Sometimes I made pictures to send to my sons. René was 4 and Daniel was 18 months old when I left France – they didn’t know me at all. Each time that a package arrived for me someone opened it. Our families sent us canned foods, tobacco or cigarettes.
One day, Marcel Joseph sent me a letter. I got to know about it when the old boss asked a priest to read it (The priest could read French) The priest asked if I was interested in politics and told me “That letter puts you in a very bad situation because it’s full of politics and Hitler!” Then he asked if I had children and I told him of René and Daniel. He asked me to follow him to the fireplace where he burned the letter. The priest was also a veteran of the 14-18 war, and I think I was really lucky to have been amongst people who held different opinions to their government.
I remember my boss showing me a map of France showing how Hitler would change it: North of France was for Germany, the South for Italy, and independence for Brittany and Normandy with Paris. I was really confused about the future.
Some of my fellow prisoners were very homesick. A couple of them didn’t survive the 5 years in that situation. What was so important was to talk together and keep each other’s spirits up.
In 1945 liberation arrived and I was so happy to find my sons and my wife. Thanks to the allies, our country was defended and an end brought to the war.
My grandfather Louis Auvrouin was a soldier in the 1870’s war, my father Eugene a soldier in the First World War, I fought in the Second World War, and my son René in the 1950’s in the Algerian War. Four generations of my family have known war like so many other families in France and Europe. Today, the countries of Germany, Great Britain and France have made peace and built the European Union. “But war is never done, somewhere on the earth”
Louis
Auvrouin Aged
95
February
20th 2004