Escape in Normandy - 82nd Airborne Division

[2RHPZ]

Marcel Bollag was born in Switzerland and came to the United States as a child. He served in the 82nd Airborne Division, and was captured by the Germans after parachuting into Normandy on D-Day. He wrote this account of his escape while the war was still going on.

****I herewith want to give a picture of what happened to me since D-Day to July 19th, when I returned to the American lines. Many items have to be left out as they might give away information which would help some other soldier escape at some future date.
*** I am a paratrooper attached to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. Let us go back a few weeks when we were sitting out in an airport somewhere in England all equipped and ready to take off to one of the most important and decisive assaults on the continent of Europe. The morale of the troopers is always excellent. We had movies every night, sports during the day, and the meals were excellent. Then finally came the day everybody had been waiting for – June 6th, 1944.
*** There was no excitement during Monday, June 5. The usual rush to "chow." I guess those Air Corps boys never forget the troopers. We ran to the chow line like wild people; a lot of noise and pushing around. Monday night, June 5th, I had my last G.I. chow for many days to come.
*** After supper we got our equipment ready and then were taken to the planes. The weather was beautiful, sunshine, no wind, just perfect for a parachute jump. I laid down my equipment in the plane and then went outside to get some fresh air. There was plenty of time yet for the takeoff was scheduled for midnight.
*** There were 19 fellows on our stick. My number was 16. At about 10:30 p.m. we put our equipment on; a rather difficult affair. I must have weighed at least 300 pounds with all the ammunition, grenades, etc.
*** We then loaded up into the planes and waited. In the Army you always wait. This is the old game, and we had been waiting plenty for this invasion.
*** Finally, at about 11:30 p.m., the motors of the planes started rolling and then I began to realize that this time it was going to be the real thing. We cleared the field at about midnight, we being the last plane in that particular formation.
*** I looked through the window and I could see a long row of planes – a real wonderful sight. Very soon afterwards we all went to sleep. I guess the nerves were just overtired.
*** The next thing I remember was the time we received orders to take off our Mae West [life jacket], which was a rather hard thing to do. Shortly afterwards we hit land and got orders to stand and hook up, a command which is well-known to us.
*** All of a sudden the flak came up real heavy. Our plane bounced up and down and took off from the formation to the left. I knew then that we were alone; no other plane was near us.
*** We flew straight through the Peninsula and soon hit the east coast. The pilot turned around and headed inland again. Flak came up very heavy and knocked out our jump light. The pilot then ordered us to jump by telephone.
*** We got ready to leave the door. I had never been so glad to jump out before than this particular time. Our plane was hit rather heavily by machine gun fire. The bullets bounced off left and right of the door but I got out. The opening shock was not bad at all. Maybe my thoughts were somewhere else. I looked around to see where I was. Machine guns were shooting at me, but I didn’t get hit.
*** I landed 200 feet away from a house, which I found out later to be a German command post. The landing itself was rather good. I hit an electric wire with my arm, which did not hurt badly. I then came down on the road. I felt a little relieved.
*** Immediately I slipped back on the side of the road near a hedgerow. My parachute was across the hedgerow in the next field. I started cutting myself out of the harness. By that time the machine guns were hammering away. One cannot mistake those machine guns as being German. You hear a short burst, "brrrrr, brrrrr, brrrrr."
*** I crept along the hedgerow in the opposite direction of the house. Every time I moved, the "Jerries" opened up on me with machine guns and machine pistols. I also heard a few rifle shots, which didn’t bother me much. What I was most interested in was to find some troopers from my plane and try to assemble somehow. So I advanced very slowly. I came to a corner of a field when the machine gun bullets began flying too close for comfort. I also heard two Germans shout at each other back there. I reached for one of my hand grenades and threw it over the bush into the machine gun nest. Also, we had been told to fire only if necessary. I realized I was on my own and had better make sure the way was clear. This gun kept silent from then on. I never went to check, but continued on my way.
*** So far I had not met a single American – a rather disgusting situation.
*** The Germans moved in closer on me from all sides. I tried to find a real good hideout, but it was beginning to be daylight. I could not cross the road to my left as that side was full of Germans. I could not climb over the hedgerow for the fields were covered with machine gun fire and nests. It was almost daylight and I believe the Germans must have spotted me right then. From my right a machine gun opened up. From behind I heard rifle fire, and about three "Heinies" appeared in front of me on the road and sprayed their Schmeisser machine pistol.
*** I was lying on the ground, having my carbine ready. I fired three shots, then had a stoppage. I was still pulling my bolt back when two Germans were in front of me pulling me out of the ditch. The third Nazi covered me with his pistol from the rear.
****The fight was over at that moment. They took my gun away and took me back on the road. I posed as though I were wounded and they believed it. In fact, they let me put my arm on their shoulder as I pointed out to them that my knee was hurt. Anyhow, we got along on the road and came to the house which was actually a German command post.
*** We entered the room and there I saw about 44 fellows from our formation sitting with their hands up. I knew right away what had happened – in fact, I was aware all the time that we had jumped into a German strongpoint.
*** Well, from then on things were not too good. I was stripped completely and they actually did not miss much. My jump suit was taken off, my shirt was ripped open, and my boots and pants were removed.
*** The Germans were amazed at our equipment, and we really had plenty. The K rations (candy, razor blades, soap, etc.) were rather welcomed in that house.
*** After they got through searching me, I was allowed to sit down; however, I had to keep my hands up. This got rather tiring after a few minutes. In the meantime, two wounded boys, also from our plane, were brought in and I heard the one German say that one of our soldiers was dying upstairs. We had three guards inside the house pointing their rifles with bayonets at us.
*** After the German officer left the house I could see the guards relax a little, so I started asking one of them if he spoke French. He said "Yes," and soon I could see that he was an Austrian. We had a very short conversation, out of which I managed to get a glass of beer for all of us. He told me also that we could put our arms down, but, of course, as soon as the door opened, "up they go." A typical German idea; just scared of the higher NCOs and officers. Between themselves the German guards were swearing – they thought it was rather rough to get up so early that morning and did not like the idea of this invasion.
*** Well, the time passed and they brought in one more man. Then suddenly a German corporal came running in the door all excited and pointing at me and saying in German, "I am going to shoot this man; he killed one of my best friends."
*** "No," said a German sergeant. "Don’t shoot him; he did not come out to play. He has only done his duty." This was a pleasant surprise for me.
*** Soon afterwards, the U.S. planes came over and it was then I saw the Heinies sure hate our Air Corps. They took us immediately into a dugout across the road. Of course, not to protect us, but merely because they were afraid to stay in the house themselves. We spent about an hour in there, always closely guarded. Afterwards, they marched us away.
*** We stopped at a regimental command post and then went on to a clearing station. I had almost nothing left – no helmet, no personal belongings at all except they had forgotten to take my watches and my rings. My personal wallet also had disappeared, and about three times I had asked them to give me back at least a couple of snapshots which they refused and made fun of. They liked my sister’s picture very much.
*** Arriving at the clearing station, I saw a truck, or better, what the Germans call a vehicle. Back in the States we would not keep something like that in the junk yards. It was a stolen French truck. We had to pile in, and then they brought two more wounded men. One of them was my own officer. Of course, no talking – and they really meant it. Once I tried to speak to the officer and the bayonet moved too close to suit me. It was a generally "screwed up" affair. The driver got lost, asked the way every two minutes, and finally it must have been close to noon when we arrived at a division command post. The wounded were then taken to some hospital and the rest of us were lined up in front of a wall. What now, I wondered. A rather big captain appeared at the door, looked at us, and then gave us back our pay books. Wallets and all other belongings were kept there.
*** Then they too us up to Valogne, a few kilometers to the north. We passed through the town and arrived at a prison camp shortly afterwards. We lined up in front of a building. A French Red Cross woman wanted to give us some milk but the Germans refused. Then we were put into the enclosure, an open field with barbed wire around it and machine guns in all corners.
*** So far we hadn’t eaten anything, and I was rather hungry. However, the "Heinies" did not worry about that.
*** A few minutes later, I was called into the house for interrogation. A second lieutenant was doing the job. He took me upstairs in his personal room and pointed out to me how well he lived, which, of course, did not interest me a bit. He then let me sit down, and asked me my name, rank and serial number.
*** "What outfit are you from, Sergeant?" he asked.
*** "I don’t have to tell you that," I answered.
*** "Yes, we know already the AA is the 82nd Airborne and the other thing is the 101st," he said.
*** I had my shoulder patch taken off so he could not see what I was. So I said, "If you know already, what are you asking me for?" This kept him quiet and he gave up right then trying to get more information out of me. He told me about an uncle somewhere in Buffalo, New York, and then said I should go back to the camp. This was about 2 p.m., June 6th. We then sat down in the grass and watched more prisoners come in.
*** At about 3 o’clock a big formation of bombers came over Valogne and smashed the town to bits. It was very near to our enclosure. One plane was shot down and the pilot bailed out. A few minutes later he was amongst us. He was the first man to tell us about the successful invasion.
*** The rest of the afternoon we were laying around just waiting. At night we stayed in the open enclosure, a rather cold night without any blankets. Very little gun and artillery fire for the first day of the invasion. But I had big hopes to be recaptured by our incoming troops. So our morale was excellent.
*** June 7th, Wednesday: More troopers came in early in the morning. Breakfast, or whatever you may call it, was served at 8 a.m. consisting of the famous "knaekebrot." This is a hard-pressed biscuit (mostly sawdust in it). In order to eat it you must shake the "bugs" out of it first; they seem to have found a home. Well, if you are hungry, I guess anything tastes good.
*** The morning was beautiful. Once in a while an 88 would fly over our heads; otherwise it was quiet. The morning was spent just waiting around. Machine guns were set up in all corners – I guess just to impress us.
*** The noon meal consisted of "knaekebrot" again and a very small cup of coffee. At about 1 p.m. the Germans called out all prisoners from the 101st Airborne to get up and leave. I stayed on until 3 p.m. when all 82nd men were told to get up. We formed a column of four and were counted at least ten times. About 20 guards were put in charge of us, mostly Austrians, Czechs and Poles, as I soon found out. The master sergeant, a real Nazi who was in charge of this movement, told the guards in plain language that if any of us made a move they must shoot. Then we took off and marched through Valogne.
*** The Germans apparently had orders to march us through every possible village in order to show us off to the French people. The French were standing in their doors giving us a wink with their eyes. I could notice how happy they actually were to see us. We were marching along the main road toward Cherbourg. Everybody was in an excellent mood for we were very much encouraged to go north, trusting that the peninsula had been cut by our army and the Germans could not evacuate us anymore to Germany.
*** Every 50 minutes we would take a 10-minute break and get some water. I spoke to a German guard, a young Czech, trying to find out where we were going. He did not know himself or maybe he was scared to tell me. Soon one of the troopers started to pull his leg and one German on a bicycle offered him a ride, a rather nice gesture. A few seconds after this 20 more American soldiers tried to do the same. However, the Germans laughed at it.
*** At about 4:30 p.m. we stopped once more at a farmhouse to drink some water. I asked the woman in French for some milk and she ran to get a glass for me. When she returned, one of the guards received the glass and drank all the milk. The poor woman could not say a word. I thanked her just the same and she understood me. All along the way we had seen the German fortification terrifically strong. There were so many troops around that it was of no use to even try to escape. We would not have lasted an hour. So I marched on, always having in mind to "take off," but waiting for a better chance.
*** Our column arrived late in the afternoon at our destination, a prison camp at Tourlaville, right outside Cherbourg. The Heinies lined us up, and told us this was our last chance to get rid of our weapons if we had any at all. The German interpreter said, "We will treat you decently if you behave well. If not, we will ship you to a place where I can assure you you will not like it. If any of you try to escape, we shall shoot him at once and ten other men with him." This was a nice welcome, but we had big hopes of being freed soon by our troops. After all, I knew that we had to drive toward Cherbourg and capture it. So I decided to sit tight and wait.
*** Then they took us to our new homes. A barrack, 65 men in each, no air, no light – in other words, miserable. We stayed in there, played cards or talked about our future, which, of course, was a dark one at that moment. We ate something that night, but too little. Just a little bit of soup.
*** One more announcement was made in a rather ridiculous tone of voice. The Nazi said, "Every morning from 6:45 a.m. to 7 a.m. you better shake the fleas out of your clothes." Well, we went to sleep that night although I don’t think I succeeded in doing so for one minute. I was listening eagerly for artillery fire.
*** June 8th, Thursday: The windows were opened at about 7:30 a.m. We were glad to get the first fresh air. The fleas almost bit me to death. I found a French book on the floor and started reading it. Doors opened later on and we had our first German breakfast consisting of a piece of bread and a little coffee. It tasted good; however, we were extremely hungry. We were even allowed to wash our hands in groups of six, a great privilege in the Army. Then the interpreter came in and looked around. I felt good, so I asked him, "How is the war going?"
*** He smiled and said, "I am afraid I cannot answer that question." He was an Austrian fellow, quite a decent man. More troopers arrived this morning. I met two more boys from my plane, also some officers from my outfit. We were locked in the barrack in the morning. Morale was high among the troopers.
*** At noon they gave us some kind of meal, a famous German soup – that was all. The afternoon passed away very slowly. I watched through the window how the Nazis were setting up more machine guns toward the barrack. Then the interpreter came in and told us to write down our name, rank and serial number on a slip of paper and also our home address. We made it clear to him that we did not have to give him our address, according to the Geneva Convention, to which he replied, "This is for the Red Cross to inform your parents." We, of course, told him that there was no such thing and he seemed to be satisfied. In fact, he respected us quite a bit. The night passed away just like before – stuffy and no air, impossible to sleep.
*** June 9th, Friday: It was later than 9 a.m. when they finally opened the window shades, and then I saw what was going on. The officers had packed up their bags, put plenty of bread and food in those little horse-drawn carts, and were ready to leave. This was a good sign for us; we thought: "Well, we might try to get out by sea." How wrong I was I found out later on. Anyway, we felt rather hopeful.
*** Then a big surprise came. We were allowed to eat in the mess hall. I was sure the Germans meant to treat us good in order to get decent treatment themselves when our troops would capture them. The mess hall was nice, decorated with flowers, and Hitler’s picture was put up all over. The meal itself was not different from the usual one but we could get two helpings.
*** After the meal we returned to our barracks. Suddenly at 3 p.m. we had to line up in front of the barracks. Every prisoner received one-third of a loaf of bread with a little butter and we were told that this ration had to hold out for three meals. Then we were marched away from the prison camp through Tourlaville into Cherbourg. I really wondered what was going to happen to us. We marched through Cherbourg singing and whistling, "The Yanks are Coming." The German guards just looked at us. They could not understand it at all. However, my face became real long when we were marched up to a railroad track and I saw a train ready. There were no coaches but cattle cars. We were loaded into these cattle cars, about 40 to 45 men in each. Then the doors closed and I waited for the next thing to happen. My morale was terribly low. How could I ever get out of this car if it was going to take me to Germany? Well, I got myself into the corner and sat down in the straw. My friend John, a rigger from the 508th, sat next to me with a long face. Then I saw the ventilator of the car, a hole about two feet long and one and a half feet wide. I could open it and look through. I told John that I was going to jump through there and roll out as soon as it got dark. In the meantime, I was very interested in finding out where we were going. One fellow still had a map left so I borrowed it from him. Everytime we hit a station I tried to locate it on the map and, therefore, soon found out which way we were moving.
*** Well, the pleasure of this ride did not last too long. About one hour later the train stopped and everybody had to get off. This town was Bricquebec. The guards again marched us through the town, made sure all the people could see us, and took us south on a road. We marched about two kilometers and then passed a long German convoy which had stopped there and was filled with American paratroopers. I was amazed to see all the "boys." Every German I could spot had an American parachute scarf around his neck and was rather cheerful. I asked myself, "Has the invasion been successful?"
*** Our group of prisoners was marched to a side path and stopped there. I could then hear a German sergeant tell a corporal that the last half of us would be loaded into those trucks. When I heard it I immediately started out moving toward the front of the column together with my friend. This was not bucking the line exactly, but bucking the bullets which were to come. Anyhow, I managed to get away from a ride and, rather, walked instead. We marched about three more kilometers and then stopped near a big farm which had been transformed into a prisoners’ cage. There the Germans made the distinction between officers, NCOs and enlisted men. We (all NCOs) went into a barn. The officers upstairs could only reach their new home by help of a ladder. Of course, we were locked in good also.
*** As long as we had daylight we played some card games and discussed our possibilities. No chow that evening. We then tried to sleep a little.

[2RHPZ]

June 10, Saturday: The first thing which woke me up that morning were some American P-47 planes which were looking for targets around our area. At about 10 a.m. the Germans allowed us to go to the latrine, then locked us in the barracks. The planes were constantly overhead but did not spot the Germans. Then suddenly in the afternoon the door was opened and we were told to leave. They lined us up again, except for the officers, and gave each one of us a half a loaf of bread and a piece of "German blood sausage" with the remark that this had to last three days. What a feeling I had. There I was starving already and I did start eating some bread. We had a long march ahead of us so I figured it would be better to have something in the stomach. We then lined up outside, with the bread in one hand. It must have been about 4 p.m. The Germans warned us that we had to march at least 70 kilometers before we would hit another camp. OK, we wanted to get started. We marched rather fast, always south on the west side of the peninsula. Passed some villages and many blown-up German trucks. In other words, the American Air Force had been busy over here.
*** We stopped at a crossing. My feet were hurting terrifically. My flea bites had opened up and the whole foot was very much swollen. For a minute I thought I could not continue anymore but, of course, as I had to I got along and after a while forgot the pain. Three Germans bleeding on hands and arms were standing next to their crippled truck which had been hit by our fighters. I had to smile when I saw that. I did not know then that very soon we were to experience something similar or much worse.
*** About 8 p.m. we marched throught Benesville. We had just passed the village and were about 200 yards outside on the main road when suddenly, like lightning, a plane dove down on us. We had seen about three planes circling above us all the time. They were American P-47s. Well, this plane meant business, and I just remember the noise of about eight machine guns blasting away on us in a street.
*** I jumped for the ditch on the right side of the road. So did everybody else. The .50-caliber bullets hit on all sides of me. I just kept praying. As soon as the plane had gone I made a break over the hedgerow into an orchard and looked for some better cover. I had hardly ducked down when the second plane dove down and strafed again. This position was much better for me. I ran again further away and found myself a pretty good spot. I saw the third plane come toward us. One of our boys was standing in the orchard waving a yellow flag, but the pilot could not see it. I stayed another 15 minutes under the bush and then started looking for John. I found him soon. We looked at each other and both had the same idea. Should we try for a break? We both could not decide on it. We looked around and saw the entire road covered with dead and wounded paratroopers. We did not have the heart to leave them there and decided to stay with them. It was a terrible, bloody mess. Everybody in the ditch was killed. Many of the boys in the orchard were completely shot up and dying right there. We took them to the next farmhouse and, of course, tried to help them as much as possible, but we had little or better than none at all medical equipment. How I ever got out of this alive I do not know yet today.
*** In my right pocket of the jump pants I carried a canteen of water. A .50-caliber bullet had hit right through there, knocked out the canteen, but never touched me. I did not know what to think. Two German guards had also been killed, a very small percentage to the number of Americans.
*** I got permission to go to the village and get some woolen blankets from the French people. They were all very willing to give all they had. I took them back to the farm and we then went back to the road to pick up the rest of the boys. One German sergeant said, "Let them lay in the ditches so the civilian people can see how dumb the Americans are to kill their own boys." But this was not even well-received by the German guards. The French farmer gave the wounded some Cognac. Out of 200 paratroopers, about 20 were killed immediately, another 15 died during the night on account of losing too much blood, and many more were severely wounded.
*** We slept in the barn that night. However, I could never close my eyes for a minute. It was a dream for me to be alive right then.
*** June 11th, Sunday: At about 9 a.m. a farmer came into the barn and brought some milk and butter for us. I was really hungry for I had lost all my bread in yesterday’s strafing and had not eaten in 24 hours. I spoke French to the farmer and split up the milk and butter. I then asked him how the chances were to hide out here and he said that he was not the boss but just a plain worker and would go ask the owner of the farm. He came back very soon and told me the boss was afraid of hiding me out and would not take such a risk. I found out that we were 20 miles away from our original drop zone, which now should be in American hands. All this time I did not hear any rifle or artillery fire at all and figured out the Americans must be further away. I spoke to John and we both figured out that there was not much of a chance to get back to our lines at this moment, so we stuck with the other boys.
*** I went into the back yard in the afternoon and pulled out some carrots and onions. I was really starved. We buried the boys in the afternoon under German guard. We all refused to march in the daytime. We did not want to go through a similar experience and the German in charge finally agreed to march at night rather fast and rest in the daytime. We had 60 kilometers to make that night without stopping, so we started out around 6 p.m. at a very quick pace. The troopers really went fast. We passed through La Haye du Puits (completely bombed out; only the church was standing), passed through Lessay (which looked the same), and then cut to the left. At 10 p.m. the German guards were so tired that we took an hour’s break behind some farmhouse. By now we knew we were way past our lines and no more chance to be recaptured. My feet were hurting. Still we kept on moving after 11 p.m. and marched ahead.
*** June 12, Monday: When we took off after our rest period, I decided to march at the very rear of the column. This cost me a little labor for I had to carry a bread case for the Germans. After half an hour I was released and started speaking to this German guard. He was rather friendly. I told him that I knew some German and tried to speak to him. He said I was getting along fine and spoke some English to me. He was a 19-year-old blond fellow, a paratrooper too but had never jumped out of a plane yet. He told me that I was going to have it good in Germany and how many Red Cross packages I would get a month. However, he was certain that Germany was going to win the war. He had no idea what was going on near Cherbourg. Anyhow, we became more or less friends. He said the war was over for me and he did not think that any of us would try to get away. So we walked along, still going quickly, and some of the German youngsters complained of pains. So at 2 a.m. the Heinies decided to stop at a farm and rest. They were dead tired. So were the troopers, only we did not show it too much. We went to sleep in the straw. There were some chickens below me and some noise, but I was too tired to worry about it. Planes were overhead all night but did not pick on anything.
*** Next morning I woke up, looked around, and walked out through the door. The German guards were sitting outside eating breakfast. I was very hungry indeed and had nothing left to eat. I went to see my young blond friend and asked him whether or not I could go to the farmhouse and try to get some bread. He said "yes" and also asked me to get some cider for him. So I went inside the house, saw some old Frenchwoman who gave me a piece of good bread with butter and she put it in my pocket so the Germans would not take it away from me. I also got some cider for the "Nazi" and then looked around the house. There was a real Frenchman standing nearby. I went up to him and asked him what the chances were for me to hide out in that district.
*** "Well," he said, "of course, I shall bring you something to eat if you can get away. You will not have to worry about that."
*** I told him I would let him know by 3 p.m. and he said he would be there at that time. Back I went with the cider, gave it to the German, and then I went to see John.
*** "What do you think of it?" I asked him. "At least if we get away we shall have something to eat."
*** He agreed to take a chance, and I told him to rest a little and try to sleep; we might not get any more sleep for a long while. Exactly at 3 p.m. I looked through the door and saw the Frenchman walk up near the farm. I went nearby and he asked me whether I could read French, to which I said, "Mais oui." So he dropped a little piece of paper which I picked up and then went away. I went back to John, opened it up, and read it. The following sentence was written on it: "I meet you at midnight behind the farmhouse in the orchard." His first name was Albert. Now we studied how we could get away. The actual escape cannot be written down until after the war. It was quite an experience. We had told nobody about it.
*** It was 4 p.m. We were both sitting in the bushes near a small river, well-camouflaged. I don’t think any of us made any move or noise. We were too scared. I watched the rear and John the front. Every time a bird would settle down in the tree next to us I was sure a German would be next to us. Those hours were really terrible. It seemed like a week.
*** At 8 p.m. it got rather chilly but we did not worry about it. It seemed a long time until it got dark. Many times I thought I heard Germans and footsteps. I don’t know today yet whether it was my imagination or the real thing. Slowly and carefully we got up at 11 p.m., climbed up the embankment and looked around, waiting any second to be stopped or shot at. We went through bushes and fields. Once I heard a funny noise. I dropped down in the high grass. The noise came again. I was scared, but only a horse across the hedgerow had taken a step. So we got back to the farm.
*** I moved along the hedgerow. I sent John into the barn to find out whether all had left and I went around the farmhouse to check there. We both met after a few minutes and were happy that all the Heinies and GIs had left. Then we went behind the farmhouse and sat down in the orchard. Would he come and could we trust him? I felt that he was a real good Frenchman. At midnight I heard my name called. I answered with "Oui." Nothing happened. No Frenchman showed up. I did not want to call anymore and unnecessarily attract Germans. We waited until 1 a.m.
*** June 13th, Thursday: I decided now to get some rest. John was excited and said, "Your damn Frenchman surely did not show up."
*** "Just wait," I said. "Don’t worry. We’ll be OK."
*** I found an unoccupied bed in the stable and decided we might as well be comfortable. So we went to bed, shoes on, of course, just in case, and slept a little. I woke up at 6 a.m., got out of bed, and looked through a little hole. Some Frenchwoman was yelling outside. I waited and waited. Finally at 7:30 a.m. I saw a man coming up the road. My heart almost stood still. It was Albert. I opened the door and winked him over. He was the happiest man to see us. First of all he opened his sack and out came a half a loaf of bread, butter, and a bottle of milk. My eyes almost popped out. Milk – I had not seen any fresh milk since I left the States. We really got this breakfast down like wolves. We then talked to each other. Albert told me that the Germans left this farm at 11 p.m. last night. They counted all the prisoners and found us missing but did not look around much. Of course, they could easily figure us among the dead in the strafing two days before. Albert then took us through the fields and showed us a hideout, left us there, and said he would be back at about 2 p.m.
*** We were sitting in the bushes but did not like our camouflage and decided to move about 200 yards away. We were always whispering and figuring out how much of a chance we had to hide until the Americans would roll by. However, at that time the Americans did not roll at all. The war moved very slowly.
*** At about 2 p.m. I heard my name called by a woman. I had been constantly looking at our first hideout because my stomach was talking to me. I was very, very hungry. I took my white handkerchief and waved the woman over. She saw me immediately and came together with a young boy. She told me she was Albert’s wife and that he was busy. She gave each of us a container, a bottle of cider and a big piece of bread and butter. Then she left and said Albert would be back at night. I opened the container. "Hot meat, potatoes, beans, and gravy," I whispered to John. Boy, was I excited. We ate every bit of it and I believe the biggest steak in the States could not have tasted any better. I felt wonderful except for being very dirty, tired, and, of course, rather uncertain.
*** The afternoon went by slowly – much too slowly for comfort. We observed in all directions, but no Germans showed up. Towards 9 p.m. Albert came back. His face was like a mirror when I told him how wonderful this meal was. He was happy to help us. He said he had found a house for us where we could spend the night. Nobody lived in it. After it got dark we walked back to the house, about 200 yards away from Albert’s house, and went in there. There was plenty of straw and Albert brought three blankets to make us comfortable. He said he would be back soon. He came back in half an hour with two bottles of hot milk, plenty of bread and butter, and pulled four hot boiled eggs out of his pocket. Knives and everything were also there. He wished us "good night" and said he would be back in the morning. I asked him about the "Jerries" and he told me there were not many around this neighborhood. We slept good that night, always hoping and hoping. I did not know then that I would be stuck for weeks to come.
*** June 14th, Wednesday: Albert came about 8 a.m. He must have known already that we liked to sleep a lot. He brought milk and plenty of bread and butter again. He sat down next to us and told me that overnight many Germans had passed right nearby and were in this neighborhood. I looked at him a bit worried and immediately said to him, "I guess we must put on civilian clothes." John, my friend, was strictly against it but I made clear to him that the only chance was civilian clothes and I was going to do it. He finally agreed, and I told Albert my plans. He was happy to hear about them for he said it was much less risk for him and he had wanted to tell me the same thing.
*** "Wait a while; I will see what I can do for you." He was gone. In 15 minutes he came back with a big bucket full of hot water, a Gillette safety razor, Gillette blue blades, some soap, and two towels. I wondered where he had picked all these up, but they were there. We washed, shaved, and, believe me, we had quite something to shave. It was the best feeling in a long while except for the first food we got. Then Albert came back again with a big sack over his shoulder. He got out two pairs of farmer pants (they really looked old and worn out), a regular shirt, socks, hunting jacket, French cap and, of course, those famous wooden shoes. All my G.I. clothes, including ring, watches, wings, and boots went into this sack. I looked in the mirror. I was a civilian again – the first time in two and a half years. We laughed at each other, but of course, did not feel too safe. We then went to his home. He is a blacksmith in a small village, the name of which I do not want to disclose at this moment. His wife, of course, I had already met. Then I met Simone, a girl 15 years old, very charming indeed; two boys, Fernand and Louis, 6 and 7 years old; and the youngest of the family, Claude, the cutest baby I have ever seen, blond, and two years of age. He was the happiest little boy I ever knew. Besides the family, two boys stayed at the house, Jean and Albert – two husky boys who worked at the shop. In France, workers in the country stay with the boss, eat and live there.
*** The first thing we did when we arrived was to dig a hole in their garden and put our G.I. clothes in it. We did this in a hurry, covered it up, and planted beans on top of it. Then I heard a lot of noise: "A al soupe," which means, "Let’s go and eat dinner."
*** Everybody settled down at a big table and there was really plenty to eat. I felt right at home right away and was hungry enough for this wonderful meal. We had soup, beef with potatoes, salad, bread and butter, cider (glass after glass) and then coffee with French Calvados. This is the champagne of Normandy – 65 percent alcohol, like Kirsch, only much stronger. It was a lovely meal. I told them our story; the kids were just as interested as the grownups. I believe we sat at the table at least two hours.
*** Albert then told me that the entire family slept in a big trench because of the bombers and said they were going to dig a trench for us. So in the afternoon we got busy making a trench, covering it up, and putting plenty of straw and blankets in it. It was very comfortable. We had dinner at night, talked until dark, and then went to bed. Jean, one of the young workers, slept with us. Just in case the Germans came around, we at least would have a real Frenchman with us.
*** June 15, Thursday: I woke up at 8 a.m. Simone, the young girl, came to our trench and told us breakfast was ready. She was the most wonderful young girl. She worked at home now since the war had started in France and she would do anything for us. These people were really happy and proud having us. We went for breakfast. What a meal!! Not even in the good old States can you eat like that. First, soup with plenty of bread in it. Then 2-3 eggs, potatoes, bread, butter milk, some meat, cider and, of course, calvados. It was like a hotel.
*** After chow we cleaned up and studied the map. We had not had any news since we landed and had no idea what was going on. We figured the Americans should be moving into our area in at least three days. How wrong we were.
*** The morning was spent playing with the kids, playing cards, and watching the women make dinner. Boy, she really could cook. Simone got all the vegetables in the garden and we helped prepare them. John went into the trench and slept. He slept most of the time since he could not speak French and was bored. We had dinner at 1 p.m. (A very wonderful meal) and spent about two hours at it.
*** Well, Albert came in and had some news. First of all, the Germans were moving into this village which was rather inconvenient and, second, he told me that the Americans were not coming our way. Bad news! But he said, "Don’t let it get you down; they will come soon." Albert then told me that the Maire of the village would like to meet us this afternoon. I was afraid all the time the kids would talk, but found out now that the entire village knew we were there. They were proud to help us. One farmer came four kilometers every day to bring two pounds of butter. The woman next door brought milk every morning. The butcher supplied us with the best of meat. The baker gave us all the bread and made cookies for the first time in four years. In other words, everybody gave away whatever he had. One old woman came in to see us and brought the most wonderful jam she had saved up for years. Albert never had so much to eat before we came. Now the people brought in everything.
*** This afternoon we met the Maire, a fine, very pleasant man. He sat down in the garden with us and pulled out a bottle of wonderful white wine. We met lots of people; all were very nice to us. The day passed away much faster. Out of 24 hours, we slept at least 10, ate 7, and the rest of the time we were busy talking to people or working a little in the garden.
*** Our fighter planes were overhead all the time, bombed all around us, and many times we lay in the trenches. This night I went to bed with a full stomach, happy in a way, and with much hope.
*** June 16, Friday: The usual breakfast. I was looking forward to this meal all the time. We ate about four times a day. This morning I played with the kids. We had a lot of fun. Since we came to the house the two workers did not believe in working any more but were always with us, just like a protection. This morning all the people came to say hello, and then we saw some Germans passing outside the house, some on bicycles, on horses, and on foot. When we had dinner one Unteroffizier came in and asked for some eggs, but Madame said they were not farmers and, therefore, had no eggs. The German left. This was our first test with Heinies again, and plenty more were to come.
*** Albert very seldom ate dinner with us. He was busy getting supplies from different people, and believe me, he knew just where to get them and how. His business was dead anyway since the war came and nobody bothered him much. He came back at 3 p.m., ate some soup, of course, and told us that he had found out two more paratroopers lived 1 kilometer away with one of his friends. They also dressed in civilian clothes. This, of course, was grand news for us. We wanted to see them badly.
*** This afternoon we sat in the garden and took a sunbath. Suddenly I heard a noise in the hedgerow and saw a French policeman climbing over it. He had a pistol. It was too late to run. Boy, was I scared. He came nearer and asked me whether we were the two fellows staying with Albert.
*** "Yes," I said. So he opened his blouse and pulled out a big bottle of champagne.
*** "Pour vous," he said, and we drank together. He was a swell guy. He told us how glad he was that we had gotten away from the Jerries and told me when we tried to go back to our lines he would give me a pistol. It was a wonderful afternoon. He promised us he would come again the next day and would bring along another friend. He took off, and we still did not believe what had happened. This little village seemed to be OK – everybody willing to help us. I felt a lot safer and thought I could trust these people.
*** Albert told us of many Germans moving in so we had to be careful. This afternoon Julien, a new character, showed up. He seemed to be rather well informed about the news. He told me of a P-47 pilot living next to him also in civilian clothes. He promised me he would bring him over. At this time the pilot was still hurt from a crash but he was supposed to be OK within a few days. So this Friday was a rather pleasant day. At night a few people from the neighborhood came over and we spent a pleasant evening.

*** Then came Saturday.

[2RHPZ]

June 17, Saturday: Saturday was always a bad day for us. We got up at the regular time. During breakfast already a German pushed his way into the house and began looking for something. We got rid of him. This morning we spent in the kitchen helping prepare potatoes, salad, and vegetables. It was shortly after dinner when a woman came running into the house, almost out of breath, and told us that Germans were looking in all the houses for escaped paratroopers. She had hardly finished her sentence when the two of us took off through the back door and went into the fields. We had a certain spot arranged and Albert told me he would come for us when it was safe again.
*** All afternoon we were hidden in the bushes. It was really hot. I figured the Germans were bound to get us. We were well-camouflaged but could not move. Finally at 9 p.m. Albert came around and told us to come back to the house. The Germans had come, asked for troopers, looked in all rooms, and then collected every linen sheet in the house for making Red Cross flags. We decided right then that we should have identification cards and residence papers just in case we got stopped by the Nazis. Next morning at 10 a.m. this was already done.
*** This night I could hardly sleep. For a while I thought the Heinies had forgotten about us, and suddenly they were looking again.
*** June 18, Sunday: Excellent breakfast. At 10 a.m. Julien came with a bicycle and brought the identification cards. Also two photos which resembled us rather well so we pasted them in and then went upstairs to make our fingerprints. From this day on my name was Jules, and even the little boy Claude soon caught on to it and called me by that name. I felt a lot safer now and started going out. Julien also brought us the latest news. Sunday was a good day for the Nazis to move. They rolled by every minute [Page 12 of the original manuscript was missing so what follows is from theoriginal page 13 and is left undated].
*** I told him about our adventure with this Heinie and he laughed about it. Shortly after dinner Julien came in and said "Hello." He had come many times before. He took me aside and went upstairs with me. He carried his bundle like every Frenchman did. He opened it and told me that his radio did not work on the French station anymore and I should listen to the English. He was excited for he had missed the news. So we set up the radio, aerial, etc., and then I started listening. It was very weak, a self-made radio or crystal set, but I could hear American music. It was the program from London for the American forces. My face shined like a mirror. I must have been the happiest man right then just to hear American music – music from home. I called John over from the trench and had him listen for a while. No news. I sat the whole afternoon listening to the program, watching through the window to see that no German was looking our way. Julien had to take the radio back with him but promised to bring it back later in the week.
*** We had supper that night and our usual session afterwards. Gabriel, a girl from the next farm, came over to say "hello;" in fact, she stayed all night. We had a cushion fight at about midnight and all I remember is that I woke up in the morning outside the trench shivering all over my body. This was the first time this cider really got me a little.
*** June 20, Tuesday: I felt kind of tired from the last night and slept after breakfast again. I went down to the workshop, watched the two fellows making wheels for those horse-drawn carts, and then took Simone’s bicycle and went into the village. I went to see the baker, grocer, butcher, etc. Every place I dropped in I had to drink wine, cider, and eat. It was a very pleasant afternoon. I had real friends all over, and the Germans on the road didn’t bother me much. I came home with a sack full of food, gave it to Albert’s wife, and even brought some candies and chocolates for the kids. They had not seen it for four years and, of course, were crazy about it. They never wanted us to leave for now they had plenty of good stuff to eat. John had slept most of the day away and felt kind of funny when we had to go to bed again at 10 p.m. I told him what I had done and then we both fell asleep.
*** June 21, Wednesday: The bread situation in the village had gotten worse. Rumors went around that it would last only two more days. Albert was a handy man so he decided to bake some himself. He had friends everywhere, and having us in his house he could get flour, eggs and milk. So I went with him to a farm 1 kilometer down the road. A rich widow woman (her name was Mary) owned this place. We got there and I saw three Germans washing in front of the house. A whole company had parked here for the past three days already. However, it did not bother me much. I went into the house, put down my hayfork, and met a German officer. He was friendly and said "hello." Albert and I then got hold of about six bundles of wood and carried them down to the bakery. We then started making bread. It was quite hard work and took a long while. We had our dinner with Mary, a most wonderful meal with wine and champagne. She would give me anything she had in the house. It was also Mary who had killed a calf five days previously especially for us so we had plenty to eat. These French women can really cook. After dinner we went to build the fire in the stove and put the bread in. While it was in the oven we drank many bottles of cider and talked about the war and different things.
*** The bread was a real success. We carried home about 15 big loaves. But, of course, I must say the French people really eat bread at any time of the day. This bread was almost like cake. We had used plenty of butter, milk and mashed potatoes so it tasted wonderful.
*** John had been worried all day about my disappearance and since he could not make the woman understand him she had come down to the house especially and I wrote a note to tell him where I was.
*** June 22, Thursday: This morning a new visitor came to see us. Charlie, an American P-47 pilot who had crash-landed nearby some days ago, found out about our being here and came to say "hello." He was a swell fellow. He lived about four kilometers away at a French school with some very lovely people. We talked about our experiences – he had had some, too – and then he offered to give me his pistol in case I intended to make it back through the lines. He also gave me 1,000 francs which I gave to this family. They refused first but I made them take it. After all, they were poor people. Charlie stayed for lunch. We promised to visit him soon and kept in touch with him through Julien, who made the rounds almost every day.
*** In the afternoon we worked in the garden and dug some holes because these people had decided to hide their dishes and a few other odd things incase they had to evacuate. The Germans came into the house every day and stole anything they liked. One day they took off with the last bit of coal this blacksmith had hidden. Across the road they had stolen two horses and killed two cows. It was really bad. People were excited but couldn’t do very much. I’ll never forget one German who came into the house with his pistol pointing at the woman and asking for eggs. They surely did not fool around.
*** By now the Americans were still near La Haye du Puits but did not move much. The Germans made everybody move out of their houses before they abandoned the village. These people moved south, destination unknown. Some of them just had a chicken under the arm or the richer ones a horse with a wagon behind it.
*** June 23, Friday: In the morning we went to see our two friends nearby and discussed the situation of what we were going to do if we had to evacuate. As we strolled through the fields we saw a lot of 20 mm AA ammunition boxes. I figured we could dump them out. We went back to the house at noon, told Albert about it, and he agreed to go at night and dump all this ammunition into a ditch. We had quite some fun doing it and thought every piece would be one shot less.
*** This Friday afternoon one of our fighter planes was shot down very near our house. The pilot bailed out but, unfortunately, we got there too late. The Heinies had spotted him and killed him right on the spot. Later we went back and buried him, and took his address and dog tags.
*** This was our second week here and I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Something had to happen. And it did very soon. We got a taste of everything.
*** June 24, Saturday: Saturday had been a black day for us since we had been captured. I was afraid of this day all the time. Albert had left in the morning to get some news at a friend’s home and never came back for dinner. He had said also that he was going to help a woman nearby dig a trench. Our fighter bombers came too close for comfort these days and everybody decided to sleep in trenches.
*** We prepared vegetables again and I even tried to make some Galettes. In the afternoon the planes were overhead all the time and we spent most of the time in the trench.
*** Later on we had supper and then Albert came in. It was already dark and everybody was ready to go to bed. Albert told me and John to stay up for a little while and let the other people go in the trench. Then he took me aside and told me I had to leave tomorrow morning early without delay. He said one of his friends had warned him that a certain farmer, a collaborator nearby, had told somebody that he was going to tell the Germans of our being here. We had to get away. I just looked at him and almost started crying. Where could we go? Albert told me immediately that he had made all the necessary arrangements for us and there was nothing to worry about. He, of course, wanted very much to keep us but not only would we get caught but his whole family would probably be killed. I told John about it and he understood very well. I trusted Albert so much that I knew he had arranged everything for the best. Alphonse, the farmer who usually brought the butter, was going to take us to his home. We slept in the house that night, the three of us. Albert’s wife came later in the evening. She had tears in her eyes. She did not want to let us go. We went to sleep.
*** June 25, Sunday: During this night a whole company of Germans moved in behind the house. At 3 in the morning some Nazi opened the door. He did not expect anybody to to be in the house. He asked whether he could use the fireplace to make soup. At 4 a.m. we got up. Albert’s wife had come from the trench at 3:30 in the morning already to make coffee and breakfast. Nobody else knew about our leaving except her, and the people around there were to be told that we left ourselves and tried to get back to our lines. So we had breakfast. She put a loaf of bread into a sack, a clean shirt for both of us, and some beef. I then took my hayfork and said goodbye to her. It was hard saying goodbye, but I promised her I would come and see her after the Americans had freed us.
*** We walked across the hedgerows. The orchard was full of Germans. It was time to leave anyway. Exactly at 5 a.m. we met Alphonse and a young friend of his. Alphonse had a pair of shoes for me for I had trouble walking in their wooden shoes. We then said goodbye to Albert and he promised us he would come over and see us at least three times a week.
*** We marched with Alphonse through fields, paths and woods, saw German dugouts and positions, and got to his home about 6 a.m. It must have been about 4 kilometers away from Albert’s house. It was a small farm, very nicely situated away from the village. We had coffee right then and waited around. Soon afterwards his wife together with three kids came in. She knew about us and welcomed us. "Be right at home here, boys," she said. Her house had been taken over by the Germans and she simply had to leave. We had a good breakfast and the kids were lovely. We were part of the family immediately and played with them. Alphonse then told me he was going to handle everything differently. Alphonse said, "Nobody is going to know about your being here. I am a little more careful but I believe it is better. Nobody is coming to see you except Albert, and maybe you will not be so comfortable, but I don’t trust some of these Frenchmen. The Germans are not so bad, but a lot of these Frenchmen are collaborators."
*** His wife showed us to our new home. It was the upstairs of an old barn. There was straw up there and we took two blankets up. What a miserable place to stay. We had a deck of cards with us. The afternoon we spent in the house, told our story, and drank plenty of cider. These children were lovely and I played with them all afternoon. Soon we were the best of friends.
*** At about 9 p.m. it was getting dark already. Alphonse took us over to the barn and said good night to us. I felt a lot safer here, but not for too long. In the morning I was to experience a different feeling.
*** June 26, Monday: John and I slept late. Alphonse came about 9 a.m. and brought us breakfast. It consisted of a bottle of hot milk, and plenty of bread and butter. Alphonse said he would come back later on. Those were long hours. We played some cards.
*** Suddenly the AA guns started shooting. And boy, were they near us. The building was shaking. Then the planes came down, all P-47s (I could tell by the noise) and strafed and bombed. I thought the building was going to collapse, but we could not leave. This bombing and strafing went on for days. We got kind of used to it. Alphonse came at 1 p.m. and we went over to the house. It was like getting out of prison. After all, what would the Germans have said if they had found us up there? We had a fine dinner but, of course, these people did not have as much as Albert because nobody brought food.
*** The afternoon was spent in the house playing with the kids. Every once in a while we had to duck from being strafed and sweating out the bombs. It was a hot spot with all the German guns around us. They were no farther away than 100 yards.
*** This afternoon a German corporal came to the house. The kids started crying as soon as they spotted him. He was a gunner and wanted some milk. I asked him for cigarettes, which he gave me, and Alphonse gave him milk. He gave the children 50 francs so they stopped crying. He spent at least two hours with us. Letters and pictures from home were floating around, and he was surely disgusted with the war.
*** I asked him how the situation was and he told me really fancy stories. "London is afire from these flying bombs, the Americans are being pushed back into the sea, and in Russia everything goes well," he explained to me. He was proud of the Germans, but for some reason wanted to be a civilian. He tapped me on the shoulder and said, "You are lucky you are a civilian. Me, a soldier – boom, boom, get shot." So I explained to him that we got bombed day and night, but he still wanted to be in my shoes. If this guy had only known who I was he probably would not have talked anymore. He left that night, promised to bring some candies for the kids next time, and I drank a glass of cider with him before he took off.
*** June 27, Tuesday: I could not sleep much this night. The planes came over constantly, dive-bombed and strafed. At 7 in the morning the .50-calibers got so close to the roof that I decided to put my shoes on. Finally at 9 a.m. Alphonse brought the breakfast. We had a big bottle of hot chocolate which tasted wonderful. Again we stayed in until noon. A long morning. Only later on did I find out that we missed a meal by staying in the barn. These people eat at 10 in the morning too. We were glad every time they called us for dinner for this was one way of spending the time. Today we had wonderful chicken with the most delicious gravy. They killed it because the Germans would have taken it so they figured it best to have something themselves.
*** This afternoon many Germans passed by. Most of them tried to get milk and butter. I spoke with one of them for a long time. He told me the Americans were pushed back to the sea. Of course, I had my own thoughts but I was very disappointed not to hear any artillery fire.
*** Albert came to see us this afternoon, brought some cigarettes and cakes for us, and a lot of rumors. We spent the afternoon talking and drinking cider. All this probably sounds rather good and exciting, but my nerves slowly began to give way. It had been a continuous strain – no hope right now, and always the feeling of getting caught in civilian clothes. We could not enjoy life, although the people tried everything to make us happy and to help us to try to forget. We went to bed that night feeling rather blue and making plans for taking off.
*** June 28, Wednesday: At 4 in the morning the artillery started to give way. For every German shot you could hear 10 American shots coming back. It was still far off but at least I could hear the sound and was sure the attack had started. This artillery continued until noon. I called Alphonse over and told him we would have to dig a trench for the kids and his wife. We started working in the afternoon, found a wonderful place, and built a pretty good-sized trench.
*** There was one neighbor by the name of Paul, a 40-year-old man, quite wealthy (owned a big house and plenty of land). He knew us from before and also watched out for us. He was a real funny character. He hated women (always disappeared if a girl showed up) and lived mostly on cider. We used to watch him from the barn. One evening he walked over from the house to the barrel ten times, which means he drank ten bottles of cider. He was a real good fellow; mad at the Germans because they had stolen two of his horses and without his horses he could not get work on the farm. He came over to our house very seldom. Too many women in the house.
*** Alphonse was a real Frenchman – always in a good mood, and anytime the Germans came in the house he saw to it that they would not get too fresh. Late in the afternoon we had another big bombing, which found us on the floor of the house. They almost strafed the house. Probably had seen a German enter the door. The poor kids cried and the woman did not know what to do. It was pitiful. I was scared myself. I know what those .50-caliber bullets can do to you.
*** Later on we went to bed or, better, hit the straw – beds I had not seen for a long time. The artillery had stopped and everything was peaceful again. How much longer was all this going to last? I never gave up hope, but my morale sank every day.
*** June 29, Thursday: Albert came to visit us again, and he had news, too. The Americans were near St. Lo and near La Haye du Puits. I think he just wanted to build up my morale. He also had a bottle of calvados with him which we drank together in the barn. He told me another wild story of a new landing in St. Malo which, of course, never was confirmed and, furthermore, told me of parachutes being dropped. I did not believe it.
*** At 10 a.m. we had our second breakfast. Then I played with the children – made planes out of paper and built houses with a deck of cards. They were really lovely kids. Two boys by the name of Andre and Bernard, and a little girl three years old, Jeanvieve.
*** One German came around in the afternoon and told Alphonse that he had to give up one of his cows. The same afternoon we killed a calf which belonged to this old woman. She refused to give it to the Germans, and for the next 10 days we really had plenty of meat to eat. We had the most wonderful soups in that place.
*** Toward evening a whole company of German infantrymen moved in near the house. It didn’t take too long before they were in the house. I told John to go into the trench and wait there until the "all clear" signal was sounded. That night I slept in the trench myself for I did not want to leave John alone. After all, what would happen if a German passed by John could not answer any questions? We had enough woolen blankets to keep us warm.
*** I heard many Germans singing and shouting during the night. They must have been in good spirits. Of course, they had no idea what was actually happening at the front lines. They had been informed that the Germans were winning and, therefore, felt good. I wonder what those guys think now. Anyway, we had a restless night and were glad to return to the house in the morning.
*** June 30, Friday: The Germans were ready to move out toward the front for which I was not sorry. I was sweating out John every minute. What could he do when a German asked him something? I stuck to him all the time and answered the Germans whenever they spoke to us. So far we had made out good. I bummed cigarettes from them regularly and drank cider with them every day.
*** This morning the woman’s sister and her husband came to see Alphonse. He did not want to tell them who we were so he said, "These two men are from Organization Todt." We were supposed to pass by here only and were on our way to Paris. All this went OK, but a week later the same people came back and we were still hanging around the house. So I told the man I had come back this way to say hello. Maybe he believed it. So far nobody knew of our being here and we felt quite safe. If only the guns would have started blasting away again, I could have felt better. Nothing of the kind. In fact, I thought the war had stopped. John almost went crazy. He was worse off. He could not understand the French and did not know what the Germans were saying.
*** We decided to go out for a little while today. We took a bicycle with us just in case we had to get away in a hurry. Down the road we went, but hardly had we started out when those fighter planes came patrolling the road and we had to jump into a ditch. We did find a lot of German 20 millimeter ammunition in the fields and disposed of as much of it as we could. What a pleasure it was for me to see four big German trucks blown up on the side of the road. Our fighter planes were really doing a wonderful job. They strafed everything on the road, including civilians.
*** Today we came back to the house in good spirits. It was fun going out again and feeling free. I told Alphonse about our afternoon and he was well pleased.
*** We had been around for almost three weeks without being caught. Now the big occasion was to get back. But the information I received was negative. I heard of people trying to get through the German lines and all of them had been caught. So I decided to wait another week. Alphonse did not want to let us go anyway, and said he wanted to be with us when the Americans drove in.
*** The sun was out today and Alphonse’s wife washed our shirts and underwear. I spent the evening at Paul’s house drinking cider and cooking some beef.
*** July 1, Saturday: I was very much afraid of this day. So far it had been the darkest day of the week and I was always glad when it had passed. What was going to happen today? The morning passed quietly. We had some bombing around the house and ran over to the trench, but otherwise it was the regular routine.
*** Then around noon a new German SS tank outfit moved in. It was the famous Division "Totenkopf," and they were really rough. A big German sergeant came into the house, both hands in his pocket, looked around, but did not like theplace. It was probably too small for him. I was really afraid of these fellows for I had heard a lot about them – knew exactly that they were fresh troops and young Nazis.
*** It was about 4 in the afternoon when Paul came running toward the house almost out of breath and shouting there was a German behind him looking for us. At first I hardly knew what to do. Was there time enough to run off? Then, of course, if the German saw us it would look rather funny. Well, I decided to beat it and we ducked low and ran like hell!
*** Our first hideout was the trench. We crawled under the blankets and posed as though we were sleeping. A couple of Heinies walked by but did not spot us. We were down there for over four hours. I did not dare to move. Finally, after 8 o’clock at night Alphonse came looking for us. They had been looking for us all right, but also came to get some chickens. Alphonse gave them two just to get rid of them so we would not get caught. This night we went back to the barn but could not sleep. I kept my shoes on and was ready to get out at any time. There was also a little shooting around us but I guess those young Germans were just trigger happy. How they changed in the morning.
*** July 2, Sunday: We went over to the house early. It was better to be with the family than alone in the barn. One 20-year-old German was in Paul’s house when three P-47 planes came over and drew the antiaircraft fire. I have never seen a fellow more excited than this SS man. He took a white handkerchief to wave at the pilot at which time the Frenchman hit him on the head. The Nazi finally understood how foolish he had been. Then the plane came down on the house. I was waiting for the bomb to drop. Nothing happened. This Heinie almost went crazy. By all means he wanted to leave the house. He almost cried when he found the door locked and took a wooden stick and started banging the door. They certainly did not like our planes.
*** In the afternoon they moved out, much to my relief. They had quite a few tanks and trucks with them. Around 5 o’clock our planes came in numbers, and boy, did this SS troop get a beating. Reports next day were that 80 out of 120 trucks had gotten blown up on the road. I saw the smoke from our house. It looked like a woods was burning a few kilometers away. I guess they got their lesson.
*** July 3, Monday: I woke up this morning under enormous noise from our artillery. Had the push finally begun? John did not believe in it anymore. In fact, he was rather rude to me. His nerves just let him down. I told him to take it easy; everything was going to be OK. It was no use getting excited now. We had stuck together such a long time in order to make it back we just had to hold out. After all, we had enough to eat, were with pleasant people, and had nothing to complain about.
*** Albert came over this morning and told us that many German ambulances had come back to the village from the front with hundreds of wounded, among them some Americans. He had some wounded civilians in his house and was taking care of them. He also told me that Perier had been evacuated by the Germans and that the refugees came in all day long. I did not like this at all for I figured that our little village would be evacuated too. The Germans never allowed any civilians to remain behind because they knew too much. Furthermore, the Germans began collecting young men and taking them inside Germany for war work. I had to get out of this, but there was little I could do. Albert gave us another address we could go to just in case we had to leave in a hurry. He understood the need to build up our morale. "It won’t last long now," he said when he left us. But he was wrong.
*** July 4, 5 and 6, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: These days went by like routine days. Many German troops were passing by so I knew a battle was going on up front, but the guns were quiet except for the flak which never seemed to stop. One day we made bread at Paul’s bakery. John and I had decided to sleep in the bakery from now on since the walls were rather thick and only a direct hit could kill us. It was also a place where hardly any Germans would look in. In case they did I was just going to say that we were on our way south and the farmer offered to let us sleep there. Nothing happened. One bomb dropped a few yards away – everything was shaking but we were used to that by now.
*** "Think nothing of it," I said to John.
*** "Hell no," he said, both of us shaking as if it were December. It was a monotonous week.
*** July 7, Friday: At 10 in the morning a German from the AA gun came to the house. "Madame," he said, "I have to cook in your house. My kitchen got blown up." He was a tall, big 39-year-old fellow. He made himself at home immediately. He had brought with him two big buckets full of meat, salt, and then went to the garden to pull out some potatoes, onions and carrots. Of course, he did not ask permission. He sat down on the bench. I sent John to the trench. I asked the German why he did not cook in his own kitchen and he then told me the truck had left to get supplies but never got back. I must have smiled. Wasn’t that too bad?
*** This man was cooking for 50 soldiers. I got some wood for him and made the fire. He took off his pistol and settled for the day. He asked where I came from, to which I replied that I was a refugee in Cherbourg. "Ah," he said, "well, what did you do in Cherbourg?"
*** "I was a farmer," I answered.
*** "Your hands don’t look like a farmer’s."
*** I was worried about this.
*** "Well," I said, "I used to work in an office but shortly before the invasion I had helped on a farm." That was all right then. This Nazi cooked his meat very well. He used only butter, vinegar, onions, carrots and some potatoes. We had our dinner and, in the meantime, drank some cider with him. I had to drink my glass first; he did not trust us.
*** Then in the afternoon he got friendlier and showed us pictures from home. He was a farmer too, had three children, and quite a bit of land. He also told us about the French girls and we had an amusing afternoon. Finally at 5 p.m. he left the house and told us he would be back the next morning. He had burned four bundles of wood. One thing he did leave for us was his gravy and it was actually delicious – one of the best gravies I have ever eaten.
*** Then there was Saturday coming up again. I was sweating. I knew something was going wrong and was prepared for the worst.
*** July 8, Saturday: John stayed in the trench all day. I brought the meals to him there and told him to stay. This morning the German fellow came back to cook. He was in a good mood, made lots of jokes, and unpacked his food. There was another fellow doing the same thing at Paul’s house. I played with the children this morning. Alphonse had to go to the village to buy a few things. Suddenly the German asked me, "Can you fly a plane?"
*** I was stunned.
*** "Hell, I don’t like planes; never been in one," I said. "I would rather drive motor cars."
*** I was very suspicious and decided in a split second to take off. I told Alphonse’s wife about it and left word for her where I was going.
*** "Come, John, let’s get the hell out of here before it’s too late."
*** "What in the world has happened?" John said.
*** "No time to explain," I whispered. "I’ll tell you all about it."
*** He was rather mad. I had awakened him and he was in rather a bad mood. Anyhow, we left on the spot. Our destination was Julien’s house about six kilometers away. I took my famous hayfork on my shoulder and we strolled down the road. I was sorry to leave these people so suddenly but it had to be done.
*** We arrived there sometime in the afternoon, told Julien’s sister what had happened, and we were very welcomed. They were poor people. Julien was seldom home. He was busy with the underground movement. His mother, an old woman, was there, along with his sister and a young brother by the name of Camille. He surely made us feel at home. He was about 21 years old, had formerly been in the French Navy, and was full of gaiety. He had a crystal radio set in his workshop and the first thing we did was listen to the news. I was just happy hearing an American voice again.
*** "It can’t be too long now that they will come this way," he said.
*** "I hope so, too," was my answer.
*** Camille showed me around and also told me that Charlie, the pilot, lived about one kilometer from here and promised me we would go see him the next day.
*** We had dinner there. They hardly had enough for themselves but split everything with us. Then we again listened to the radio until dark. This night we slept in the house; in fact, in the same room with Camille’s mother. There was a soft bed and fresh linens – all like a dream. We surely did not belong in there – after all, we were dirty, and had been sleeping in holes and bushes for weeks.
*** July 9, Sunday: The old woman was still asleep when we got up and went downstairs. Juliette, the daughter, was up making breakfast. She had two babies – a lovely girl five years old and a boy about two and a half years of age. We had breakfast and then listened to the news. Not much had happened.
*** Camille then took us over to see the pilot. Again the usual hayfork on my left shoulder. We went across fields and suddenly were attacked by three American fighters. This time I had heard them coming and all three of us had dispersed and found shelter. I knew what it meant to be spotted.
*** We arrived at the place. It was a country school; a beautiful house. We entered, went all the way upstairs under the roof, and met Charlie. He was more than glad to see us. The two troopers also stayed at this house. We talked everything over and came to the decision to stay here until the Americans arrived. I promised to come back again to see them later.
*** The artillery shells were now falling not too many miles away. On our way back Camille agreed that we should dig a real good trench in which we could stay when the battles approached. Immediately in the afternoon we started digging. This was going to be a masterpiece. We worked until late at night. It was dark when we finally ate our soup. We were going to finish it in the morning in a hurry for no German must see it.
*** July 10, Monday: Early in the morning we started finishing our hideout. The trench was deep. We filled the top and then piled the "vahons" or wooden bundles on top. All it looked like was a pile of wood. The hole to get into it was on the other side, just big enough to creep through on your belly. Inside it was quite good. We had plenty of straw, a lamp, plenty of woolen blankets and pillows, and a shovel. We also installed a radio. Now we had to get food and store it up.
*** This morning when we were carrying bundles from the house to the trench I suddenly saw two girls coming down the road. They stopped in front of our house and afterwards a finely dressed gentleman followed on a bike. I spoke to them and asked them where they were going. They told me they were from the Red Cross. They were the best looking girls I had seen since I had left the States. What a change from those English women, or better, "Limis" as we called them. They had charm and were really pleasant. Camille told me who they were, and when they found out we were Americans they had a smile all over their face. One of them went to see the pilot Charlie; the other one had just come along. I told them if they had nothing else to do they should come and visit us once in a while. Her father, Mr. B., told me that if I got into trouble at any time and had to take off I could always come to his home which was about 20 kilometers away. We saw them in the afternoon on their way back and said "goodbye."
*** Now we could rest. Our work was done and we were proud of it. The trench was well hidden and there was not much chance of being noticed. The rest of the day we spent listening to the radio – trying to find out how the war was progressing. We slept in the trench this night – quite comfortable.
*** July 11, Tuesday: Camille told me, "By the 14th of July we shall be free." It was their National Day in France and he figured the Americans would arrive. Today we took a walk to a farm nearby to see some friends of Camille. In the morning I met a refugee from St. Lo and found out he was a most famous bicycle racer whose name I had heard many times in the "Tour de France." He was happy to see us. We were the first Americans for these people and, of course, this gave them hope.
*** We went across the fields to this big farm. What a place it was! I will never forget this gentle woman. She made the most wonderful meal for us. First scrambled eggs with sausages, then rabbit with French-fried potatoes, salad with cream, and white wine and cider, and the most marvelous rice pudding with marmalade. At the end we had a bottle of champagne. Then we all helped in the garden digging some holes to hide precious silverware and dishes. A lot of wine was also stored away this way. We had about two more bottles of wine during the afternoon.
*** There was lots of artillery fire far off and late in the afternoon we decided to climb a hill from which we could observe. And, really, we saw the low country of Lessay full of smoke. We could see where every shell hit. It was quite a sight. Maybe after all the end was near.
*** We went back to the farm to say goodbye to the lady. She gave us about two dozen eggs, a big piece of meat, two loaves of bread, and six bottles of wine to take into our trench so we would have enough to eat. Back we went through the fields to our home loaded with new hope.
*** July 12, Wednesday: Not much exciting happened on this day. One German sergeant came into the house. Immediately I got four cigarettes from him. He spread a map on the table and over a glass of cider explained to me that he was lost and was searching for his company. I gave him some directions. God knows where he landed in the end.
*** The rest of the day went by. A rumor came out late in the afternoon that the Germans intended to evacuate this village. I was firm and insisted on staying. After all, I had helped build this trench for that purpose. All afternoon refugees with little belongings passed by in the street. They all went south. I was worried. We, of course, could stay in the trench, but if the Americans came as slowly as they did now, we would probably starve to death.
*** July 13, Thursday: Julien came in early in the morning all excited and told me that we had to leave. The Germans had ordered everybody out of the village by 4 in the afternoon and anybody found later than that would be considered a spy and would be shot. And they were not fooling either.
*** Julien told me where I had to go and, as it didn’t sound too bad, I decided to move once more for the last time. Of course I wanted to have my military clothes with me and Camille went back this morning and brought everything down. Albert had also left with his family and was on the road somewhere. Camille came back at noon. We had dinner at his place and then got ready to move. His mother kissed me goodbye. She was really a mother to us and wished us all the best of luck. We then took off down the road just pushing a two-wheeled wagon in front of us like hundreds of other Frenchpeople were doing. We had 18 kilometers to go. It was not bad.
*** We reported to Mr. Q., who had something to do with the underground. He gave us something to eat and then sent us two kilometers further to some house. I was surprised when I got there. This girl we had met a few days before lived there with her mother, sister and two brothers. They already knew we were coming. It was a fine family, rather wealthy. Her husband was in a prison camp in northern France. He had been caught by the Germans two years before when he picked up British parachute bundles with guns and ammunition.
*** It was a lovely home. Our uniforms were stored away. We had the most wonderful dinner and then talked together. There were three radios in this house which the young boy had made himself (he was an engineer), so we could hear American music again. Of course, this family wanted nobody to know of our being there. We could not go into town but there was no need of it. We occupied a wonderful room with water, toilet articles, etc. It was the best night in weeks.
*** July 14, Friday: Madam P. woke us at 9 a.m. for breakfast. There were three girls. The youngest was 9-year-old Monic, then Mimi about 20, and Juliette about 22. The older boy was 19 and the younger 13. They were lovely – like real French people I used to know. John spent most of the time at the radio. After all, he could not speak to the people. I played with Monic and helped the other two girls in the kitchen. Wherever I went in France the people made me feel at home immediately. In this place we also had books to read and every afternoon I gave some English lessons to the young girl. They were willing to learn and spoke some English.
*** July 15, Saturday: What was going to happen today? Again one of those Saturdays. Believe it or not, something very pleasant happened. John and I had our first bath. One of the girls who lived across the street and who spoke English perfectly brought us a shower. We heated some water, hung the bucket in the garage, and had our first shower in five weeks. We felt like new men. Had some clean shirts, put on tennis shoes, and were very happy. For dinner Mimi made "Choux a la creme." I had once mentioned that I liked it very much so she wanted to surprise me and made it herself. I almost cried when it came to the table and she was happy as never before. These people were so sincere about everything they did for us. We had a nice afternoon. Mr. P. came to visit us. The time went by quickly.
*** July 16, Sunday: We slept late as always. When we came down breakfast was ready on the table. The family had gone to the church. We helped ourselves and then played cards. "How long do you want to stay here, John?" I asked. "We surely won’t get home this way." My nerves could not hold out much longer. Then the family came home from church and told me they had heard that a camp was supposed to be made outside the city for all evacuees. The Red Cross flag would be put up and all civilians could stay until the front lines had passed this place. It all sounded good to me if it were true. John and I would go to the camp together with these people and afterwards would be free. However, the German general did not want to accept the plan and it would be decided tomorrow. I then made it clear to John that I would not evacuate anymore and he agreed with me.
*** July 17, Monday: Monday morning one of the girls told me that the camp had been refused. "We are then going to leave this afternoon," I said. "I must go and get back." Mr. P. came over and told me there was another French civilian who would join us, which was OK with me. He probably knew the way better than I did. I had figured out a certain way and believed we had at least a 50 percent chance of getting through.
*** Our final hours had arrived. I just want to describe this last dinner we had at the house. There was a white tablecloth; the American flag on the left, French in the middle, and the British on the right. Around every white plate there were flowers in red, white and blue. It really looked beautiful. We first had three different kinds of cold cuts; then vegetable soup, roast beef, French-fried potatoes, salad with cream, white wine and cider, berries with whipped cream, and a most wonderful coffee cream cake made especially by Mimi. After all that we drank a bottle of champagne and then coffee. What a meal this was! You could not have had more at a wedding.
*** It was hard for me to leave. I liked these people so much I really did not want to go. But after all I was a soldier and it was my duty to get back to my outfit – an outfit one can be proud of. The boy got our sack with our clothes. I took my dogtags and pay book with me and put my paratrooper boots into my sack. The girls and boys were dying for a souvenir from us. I gave away both my watches and a pair of wings. John did the same. They had a happy look on their faces when I gave these to them.
*** The French boy showed up in time and at exactly 3 in the afternoon we started out. I said goodbye and told them to burn my clothes if I was not back within two days. I had to promise to look them up after the war.
*** It was hard to say goodbye. Would we ever see them again? They gave us a small bottle of calvados and some sandwiches. I will never forget the young girl Monic. She wanted to come with me so badly. In fact, they all wanted to come and be free on the other side of the line. From here on until we ran into the first American jeep were long hours for me. I cannot talk about it or write it down at this time – but sometime. I thought my heart stood still when we passed through German artillery positions at midnight.
*** It was successful.
*** July 18, Tuesday: We were tired and hungry, but happy. We hade not met an American yet. Passed a couple of minefields, and then saw the first G.I. road sign. We walked along the road. Then at a crossing we finally sat down, ate our last piece of bread, and waited. After a few minutes I heard an American jeep. I jumped up, went to the middle of the road, and told the driver the situation. I don’t know whether he believed us or not, but he took us to the first Command Post.
*** The Major there I shall always remember. Before asking any questions at all he told us to go and eat. Good American food, hot coffee and French toast. The French boy almost went crazy. He had not seen white bread for over four years. We got all the cigarettes and candy we wanted and then were sent back immediately to St. Sauver le Compte. There were special personnel to interrogate us. They gave us a tremendous welcome. The entire afternoon was spent taking movies and photos. At night we were rushed up to Army headquarters; spent until 4 in the morning with the G-2. We had quite a bit to tell him. We knew every foot of the country across the lines. This colonel was highly pleased. We met General Bradley and some other high officers. We were still in civilian clothes.
*** July 19, Wednesday: We were taken to some evacuation company. Of course, this was a place where you could get stuck for weeks sometimes. Again movies and pictures. I don’t remember how many French bills and dollars we had to sign for the boys. We went to the company commander and told him we were "shuffling off." "Good luck to you fellows," is all he had to say.
*** We marched straight down to the airstrip where our famous C-47 Transport Planes landed. After all, we had done combat in those ships; we might as well go home in one. Our regiment had left France already two weeks before. "Show me your orders," said the captain there. We had nothing to produce and there were 17 colonels and three generals waiting for a ride. We called up our colonel and he told the transport officer that we were the first men to enter the next outgoing plane. Many looked at us. We were dressed rather funny – officer’s pants, red sweaters, and a musette bag.
*** We landed in southern England, went to the G-2 of the airport, and he gave us a special four-seater plane back to Nottingham. It all seemed to have been a long, bad dream. I arrived at Nottingham at midnight. My officer was standing near the road. I recognized him immediately. I told the driver to stop and shouted, "Come on, Lieutenant, are you going back to camp?" You can imagine how surprised he was to see me. I slept in his tent that night and the next morning I went over to my company. We had a wonderful reunion. Some guys swore they had seen my body in France and could not believe it when I walked in.
*** So many things had happened in these weeks I could not remember all of them. To think about it now, it is wonderful to be free and back with the boys. I went on my furlough immediately and recuperated from the nervous strain.

[1Cie GevGn]

:-o Talk about E&E, nice post.