J is for...

John Steele

John Steele was an American paratrooper who fought in Europe during the second world war. He was with the 82nd Airborne Division and was dropped from a plane on D-Day over the small French village of Ste-Mère-Église in Normandy. As bad luck would have it, that evening a fire had broken out in one of the bigger houses in the center and the Germans and the French were busy putting out that fire. So, when all of a sudden a lot of men come falling from the sky, the were quickly noticed and the firing started.

Some of the men landed in the countryside, others in the village, some were shot and some survived. John Steele? He got caught on the church steeple smack bang in the middle of the village. He got shot in the foot and decided his best chance of survival was playing dead and he hung on the steeple until the Germans got him down. Upon realising he was still alive, he became a prisoner of war and was locked up. However, he managed to escape and rejoin his division.

John Steele survived the war and passed away in 1969 of throat cancer, just a few weeks short of the 25th anniversary of D-Day.

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Photo taken in March 2012 in Ste-Mère-Église, France

'Hands'

I sometimes wonder how they come up with the prompts they come up with, but I looked and looked and even found a quite recent photo that contained a glove. Which is allowed in the 'hand' prompt! Yippee!!

Anyway, I took this photo only two weeks ago in the American Airborne Museum in Sainte Mère Église in Normandy. A lot of those display cases displayed items used for combat and there were a few that contained items used for sports and the like. It certainly doesn't look anything like the gloves we used when playing soft ball in high school!

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On to the beaches!

Pointe du Hoc

On the same day we visited the small village of Ste Mère Église, we also visited the German military cemetery (see post of two days ago) and in the afternoon we went to Pointe du Hoc. Here the Germans had dug in, built bunkers and put up a lot of anti-aircraft guns, canons and what have you.

The look-out bunker. At the bottom of the photo is the look-out bit

And they must have been incredibly surprised when all of a sudden they see all these boats coming out of the storm right up to the beach (D-Day wasn't a nice day, it was very stormy and a lot of the allied forces were very sick on the crossing). Of course they immediately started firing and killing the 'enemy', but the Americans still managed to get themselves on top and in the end they succeeded in conquering the Germans in that area.

View from the look-out bunker. Imagine the surprise!

When you look at the area from above you can actually see all the holes in the ground made by canons and guns and tanks and so forth. (We saw a film a few days later that actually had some footage from above) Several of the bunkers still more or less stood and we were able to go inside and see where the Germans tried to get rid of those pesky Americans. There was one bunker right overlooking the ocean, where the wooden ceiling had been burnt, which must have been quite frightening for the men. Other bunkers were severely damaged by bullets and grenades and stuff.

Some tank or other would have been here

The area was quite large and the boys and girls on board of the bus didn't have nearly enough time to see all. Only a few managed to find a way down to the beach again and if they would have had another hour or two they wouldn't have minded one bit! Which definitely made a difference to the museums we saw: ten to thirty minutes. Tops!

The memorial to the American Rangers

To hang or not to hang...

John Steele (well, a dummy) hanging from the church

The first stop we had in Normandy was on Tuesday morning. We were headed towards the small village of Sainte Mère Église, not far from the Atlantic coast. On the fifth of June 1944 a fire broke out in one of the bigger houses of the village and as the Germans and French were putting out the fires, all of a sudden they saw parachutists of the American 82nd Airborne Division. Of course the Germans immediately started to man their guns and started shooting at those parachutists. Some died, others escaped and one of those parachutes landed on the church, where he got stuck.

One of the stained glass windows of the church

John Steele was the unlucky soldier who had managed to get himself stuck on the steeple. As he hung there, fights broke out underneath him in the church square and one bullet actually hit him in the foot. He decided to play dead and hung there a further two hours, before the Germans finally got him down. When they saw he wasn't dead, but very much alive, they took him captive and he became a prisoner of war. However, during the next few days, there was so much mayhem and chaos, he managed to escape. He rejoined his company and he lived to fight in both Belgium and the Netherlands. He passed away in the United States in 1969, aged 56.

The film 'the Longest Day' remembers the night before and of D-Day and John Steele features in it as well.

Did I have fun?

Newfoundland Memorial Park
the trenches are in a zig-zag formation.

I got that very same question on Thursday, as I was leaving the American cemetery. Quite a strange question really, since cemeteries are not really big on the 'fun' front. Awe, yes. Overwhelmed, yes. Sadness, yes. Fun, no! So, I set him straight: no it wasn't fun, but it was very impressive to see. As were all the other graves and cemeteries we saw and passed during the week. Some in the area where WWI raged (around the river Somme), some in Normandy for WWII. I think we must have passed about 100 cemeteries big and small, both German and allied.

We visited two cemeteries and a memorial (which also had some graves, but I didn't see them). The cemeteries were German and American and the memorial was Newfoundland Canadian. The memorial was in the Somme area and had been preserved with trenches more or less intact: not completely, but the outline and some of the depth were retained. The German and American cemeteries were in Normandy and were both impressive. The German because of the stark and dark colours they used: antracite grey. It didn't look that big, but since there were two to five people to a gravestone it held over 21,000 men! Most of them between 18 and 22! Not nazis, just ordinary boys and men who had been ordered to fight for something they might not even have believed in. Of course there were also some higher ranking men who definitely were nazis.

The American cemetery didn't show the ages of the men, only their state of origin and their religion. Most Christian, some Jewish. And because they used larger white crosses (or stars of David) and only one person to a grave, it looked absolutely massive. I don't think I even saw a quarter of what there was. And the overwhelming thought was definitely: Why? As one of the teachers said later on the bus: one group of men from oversees come to a beach and fight with the people on the beach to get on. Another group of men from Germany are on a beach and fight with the people trying to get on to keep them off. Ridiculous!



Deutsches Soldatenfriedhof La Cambe
The flat stones are gravemarkers. Under each marker are 2 men



However, I did have some fun though. The kids were really nice and friendly and I talked to several of them over the course of the week. And because I was the only one speaking French, I had to help out several times in ordering drinks, because the serving staff at the first hotel barely spoke English. Especially if they wanted something more specific. The teachers were nice too and one of them had done the whole trip a few weeks earlier which was a great help as he knew where I could park etc. I had looked it all up though and I think I had to ask him once!

I had been hoping I would have a day off today, but alas, in just over an hour I am to leave for a small day-trip. So, I will tell more tomorrow!

Quick update

Just a quick update to tell you that I am having a good time: I've seen thousands of graves, museums and army stuff and a doctor and a hospital. The doctor for myself, the hospital for one of the passengers. Not to worry though: I am fine and the passenger is okay (not fine yet). I do have some medication I have to take now, but only until tomorrow. When I am going home again.

The group is a nice group of young men and a few women, all in their late teens. They are courteous, friendly and can stand at attention really well (they should, they all are in a civilian military school). I have taken lots of photos except yesterday when they spent the morning cycling (or falling off in the case of the hospital passenger) and the afternoon at a cider farm (when I took the passenger and one of the teachers to the hospital).

I will be back on Saturday and will then tell all. But I just wanted you all to know I am doing fine, enjoying the great weather and being impressed by everything I see.

Off to see the world

First of all I have to start with Wuppie of course. Well, his ear is now as big as it can get and filled with blood again. According to everything I read and what the vet said, it's a matter of letting it go its course, ie: the blood has to drain away naturally again. I think it is bothering him somewhat, since it's blocking his hearing a bit. But then again, he has never been one for listening attentively to me...

Linette deserves a mention of course as well. She is doing fine. She has found a new place to sleep: on my shoulder! That way, I can move about a bit and she will still be comfy. *Sigh*

War cemetery near Ypres (Belgium)

But of course talking about my monsters doesn't explain the title of this post. On Thursday I was told (not asked, told), that I will go to France on Monday morning. For five days. Normandy to be exact. So, I spent all day today (well, about three hours) looking at the routes and at where we're going. As long as I know the word for cemetery (cimétière) I will go a long way I think, because we will be visiting museums and cemeteries and Omaha beach. Most of it to do with WW2, some with WW1. Even though the destinations are pretty grim, I am looking forward to it, since I have never been to Normandy before and have wanted to for quite some time.

So, if my posts are a bit non-existent next week: it has all to do with my trip. I will be gone for five days and I will take my camera so I can show you all. Au revoir!