Back to Normandy - Recently Added Listings - Veterans now and then https://www.backtonormandy.org/ Fri, 29 Mar 2024 13:57:17 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 Emery Horn https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213440-emery-horn.html

For all who met Emery in Normandy this past June. He died a few hours ago. A veteran of the 242nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Division and Prisoner of War.

Emery Horn was a child of the Great Depression, a farm boy whose reality was hard work from sun up to sun down combined with a normalcy of thriftiness, and an intrinsic sense of teamwork that can only be found on a farm, where everyone must pull their weight. Not a lot of room for drama queens or freeloaders on a Depression Era farm.

Emery Horn is the third of eight brothers and seven sisters. Six of his brothers served their country honorably, and survived World War II. He was born and raised in Freestone, Pennsylvania. His eldest brother was at Pearl Harbor when the US Naval Base was bombed by the Japanese sneak attack on December 7, 1941. Although Emery could have avoided serving during the Second World War by utilizing a farm deferment, he chose to enlist on December 7, 1943. It just wasn’t the way of men like him to sit out a job that needed to be done. There is a belief in Christianity that the Lord only burdens us with what we can bare. In Emery Horn’s case, the good Lord had a high estimation of him indeed. Seven decades later he recollects:

“I will never forget my buddies who I left behind and who, unlike me, did not return to the tune of Johnny Comes Marching Home Again.”

The 91-year-old grunt, a survivor of three bloody campaigns in the European theater of operations, one of the battle tested men of the storied Rainbow Division.

They call Infantrymen grunts for a reason. Infantrymen possess an ability that few men have. The ability to not only endure pain, discomfort, and alarming degrees of stress, but to thrive in it, to achieve results when the average human simply focuses inward. Many an accomplished athlete and talented academician has withered under the burden of Infantry training, let alone combat.

Emery Horn is the embodiment of the Infantryman in that he endures to maintain the fight. After the war, his burden will no longer be survival, but to carry the lonely memories of men and events that are largely forgotten by today’s America. His tale reminds us that this part of the year is larger than the unofficial first day of summer, bigger than just a day to avail of the best sales of the year at the department stores. It is the most expensive day of the year, paid for with the lives of those who would do anything for this country—their country. For their intrepid brothers with whom they grew closer than any blood relative could ever imagine.

After moving along the Rhine River to Hatten, France, he was part of repelling the audacious attack by the elite Waffen SS, known as the Battle of the Bulge. When needed, he operated the Browning Automatic Rifle, known as the “BAR.” A heavy automatic weapon that spewed powerful .30 caliber rounds and was the support system for his squad of 9-12 fellow grunts. It wasn’t long after the Battle of the Bulge, where cold, exhausted but still on the offensive, he was captured by the Germans. It was January 9th, 1945.

“The Germans were shooting away with a tank. They were shooting at me with machine guns in the field and not a single round hit me. It wasn’t until I finally ran into an open area in the field where they were keeping the prisoners that I was ultimately captured. I thank God they never struck me with a bullet.”

This event does not surprise many combat veterans. What combat vets know is that the craziest, most illogical things happen. This is why they hesitate to tell stories. Because in retrospect, many combat vets can’t believe they actually happened, even though having lived through it.

It’s ludicrous to a combat vet that someone would plan according to a scheme of assumptions based on an academic logic. Just like it seems ludicrous that a 19 year old private would survive being fired on by a tank’s machine gun as he stood out in the open. This is the nature of war. Chaos supplants logic.

The memories of his time in STALAG 4B are painful, and the details he did share are indelibly etched upon my mind. “At one point, they needed a group of guys to build a ditch from one factory to the next. This was after spending almost three days in the POW camp.

This is what got me out of the boxcars which they were holding us in and I was so relieved. Even more so, the ditch was the safest place to hide in when the Americans started dropping bombs. The Americans started bombing anything and everything in sight—anything that moved—by the war’s end. They were so close that you could practically see the bomb bay doors opening.”

Like all true warriors, Emery is humble. A refreshing change to the often glorified picture of the military popinjay we sometimes bear witness to.

“I wouldn’t say I was tortured. You learn to tolerate a lot. But we definitely had limited food supply. Heck—the Germans barely had any food for themselves!”

He entered the STALAG at 165 pounds and came out weighing 90 pounds. He often found creative ways to find resources to sustain himself and his members of his STALAG. He recounted a memorable story to me: “We even traded with the French bakers because, at night, we would put our shoes in with bundles of towels. The bakers would take the shoes and, in exchange, they would give us three loaves of bread. Heck, the Germans could never quite understand how the French civilians were getting their hands on so many new articles of U.S. Army clothing! Every day during inspection, the Germans lined us up and the guys out in front would remove their new uniforms and give them to their buddies behind them who would then put them on.”

This 19 year old grunt managed to escape from STALAG 4B three times. On the first attempt, the two men with him gave their locations away. The next two times, he went at it alone. The local farmers would always see him and alert the Germans. As he described his liberation to me, Mr. Horn mentioned that he believes the 29th Division liberated him. In a unique act of humanity, the Germans didn’t want the American prisoners falling under the control of the Russians. He was one of 143,375 U.S. servicemen and civilians who were captured by Germany or Japan during the course of World War II.

Source: The Greatest Generations Foundation

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fredvogels Wed, 28 Dec 2016 10:48:22 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213440-emery-horn.html
Hal Baumgarten, Company B -116 inf.reg. - 29 inf.div. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213439-hal-baumgarten.html

Hal Baumgarten passed away on Dec 25 at 2:25.

 

I had the honor to meet Hal Baumgarten for a moment in Normandy during the filming of the documentary Omaha Beach, Honor and Sacrifice by WWIIFoundation.

I would have the honor to write the music for this film (later awarded with an Emmy). Together with the other veterans like Morley Piper, Ernie Corvese, Walter Skruder and the thousands of other men, Hal Baumgarten is the symbol for the beginning of the freedom in Western Europe.

Some links with the facts of his divison/regiment : 

The story of the 29th Infantry Division on the map in more than 1400 records: https://backtonormandy.org/divisions/680-29-infantry-division-usa.html

The records in the database: https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/29-infantry-division-usa.html

The history of Baumgarten's Regiment in more than 400 records: https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/29-infantry-division-usa/116-infantry-regiment-usa.html 

 

His story by source: http://www.29infantrydivision.org/WWII-Stories/Baumgarten_Harold.htm

As we approached the beach, the bullets started hitting our LCA. The Company B boat on our left was hit by a shell and blew up. The splintered wood, metal, and body parts were raining down on us from about fifteen feet above. Our young British sailor wanted to drop the front ramp in the twenty-foot-deep water and motor away. Lieutenant Donaldson pulled out his Army Colt 45, pointed it at the frightened seaman, and bellowed, “Take us all the way in." The sailor's fear was well founded. He saw the boat explode on our left, heard all the explosions and gunfire around us and saw the teller mines attached to the wooden pilings in front of us.


Finally, the boat stopped, and the front ramp went down in neck deep water. German MG 42s were trained on our ramp opening, as I stepped forward to leave the craft. The water was bright red, from the blood of some of those who had been in front of me. Lieutenant Donaldson was killed immediately, Clarius Riggs was machine gunned on the ramp, and then fell headfirst into the bloody water. I jumped into the neck-deep water (for my height) with my rifle above my head. On leaving the ramp a bullet creased the top of my helmet. About 300 yards straight ahead was a 20-25 foot high cobble (shale) stone seawall. There was barbed wire on its top. Looming above this wall was a bluff that rose up another 75 feet, and had enemy positions (trenches) hidden in it. There was about 200 yards of dry sand leading before it with "ramps" and "hedgehogs," which were all mined. The ramps were logs at 45-degree angles facing the water. The hedgehogs were composed of three beams welded together and cemented in the sand. These obstacles plus the two I had already passed in the water, the element C (Belgium Gate) and angled stakes, were all placed to destroy the assault boats at high tide. The Belgium gates were made of metal, 10-feet-wide and 7 feet-high, and cemented down. Some of the fellows, who were able to exit the boat without getting machine gunned, were being dragged under by the wet combat jackets and heavy equipment. Their life preservers were of no value.


The water was over the head of the average man in my boat. German snipers were also picking them off. The water was being splattered up by bullets, as I ran through it. It was surreal. About 20 feet to my left front were two of our Dual Drive Amphibious medium army tanks, with their rubber sides down. re were the other fourteen that were supposed be here? Six 29ers were clinging to the one first to my left and seven were clutching to the one closest to me. The distal tank had a dead soldier hanging from turret. It had been knocked out. While the tank closest to me was actively firing its 76mm cannon at the enemy. About 200 yards from the wall, we were now running in ankle deep water. Robert Dittmar was ten feet in front of me to the right, and another of my boat team was behind me on my left. A burst of machine gun bullets came from above the wall and slightly to our right. I heard a thud from Dittmar's direction. Then instantaneously my rifle, which was carried at port arms across my chest, was hit and vibrated in my hands. My rifle had a clean hole in its receiver, in front of the trigger guard. The seven bullets in the receiver had stopped the German bullet from penetrating the rifle to hit my chest. I had heard another thud behind me at the same instant, and my other boat team member had been gunned down.

(Dr Harold Baumgarten - "Eyewitness on Omaha Beach")

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fredvogels Tue, 27 Dec 2016 09:44:46 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213439-hal-baumgarten.html
Lynus Sylvester -Pat- Ryan, 97 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213438-lynus-sylvester-pat-ryan-97.html

Ryan joined the U.S. Army at Fort Meade, MD, on July 12, 1941. As a World War II glider and powered pilot Ryan served in the 72nd Squadron of the 434th Troop Carrier Group, and was a veteran of Normandy (Operation Overlord), Holland (Operation Market Garden), and Germany (Operation Varsity) and flew supply missions in France and Central Europe.

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fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 14:19:15 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213438-lynus-sylvester-pat-ryan-97.html
Harry N. Whisler, 94 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213437-harry-n-whisler-94.html

Long-time Midland resident Harry N. Whisler, 94, recently received the medal of Knight in the French Order of the Legion of Honor during Veterans Day activities in Austin, Texas, in recognition of his service in the liberation of France during World War II.

Whisler was born in International Falls, Minnesota, the eldest of five children, and grew up in Midland, where at age 20 he married his sweetheart Dorothy Grice just five months before enlisting in the Army in November 1942. After extensive training, he landed in Cherbourg, Normandy, France in September 1944 with General Patton’s 10th Armored “Tiger” Division and served to the end of the war as a medic with a jeep and orders to “follow the lead tank.”

His first introduction to combat artillary shelling was at Resonville/Gravelotte, France, facing Ft. Driant. Continuing the battle for Metz they initiated the liberation of the Lorraine region where his battalion crossed the Moselle River at Malling and rapidly attacked toward Friestroff. The division then began its first attempt to break through the Orscholz Switch Line at Tettingen.

During the Battle of the Bulge, he served defending the north border of Luxembourg in and around the town of Berdorf. It wasn’t until 70 years later that he learned that very town was the home of his second and third great-grandparents. After the Bulge, they cleared the Saar/Moselle triangle, fought the fierce battle of Ayl/Okfen/Irsch and captured Trier where he earned the Bronze Star and had a personal encounter with General Patton.

Whisler was one of the first arrivals at the Landsburg Concentration camp and continued on through Germany to Ulm, Oberammergau and finally

Garmish-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald. He departed France in October 1945 and returned home honorably discharged from active duty.

https://www.backtonormandy.org/divisions/724-10-armored-division-usa.html

http://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Whisler-honored-for-role-in-liberating-France-10795578.php

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fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 14:07:28 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213437-harry-n-whisler-94.html
Maurice Solomon photographic memory of D-Day https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213436-maurice-solomon-photographic-memory-of-d-day.html

The medal is a reminder that Solomon fought on French soil and had a hand in the liberation of France that began on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

As a private in the 294th Joint Assault Signal Company, Solomon was part of an outfit that, by the end of D-Day, had set up the first communications switchboard. Within hours, they would string phone lines in and around Colleville-sur-Mer, linking the coastal towns the Allies fought so hard to secure.

“I climbed a lot of trees in those days,” says Solomon, who is still fit and sharp.

Nearly all of the boys he served with are gone now. He says only Bob Rohde, a dear friend who lives in Horseheads, New York, (outside Elmira) remains from his team.

His comrades are long gone, but the memories still crowd around him, spurred by a trove of photos the 21-year-old took in the days surrounding D-Day.

It certainly wasn’t part of his job — years later at a reunion a lieutenant scolded him for having taken them — but at several points in those historic days, Solomon reached into the front right pocket of his fatigues and pulled out a foldable Kodak camera and snapped photos of what he saw.

What remains is a photographic memory of an invasion that made history, a collection that sweeps away 72 years and transforms that 94-year-old in Suffern into that 21-year-old from Flatbush.

“I carried this camera from the get-go, right from the beginning,” he says. “I always enjoyed taking pictures to see what the results would be like. I took pictures from the time I got into the Army and carried it throughout D-Day and thereafter. Whenever the time was right and it didn’t interfere with what we were doing, I would stop and snap a picture or two here and there.”

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/2016/12/15/photographic-memory-d-day/95155822/

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fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:52:47 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213436-maurice-solomon-photographic-memory-of-d-day.html
Eric Day, 94, brave hero of D-Day https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213435-eric-day-94-brave-hero-of-d-day.html

In 1944, he was among the Royal Artillery troops who swarmed ashore in Normandy on D-Day, after eight days at sea in a Bren gun carrier.

Surviving the landing under a hail of German machine gun fire, he dug a slit trench to sleep in, but was ordered out of it by an officer, who commandeered it for himself. He slept under a tree, and in the morning found the officer dead in the trench, killed by enemy fire.

In a service at Swaffham Prior church celebrating Eric’s life, his daughter Hilary Marsh said: “He went on to Caen, from where he wrote home in a censored letter to his parents that he was where the millstones came from, for Fosters Mill in Swaffham Prior.

“He went on with his unit to liberate France, and the Netherlands, then on into Gerrmany, later joining a peace-keeping force in Palestine and Egypt.

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fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:40:33 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213435-eric-day-94-brave-hero-of-d-day.html
Gordon Hardisty https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213434-gordon-hardisty.html

A SECOND World War veteran has been awarded the Legion D’Honneur for his involvement in the liberation of France.

Gordon Hardisty, of Seaford, was presented with the award on his 92nd birthday on Monday (December 12) at the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne.

The honour is the highest French civilian award.

Mr Hardisty served in the army with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from 1939 to 1951.

He was joined in his celebrations by his wife, family and friends.

The medal was awarded to Mr Hardisty this year to commemorate D-Day veterans and to mark the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14970702.Award_for_war_hero/

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fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:35:31 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213434-gordon-hardisty.html
Harry Day https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213433-harry-day.html

Lord Prescott says he is "saddened" to hear of the death of one of Hull's best-loved veterans - and is calling on people to thank those who answered our country's call. For many years, Harry Day, who died last Tuesday at the age of 91, was president of the Hull branch of the Normandy Veterans' Association.

In June 1944, he landed on Gold Beach in northern France, and narrowly cheated death, before slipping back into Civvy Street as a Hull bus driver.

The former Hull East MP, whose own father Bert lost a leg during the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940, was among the first to offer condolences.

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/we-should-all-say-thank-you-lord-prescott-s-tribute-to-hull-d-day-hero-harry-day/story-29976099-detail/story.html

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fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:30:01 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213433-harry-day.html
Pasquale - Patsy -Devivo gets Legion d'Honneur https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213432-pasquale-patsy-devivo-gets-legion-d-honneur.html

WWII veteran Pasquale "Patsy" Devivo gets a kiss on both cheeks after receiving the French Legion of Honor medal from his nephew Michael Shasha in a brief ceremony Monday, December 19, 2016 at Bride Brook Health and Rehab in Niantic. Devivo, who served in the 305th Combat Engineer Battalion, landed at Utah Beach in Normandy, France on August 6, 1944 and fought through France until VE Day in 1945. The Legion of Honor award was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 and is the highest honor bestowed for service to the nation. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day)

Source: http://www.theday.com/military/20161219/east-lyme-wwii-veteran-honored-with-french-legion-of-honor

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fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:21:34 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213432-pasquale-patsy-devivo-gets-legion-d-honneur.html
Tom Bodell has been awarded France's highest military and civilian honour https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213431-tom-bodell-has-been-awarded-france-s-highest-military-and-civilian-honour.html ]]> fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:10:07 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213431-tom-bodell-has-been-awarded-france-s-highest-military-and-civilian-honour.html Alan Griffiths, who served in the RAF, received the French military’s Legion d’Honneur medal https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213430-alan-griffiths-who-served-in-the-raf-received-the-french-military-s-legion-d-honneur-medal.html

A 92-year-old World War Two veteran has said he is ‘proud’ and ‘thrilled’ after receiving a prestigious accolade for his role in the 1944 D-Day landings.

Alan Griffiths, who served in the RAF, received the French military’s Legion d’Honneur medal at a ceremony in Bristol last month.

The Legion d’Honneur is the highest French accolade for military and civil merits. It has been handed out for several years to foreign Allied veterans who served in the Normandy landings to thank them for their service.

Mr Griffiths, who lives in Congresbury with his wife Margaret and is a member of the Wrington Vale Rotary Club, said: “I was very proud and thrilled to receive the award.

“I was very grateful, too, particularly because I served in the Normandy landings as a member of the RAF and I am happy the public will know we were there.”

Mr Griffiths, who has two daughters and three grandchildren, served in the RAF’s radio ground control unit and helped set up a ground radio station, which would locate and track the movements of enemy aircraft. He also edited an RAF newspaper in occupied Germany after the war ended.

He said: “It is hard to describe what invading a foreign country and being met with a hostile reception was like.

“It was a dangerous mission for everybody, but we landed safely.”

Source: http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/former_raf_serviceman_alan_92_receives_legion_d_honneur_for_d_day_heroics_1_4819265

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fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 12:41:25 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213430-alan-griffiths-who-served-in-the-raf-received-the-french-military-s-legion-d-honneur-medal.html
Geoffrey Rose (99) receiving the Legion d'honneur medal https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213429-geoffrey-rose-99-receiving-the-legion-d-honneur-medal.html

More than 75 years have passed since Geoff Rose signed up to fight for his country’s independence and last week he was rewarded for his extraordinary courage and bravery.

He was handed the legion d’honneur at St Nicholas Church in Portishead on December 14 by the French Consul, Josette Lebrat.

The award is the highest French order for military and civil merits and was handed to Geoff for his involvement at Dunkirk in World War Two.

Geoff, who will turn 100 next month, was among the first people to sign up to fight in September 1939.

He served as an army tradesman and spent the first part of the war in France.

He was among the 330,000 British and French troops rescued from Dunkirk, before returning to the UK to train for the Normandy Landings.

His daughter-in-law Mary Rose said: “His second child, a daughter was born on June 2, 1944 while Geoff was in London awaiting embarkation.

“He didn’t see her until the following May, when he had some leave.

By the end of August 1945, Geoff had been demobbed and spent some weeks helping to rebuild Coventry.

“Whenever the subject comes up, he always says he thinks: ‘War is absolutely foolish and wicked’.”

Geoff and his wife Win moved to Portishead in 1982 to be nearer to his son Peter and his family.

The couple regularly worshipped at St Nicholas Church and therefore it seemed the perfect place for last week’s ceremony.

Source: http://www.northsomersettimes.co.uk/news/portishead_war_hero_99_receives_french_honour_1_4824065

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fredvogels Thu, 22 Dec 2016 12:35:57 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/213429-geoffrey-rose-99-receiving-the-legion-d-honneur-medal.html
Airgunner Mike Jackson died https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/16788-airgunner-mike-jackson-died.html

Last Friday In his sleep at the age of 88 Airgunner Mike Jackson died. Jackson was present every year since 1988 in Dronten in the remembrance day. From 1995 he was within the former Organizer Airgunners Association of the travel to Flevoland. For his efforts was Jackson in 2007 awarded the honorary medal by the municipality Dronten. I have had some enjoyable conversations with Jack and keep good memories of.

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fredvogels Tue, 10 Sep 2013 18:20:02 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/16788-airgunner-mike-jackson-died.html
Douglas Baines and Arlette Gondree https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/16129-douglas-baines-and-arlette-gondree.html

I see Douglas Baines for many years at the Pegasus Bridge at the café of Arlette Gondrée.

This year Douglas told me a bit about his experience.

As a member of the 3rd battalion of the 6th Airborne Division he was dropped in the night of 5-6 June. Unfortunately he fell into the River Diver and it took him 3 hours to get out. He was captured by the Germans near Sallenelles (North of the bridge). He worked together with the French Resistance (one of his medals) and lost a leg.

Arlette Gondrée, also on the picture, was present during the raid on the bridge.

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fredvogels Sun, 09 Jun 2013 08:48:41 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/16129-douglas-baines-and-arlette-gondree.html
George Batts https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/13625-george-batts.html

So sad

Read the whole story here

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fredvogels Wed, 28 Nov 2012 20:23:40 +0100 https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/places-and-names-to-remember/veterans-now-and-then/13625-george-batts.html