101st Airborne Division Belgian Friendly Newsletter

101st Airborne Division Belgian Friendly Newsletter
YEAR 2008-VOL.1
MONTHLY
JANUARY
Publisher: Laurent OLIVIER, Tomberg 47, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
Carole Landis
Skylighters. All rights reserved
Pin-up Girl of the Month
101st Airborne Division Belgian Friendly
WORLD WAR TWO HISTORY AND REENACTMENT ASSOCIATION
a.s.b.l. N° 718199
Corporation N°: 0465.819.635
Registered office: Rue Rouvroy 297, 5300 Bonneville, Belgium
Le staff, at your service:
President:
Michel Bourland
Rue Rouvroy 297
5300 Bonneville, Belgium
Tel: +32.85.84.25.46
Mobile: .32.475.33.24.44
Treasurer:
Jean-Pierre Marquet
Rue de Toijol 5
5640 Saint-Gérard, Belgium
Tel: +32.71.79.85.56
Mobile: +32.475.95.93.30
Fax : +32.71.79.89.24
E-mail :
j.p.marquet@portima.be
Secretary:
Laurent Olivier
Tomberg 47
1200 Bruxelles, Belgium
Tel: +32.2.771.95.43
Mobile: +32.479.96.19.34
E-mail:
oli_wla_1942@yahoo.fr
Association account
number:
Account « 101st Airborne Belgian » Nr : 732-0005542-64
Meeting office:
Red Cross office
Rue Albert Ier (N922)
5070 Fosses-la-Ville
Belgium
Affilié à la FBVA N° 191
Monthly meetings are usually taking place every fourth
Friday.
Hello!
Good morning members and readers of our newsletter. We received
many wishes from other associations and friends this year. We thank
you and we would like to extend to
all our Best Wishes for 2008 and a
very Happy New Year.
This year is the 35th anniversary of
our association. It was created in
1973 by Francis Dussard. Even after
Francis’ death in 1985, the association still moved on. At that time our
association was part of the “March
of Saint-Eloi” from Verdin. In 1998,
we became an ASBL (association
without any Lucrative Goal - literal
translation). We organized a lot of
events and we have participated
in many others either in Belgium or
abroad. Almost all our old members
are gone. Their goal was to honor
the men who gave their lives for our
freedom more than 63 years ago.
Thank you for not forgetting our “old
ones” and to continue to honor the
Heroes of our freedom.
Airborne Family
Happy Birthday : This month we
wish a Happy Birthday to Eric May
(03/01), Georges Hilson (11/01),
Adrien Raps (11/01), Alexandre
Cools (16/01), Daniel Williams
(23/01) et Romuald Vanhuylenbroeck (26/01).
New Year’s Wishes : We received
many wishes from our veteran
friends: Denis et Erma Parsons
(G/327th GIR), Gene Cook (AB/506th PIR), George Koskimaki
(101st Airborne Signal Co), Thomas Carocci (VIIth Corps et 9th Inf.
Div.), Jesse Miller (238th Engineer
Combat Bn), also from our American friends Kyle (who’s coming
back from Iraq in a few days), Daniel, Larry, (went to Iraq recently) and
Ben, our honorable members Guy
Bordeleau (Canada), Aubrey Wood
and his family (former 101st AB,
almost a Full Colonel now), and of
course our Honor President, Jack
Wingate.
Association
News
Sad News
Next reunion is going to be on
the 25th of January 2008. This
reunion is also our General Assembly. During this meeting the
committee’s elections are going
to take place. Just as a reminder
all the members should be there.
The annual fee for 2008 should be
paid into the Association’s bank account. The amount for this year is
20€.
Payment should be made before
1st March 2008
Bank account « 101st Airborne
Belgian »
#: 732-0005542-64
IBAN: BE29 7320 0055 4264
BIC: CREGBEBB.
Unfortunately we have to announce
the death of one our friends Jonathan Collard. He died on Sunday
30th December. Jonathan was a
very active member of the 101st AB
326 E and in the organization Staff
of the “Celles” re-enactment event.
He was born in Namur the 18th of
July 1981. He was 26 years old.
Thank you for thinking about him
and his family…
Communication : Cotisation 2008
After Action
Report
Bastogne
During the week-end of 14-15-16
December, we were participating to the 63rd Anniversary of the
Battle of the Bulge. We had a lot
of things to do this year. Like every year, our HQ was at Neffe.
It was a pleasure for us to meet
again our friends from the 502
PIR BMVRG, the Group ‘Liberation’, France 44, Normandy Memory Club and the Octofoil. Friday
evening, our American friend (and
member) Daniel prepared some
turkey with some beans with Jack
Daniels’ sauce, a meal always appreciated by all.
Saturday morning, we woke up
earlier than usual. Once ready,
we took the road to Rolley’s
castle. Like every year, our association was in charge of supplying hot chocolate to the walkers. This year, the historical walk
was passing through the 502nd
PIR sector (Longchamps, Chams,
Hemroulle). The supply took place
in the courtyard of the Rolley’s
castle farm. Outside was a group
of German paratroopers’ re-enactors. Despite our fears, we had
no problems with this group coming from Germany. Anyway, we
decided that no one wearing a
German uniform could enter the
courtyard. This historical walk is a
commemorative walk to the memory of the American soldiers who
gave their lives for the liberation
of our country. A part of Rolley’s
farm was used as an aid station
post for the wounded soldiers of
the 502nd PIR. Many of them died
there, despite the medical care
they received. So we thought that
the presence of people wearing
WW2 German uniforms in that
sanctuary would be an insult to
the memory of the men killed by
the German soldiers. This year,
the walk was again a success,
with 3000 walkers. We had also
installed some fox-holes in a nearby wood. This year was also the
30th Anniversary of the walk, initiated and led by André Meurisse
from 1977 to 1990. On that occasion, the Liberty Jump Team made
a drop from a C-47 in a field near
Rolley. Our friend Hubert from the
LJT asked us to assume the DZ
security, which we did. To be ‘in
the heart of the action’ was very
interesting. The wind was pretty
strong and we had to help some
paratroopers who were dragged
by their parachute. Hopefully,
none of them was injured. The C47 then skimmed the ground several times over the DZ. That was
very impressive!
After lunch, we went down to Bastogne to participate to the “Nuts’
Fair” parade, which stops in front
of the General Patton’s monument and the General McAuliffe’s
monument. This year again, we
had the chance to have supper at
Bastogne’s Army barracks. There,
we were joined by the members
of LJT, an American Army section
from the USAG Benelux, Mr. Hans
Hooker, the superintendent of the
American Cemetery of Neuvilleen-Condroz, and his wife Virginia.
Sunday morning, we walked to
Bastogne’s seminar to lay flowers
at the monument dedicated to the
memory of 13 men from the 501st
PIR, killed on January 5, 1945
in the explosion of a GMC truck,
loaded with mines. After that, we
went to the Mardasson to secure
the DZ for the LJT’s second jump.
Unfortunately, because of the bad
weather, the jump was cancelled.
So we went back to the lodging for
cleaning. Then, by the end of the
afternoon, we were back in town to
have a meal, at McAuliffe ’square.
Some of us had the opportunity to
meet some veterans there, Herb
Suerth, Ed Shames, Frank Sobolsi from the E/506th PIR and Ray
Nagell from the 321st Glider Parachute Artillery Bn.
That week-end was great again.
The staff wishes to thank every
participant, as well as anybody
who helped to make these days
unforgettable.
Mark Bando
As every month, Mark Bando update the pages “Then and Now”
and “Lest We Forget” on his Internet website and every two months
the page “Eagle Talk”.
This month in “Then and Now”:
Al Krochka took the vintage photo
in 1944, camera facing N. This is
on the main north-south street in
Foy and a KO’d Mark IV tank stood
here in late December, 1944 or
early January, 1945. Aside from
the houses being re-built, there is
also a distinct change in the roadside ditch. Foy isn’t much of a
hamlet but it changed hands half
a dozen toimes between 19 December 44 and 13 January, 1945.
Pierre Godeau found the location
for comparison purposes and my
‘now’ shot was made around the
beginning of October, 2007.
Trooper of the Month for January,
2008-Sgt Ralph Bennett Co. H506th PIR.
Ralph was a native of Detroit, MI,
where he attended Cass Technical High School. He joined the
506th PIR at Camp Toccoa, GA
in 1942 and went through the entire history of that regiment until
the war’s end in Austria. Ralph’s
unusual prisoner, ‘captured’ when
he defected to 3/506th troopers
enroute to the wooden bridges
on D-day, is related in my ‘Avenging Eagles’ book. Also the story
of why he was awarded the Silver Star Medal is described in my
latest book, in the chapter about
Opheusden.
Ralph is small in stature but a born
leader, who served as a squad
leader before becoming platoon
sgt of How Co.’s 3rd platoon.
Ralph resides in the area NW of
Detroit and is a regular at the SE
Michigan 101st Lunch Bunch.
This month, in Lest We Forget,
Mark Bando honors the memory
of Pfc Charles J. Merritts ASN:
32659325, Fox Co. 501st PIR.
Charles Merritts was a short guy
with sparkling brown eyes. He
was born in August, 1922 under
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1
2
4
the sign of Leo. Although he had
a repaired harelip, he was a superior swing dancer and had a great
singing voice. “He always woundup with the best-looking Tomato”,
in the words of his best buddy Leo
Gillis.
Gillis and Merritts met in the 501st
PRTP (replacement pool) at Camp
Toccoa, GA in early 1943. Merritts
had been a bellhop at a NYC hotel
(he lived in the Bronx on Plimpton
Ave), and more recently-an animal keeper at the Bronx Zoo.
After emerging unscathed from
the Normandy Invasion, Merritts
was seriously wounded in the leg
by shrapnel while on the Island
in Holland in October, 1944. This
deep leg wound sent him to a hospital in France. After the 3rd Army
broke through to relieve Bastogne
on 26 December, 1944, Merritts
ran away from the hospital to rejoin his buddies who were fighting
in winter weather near Bastogne.
On 4 January, 1945, he located
Gillis in the Bois Jacques forest. Gillis implored Merritts to get
back to the rear, not only because
his wound was not yet healed, but
also because the 501st seemed to
be suffering from inept leadership
at that time. For days, they had
simply been moving from place
to place in those woods, getting
shelled and mortared and sustaining needless casualties. He made
Merritts promise to leave the front
lines and go into Bastogne. Merritts promised to do that, but his
sense of duty was stronger and
he remained at the front.
Soon after this meeting, Gillis was
wounded in the ankle by shrapnel
and evacuated. He would never
see his best friend alive again.
On 9 January, 1945, Company
F was marched about 2 miles to
the west, from their area NW of
Bizory, leapfrogging most of the
506’s 2nd and 3rd Bn positions.
They staged at the woods below Recogne, Belgium, and then
launched an infantry assault on
that town. They were assigned
the mission of driving German
troops out of Recogne and occupying that hamlet north of Bastogne. During the attack, the light
machine-gun assigned to Merritts’
squad was being carried by a replacement named Lee, who was
killed in the center of the road
leading in to Recogne. Merritts
left the shelter of a small Belgian
shanty and dashed out onto the
road to retrieve the important
weapon. Just as he picked up the
machine-gun and turned to run
back to the shanty, a German rifleman fired and the bullet went into
the ribs of Charles Merritts, passing sideways through his chest
cavity and exiting on the far side.
Merritts half-spun and went down
hard. After awhile he managed to
crawl back into the shanty, leaving a bloody trail in the snow.
Daniel Newton cradled the dying
trooper in his arms.
All2 Merritts said was “I’m not going to make it...”
About 15 minutes later he was
gone.
As F Company got up collectively
and rampaged into the hamlet of
Recogne, they passed the open
door of a farm building. Those
who paid attention saw a tearful
Daniel Newton, holding the lifeless body of Charles Merritts and
staring ahead with shocked, unseeing eyes.
Dan Newton would survive WWII
but he never attended a postwar
reunion of the 501st. Gillis was
back in England when Merritts
was killed and he did not learn his
best buddy had been KIA until he
returned from the hospital months
later (shortly after VE-Day in May,
1945.) Both Gillis and Newton
are also gone now, but as long
as they lived, the painful memory
of losing this exceptional friend
would always bring a flood of sad
memories and tears. Sgt Fletcher
‘Doc’ Gainey’ always used to say
“If Merritts had survived the war,
he would’ve been another Perry
Como.”
Indeed, music was an important
part of Merritts’ life and his favorite song was ‘Poinciana’, as
performed by Glen Miller’s AAF
Band with Johnny Desmond and
the ‘crew chiefs’. Merritts and
lead singer Desmond bore a remarkable physical resemblance
to each other. Merritts also re3
sembled
a latter-day pop singer
from the Bronx: ‘Dion’, who was
popular in the 1960s.
On his forum, Mark Bando added:
“Francis Leo Gillis, Charles J.
Merritts and Daniel ‘Fig’ Newton
were a very close trio of friends.
The loss of Merritts was a lasting and painful experience for his
buddies. When Newton and Gillis
spoke of Merritts, you could always sense the terrible pain his
death caused both of them. Newton never left N.C. to attend any
reunion after WWII and Gillis and
Newton to my knowledge never
saw each other or even spoke
by phone until the day they died.
The memories for them were too
4
intense. Fig Newton shared my
birthday of 15 October. I did feel
some cosmic connection to their
friendship with Merritts, even if
just by virtue of the fact that they
trusted me enough to talk with
me about this very personal loss.
Read, reflect and remember...”
Mark Bando added again:
« - (About picture 7 comment) I
suspect the captain that day was
Winfield McFarlane, but not certain. I talked with Jim Nadeau yesterday at Lunch Bunch about this.
He said he thinks McFarlane was
the culprit. He was something like
Lt Dike-more of an administrator
than a warrior. Nadeau was there
as a member of 3rd platoon with
Merritts and Newton and the rest.
He says Lt. Hess frequently had
to assume the role of ‘acting C.O.’
when the designated company
commanders became casualties
or as in this case, bugged-out.
- The F Company ‘runner’ that day
was a replacement from Michigan,
who used to attend our chapter
meetings but he has been gone
about 15 years or more now.
Another F Co. man told me that
the runner was also hiding behind
the big tree and he kept saying
“My hands are cold! My hands are
cold!”
He also bugged-out during this
battle and was not seen for the
rest of the day. Who knows, that
might have saved his life?
- Nadeau says that before being
wounded in Holland, Merritts wore
a black turtleneck sweater as an
outer garment, having discarded
his M43 jacket.
On the sweater was a shiny set of
jump wings, of which Merritts was
VERY proud. He would frequently
breathe on them audibly through
his mouth, then buff them with the
sleeve of his sweater.
- Merritts also jumped into Holland
w/ a baseball glove and a hardball
in his musette bag. He and Gillis
were playing ‘catch’ in Veghel in
front of an admiring crowd the day
of the jump.
Adrenalized from the jump, Gillis
was pitching fastballs, which Merritts caught with the mitt.
Gillis said “I felt so powerful that
day, I felt like I could throw that
ball as fast as Bob Feller...”
In ‘Eagle Talk’, Mark Bando informs us about the last news
regarding Veterans, friends or
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members of his family and the activities he is taking part along with
information about his last book. In
this edition, Mark Bando informs
us about the Trigger Time convention #2.5 to be held in Lawton,
OK- Jan 22-27, 2007, near the
ADT base. He is also announcing
the TT Convention #3 next August
in the Chicagoland Area. The second European TT Convention will
happen on May 31 and June 1 at
Eerde in the Netherlands. We will
inform you about it when information are published.
Mark Bando tells us the wedding
story of a soldier.
Frank ‘Rabbit’ Hare, an enlisted
GI from McKeesport, PA, came to
England in 1944 as a member of
an Engineer Bn. He volunteered
for parachute training and attended the jump school at Chilton Foliat, where he became a qualified
paratrooper. Arriving as a replacement for Normandy casualties in
the 101st Airborne Division, he
was assigned to Service Co. 502
PIR. Frank jumped into Holland
7
9
as a member of SV/502 but was
evacuated with foot injuries several weeks later. After leaving a
hospital in the UK, Frank attended
a dance at the Astoria Ballroom,
across from the Red Cross center
where he was staying in London.
He met an amazing girl at this
dance, named Jolanda Konigsberger. He learned that ‘Jo’ was
a Jewish girl from the Charlottenburger district of Berlin, Germany.
In the late 1930s, Jo’s family sent
her to France to escape the rapidly approaching genocide of Jews
in Germany. From there, Jo had
found passage to England. This
was fortunate for her, because
she later learned that her father
died in Buchenwald concentration
camp, on 2 July, 1941.
Frank and Jo seemed to be destined for each other from the start.
He is a 13 October Libra Ox. Jo
is a 16 December Sagittarius Rat.
The pair saw a lot of each other
for the next few days, until Frank
had to return to his unit, which
was at Camp Mourmelon, near
Reims, France. They promised to
keep in touch and to meet again
as soon as the war would allow.
At Mourmelon, Frank Hare was
re-assigned to Company ‘C’ of the
deuce and when the Ardennes offensive began, he went to Bastogne with the 101st Airborne
division. The fighting in defense
of Champs, Belgium on the west
perimeter of Bastogne, has been
well-described in Sgt Layton
Black’s book: ‘The Last 1st Sgt’.
Rabbit Hare is mentioned on page
381 of that book.
Frank was struck in the leg with
shrapnel in January, 1945 and it
was also discovered that he had
frozen feet. He was again evacuated to England for medical attention. Meanwhile, Jo had been
taking English language lessons
from her British mentor ‘Auntie’
Mureil Davies. Jo visited Frank in
the hospital and they continued
seeing each other after he was
released. They made plans to get
married in the summer of 1945.
Frank rejoined Charlie Co. of the
502 in the spring and went through
southern Germany to Berchtesgaden and later to Uttendorf, Austria. Captain Jack Williams was
9
the company C.O., later followed
by Frank Gregg, who came to the
deuce when the 501st was inactivated in July, 1945.
Another former 501st trooper
named Felix Nance (HQ/3 501)
had been transferred into F/502
and he became friends with Frank
Hare. Nance and Hare met-up in
the UK in August 1945 and Nance
was best man for the wedding of
Frank and Jo on 22 August, 1945.
(Captain Gregg made it possible
for Frank to leave Auxerre, France
and to go to England for the wedding).
Another separation followed when
Frank had to rejoin his division on
the continent. He saw Jo briefly in
early 1946, when he joined C/504
PIR for the trip back to the states.
Frank was among the lucky troopers who had the honor of parading up Fifth Avenue with the
82nd Airborne Division. Several
months later, in April, 1946, his
bride arrived in the states and the
happy couple settled in PA. Not
long thereafter, while Jo was expecting their first child, the couple
happened to be visiting friends
out in Utah and Jo experienced
pre natal complications. A doctor
advised them not to travel until
after the baby had safely arrived
and after Jo had recuperated.
Frank found work in Utah and the
couple ended-up staying in Utah,
where they still reside today.
After 62 years of marriage, they
can now claim over 40 grandchildren from this union.
Mark Bando also presents us a
picture of E/506th PIR Veterans
5
6
during the second
Annual Meeting of the 101st Airborne Division in New York in 1947 (the first
ones was in Indianapolis in 1946
and the third in Chicago in 1948).
The picture was taken during the
Saturday night banquet. Seated
clockwise from 10 o’clock are
Popeye’ Wynn, Clifton C.Lipton,
Bill and Frannie Guarnere, Mr &
Mrs. Amos ‘Buck’ Taylor, Ronald
Speirs, Herb ‘Junior’ Suerth, Edward Shames, Wayne ‘Skinny’
Sisk, Darrell ‘Shifty’ Powers, and
Don Moone. Identifications cour8
tesy of Jake 7
Powers.
Textes et pictures : copyright
Mark Bando. For info, this part is
translated in our French language
Newsletter.
Mark Bando’s website: http://
www.101airborneww2.com/. Do
not forget to visit it on a regular
basis, along with his forum.
As we told previously, our association support Mark Bando and
recognize his extraordinary research work.
5 Private First Class Charles J.
Merritts
6 Generic Krochka photo of a
501st swing dancer in action in
England, before D-day
7 This is a view facing north, up
the road which F/501 used to enter Recogne on January 9, 1945.
Lt Clair Hess took this photo 25
years later, in 1969, when he returned to revisit the area. The Fox
company commander hid behind
the large tree on the right side of
the road, then bugged-out, leaving Hess in charge. The small
shanty which Merritts crawled in
to after being fatally wounded was
also on the right side, just beyond
the tree.
8 This crucifix set into the north
side of a stone barn in Recogne
has been there for a long time. It
is not far from where Merritts was
fatally wounded. It is possible that
he saw it while struggling to crawl
back to shelter after being hit.
Merritts and Gillis were both Roman Catholics and Merritts was a
favorite of Father Sampson’s.
9 This is one of the very few photos taken of Gillis & Merritts together. The original was made at
a carnival or fair in 1943, probably
near Camp Mackall, N.C.
It is so dark now that the images
are almost gone. The original is
about 2 x 4” and was also printed
backwards. I scanned it tonight,
flip-flopped it and lightened it, but
a splotch of damage runs down
right across Merritts’ face and
prevents seeing it clearly.
10 Frank ‘Rabbit’ Hare and Jolanda Konigsberger during their
wedding
11 S/Sgt Felix Nance in a summer
44 photo taken in the UK while he
was a member of HQ/3-501 PIR
Pictures :
1 & 2 Foy 1944-2007
3 & 4 Sergeant Ralph Bennet
12 Frank Hare got married in his
Ike jacket with a Type B-1 eagle
SSI on the left shoulder
13 Easy 506th PIR Veterans and
wifes at the second annual meeting of the 101st Airborne Division
Association on 16 August 1947
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12
13
Foxholes in Danger (by Laurent Olivier)
Last December, during the commemoration of the Battle of the
Bulge, many people visited the
“Bois Jacques”. This place received much attention thanks to
the series “Band of Brothers” and
still today we find a lot of Foxholes which is really nice for those
people who are passionate about
WW2, especially for the Battle of
the Bulge (Bastogne sector). A
visit to a battlefield has to be interesting and respectful. The men
that spent weeks in those woods
or elsewhere, either in the Bastogne perimeter or in general in
the Ardennes, experienced horrible winter and battle conditions
and many died in those foxholes,
so it’s normal to respect those
places that forever will be marked
with the blood of those heroes.
Unfortunately not everybody does
that…
In fact on Sunday afternoon one
of my friends, a historian amateur,
went into the woods, the part in
front of the village of Foy, where
the very famous Easy Company
was during the battle of Bastogne.
He was so disappointed to see
all the foxholes and around loaded with garbage. This wasn’t old
garbage... on the contrary!! One
could spot reproduction of combat
rations, cans with repro etiquettes,
plastic bottles, whiskey bottles,
etc., etc., and all of this during the
previous day. He also found the
remains of two fires and a champagne cork!!! What was there to
celebrate? The death of American
Soldiers?
Those bad deeds were acts of
irresponsible re-enactors that
have no respect for history nor
the veterans and the men that
died there, those men who give
to those “pseudo-re-enactors” the
possibility to wear their uniforms.
Some veterans heard about what
happened and are really very sad
and mad to learn about this profanation (quoting their words) where
their buddies gave their blood
and life. Re-enactment IS NOT A
GAME, also it shouldn’t be taken
too seriously, but the attitude of
some pseudo-re-enactors is really
unacceptable and disrespectful.
Luckily, not all re-enactors are like
that.
When you are on a historical site
please don’t mess everything up
and keep it clean. It’s not so dif-
ficult to pick up some garbage
before leaving a site. Of course,
in the past, foxholes were used
as dumping places and unfortunately we cannot do anything for
that. But being responsible re-enactors, we have to respect and
preserve all that we can otherwise
the sacrifice of those brave men
will be in vain.
Of course my friend and some other people that were there cleaned
up all the mess that the irresponsible group left.
Laurent Olivier
Screaming Eagles 101st Airborne Division Newsmagazine, Vol. 1 No. 1, Sept. 17, 1945.
Liberation of Belgium
As you know, there is now more
than 63 years that our country has
been liberated by the allied.
In this newsletter, we end a list of articles published in the press for the
60th anniversary (thanks to Daniel
for the articles). These are stories of
witnesses of the liberation. They are
illustrated by some pictures from
that time.
In Jumet, stones
were thrown at the
Germans
Armand lived in Jumet: « The Americans arise as a whole on the market
of Heigne; they came from Roux. »
M. Armand Mayence has kept very
precise souvenirs from WWII in our
region and from the Liberation of
the great urban centre of Charleroi.
He had the good idea to note it all
down in a memo book. It gave him
the possibility to write his memories
of war. We did receive some large
and interesting extracts about, for
instance, the period of Liberation.
Here they are, as he wrote it.
The 4th of September 44, before
17h00, exclamations came out in
the street: the neighborhood began
to bubble over with vitality, the news
was certain: American troops arrive.
It is said that the Americans arise as
a whole on the market of Heigne;
coming from Roux, through the access route linking the two municipalities. I go fast to the Madeleine
Street, the Masure Street and arrive
in the Wattelaer Street. It’s there
that I can see for the first time these
brave American soldiers coming
from so far to liberate us.
This vision, I will never forget. Both
sides of the street are plenty of
people on several rows applauding
in an unbelievable delirium. Windows are covered of Belgian flags,
but also American, French, English
and soviets. People are shouting
happily, ovations springing up from
all around. Young girls go near the
armored vehicles, helped by strong
hands of “G-men”; they are taken
up on the turrets to kiss the soldiers
who give them cigarettes, chocolate
and chewing-gum.
Some German prisoners are perched
on vehicles or tanks where some
people, more exited than other, insult, spit or throw stones at them.
This wave was hardly interrupted by
an incident near the square: indeed,
gunshots were heard on the edge of
the forest. GI’s went there fast but
their jeep came back in the column.
I’ve never known what did happen
there.
This endless wave of vehicles will
run until late in the evening, in a tumultuous noise shaking the houses:
heavy trucks, all calibers bore guns,
huge size engineering material,
bridges, cranes, bulldozers, mechanical shovels, and numerous
Sherman’s tanks vehicles of which
the tracks crush the paving stones.
And it’s only a part of the 1st Army of
the United States, led by the General Hodges that we can see here
in Jumet.
This important event of our history
has been commemorated by the
fixing of a plate on top of Heigne
Street, which is called, since then,
the Liberation Street. The day after,
I notice that an infantry section has
settled on the field of the Dubray’s
farm in the Masy Street, below the
Trigone Street. The curiosity pushes
me to go nearer and I begin to exchange some words with the soldier
on guard at the rank of tents. It’s a
boy as young as I am arriving from
Saint-Louis, Missouri. I tell him that
I have some members of my family
living in Centralia, Illinois. I sympathize with him; he gives me chocolate, chewing gum, and then takes
two packs of cigarettes out of his
pocket, Camels and Lucky Strike,
unknown brands here. He proposes
me to choose the one I want and
I pick out a Camel and light it up.
This is my first American cigarette.
Luckily for the locals, the American
troops haven’t had lots of opportunities to fight in our region. The Resistance had remarkably cleared the
way by neutralizing or chasing the
remaining Germans.
3 GIs in a jeep
Marcel took some rest in Durbuy:
« Rumor has it that: Americans are
arriving, they are in Hotton and are
moving towards Durbuy. »
In September 1944, Mr. Marcel
Raes from Charleroi took some rest
at the end of his graduate studies
at his grand-parents’ house in the
Ardennes.
« So I was near Durbuy, in the hamlet of Palenge which was part at this
time of the municipality of Septon.
Since a few days, we heard the
noise of the artillery and AS Resistant’s were moving around wearing
submachine guns at their back. On
9th September, early in the morning, « there are rumors going round
about Americans that are in Hotton
and are moving towards Durbuy. »
With some boys as young as I was,
I go to the road. We expected an
armed detachment would arrive to
go, fifteen hundred meters further,
at the viewpoint of Borlon where you
can see the all region. Finally, they
do arrive : 3 GI’s in a jeep, machine
guns, submachine guns, jerrycan of
gas, spare wheel, and … boxes of
chocolate, Camel cigarettes, Lucky
Strike and other eatables and even
condoms. Four other jeeps were following. Americans showed interest
for anyone, mainly to the girls who
did answer positively… » Mr. Raes
goes deeper into his souvenirs: «
The same day, the day after and
the next days, the Americans (the
trucks drivers were nearly all black
people) did supply the population
by taking food in the boxes of war
rations and K rations. They had
everything! Each family tried hard
to invite a GI to share a meal with
what they could offer and what soldiers brought with them. » Another
remark: « White GI’s (officers) were
mainly interested about girls wearing spring skirts or country skirts in
vogue in 1944. »
Calendar
Monthly meetings are usually
18-19-20 January.
taking place every fourth FriIvanhoe 2008.
day at 20h00 at the meeting Indian Head’s winter event.
office at Fosses-la-Ville. In
Contacts:
case of change, it will be inGuy Klinkenberg
dicated in the next newsletter.
+32.63.21.96.14.
Next meetings:
25 January
15-16-17 February.
22 February
Winter Rally.
28 March
WW2 military vehicles meet25 April
ing organized by the BMVT.
23 May
Contacts:
27 June
www.bmvt.be
25 July
22 August
23 February.
26 September
In the footsteps of the 82nd
24 October
Airborne Division.
28 November
Commemorative walk orga26 December
nized by Emile Lacroix.
Contacts:
General yearly meeting:
emile.lacroix@skynet.be
25 Januay 2008.
14-15-16 March.
Liberation of Habay.
Event organized by the ABC.
Contacts:
http://users.skynet.be/abc
Wavre militaria: Every first
oli.bastognard@skynet.be
Saturday of the month. Next
+32.478.42.08.37.
dates:
5 January
19-20 April.
2 February
Inauguration monument
1 March
B17 ‘Mission 111’.
5 April.
Event organized by the
Ciney militaria:
27 April
26 October.
Arlon militaria:
20 January.
A.R.G. Duffel
Contacts:
argd@skynet.be
1-2-3-4 May.
Celles.
WW2 event organized by the
101st AB 326E.
Contacts:
www.101airborne.be
2-3-4 May.
Blaregnies-Quevy.
WW2 event organized by the
377th Field Artillery
at Blaregnies.
Contacts:
Edouard Geisler
+32.497.28.04.60.
31 May - 1 June.
European Trigger Time
Convention 2.
Eerde - Netherlands.
Infos:
www.101airborneww2.com
4-5-6 July.
The Historical US ARMED
FORCES Days.
A historical & educational
presentation of
the U.S. Armed Forces
from the 18th Century
through the year 1991
organized by
‘Je me souviens’
at Saint-Hubert.
Contacts:
us2008@jemesouviens.fr
www.us2008.jemesouviens.fr
1-2-3 August.
Supply Point.
WW2 event organized by the
H.W.W.
Contacts:
www.hww.be
12-13-14 September.
Pajot Camp.
Camp organized by the White
Star Division at Galmaarden.
Contacts:
www.wsd-vvk.be/
jj.vandenneucker@versatelad
sl.be
Sad Sack
Continental Edition 20 August 1944