I am surprised that there still is no mention of either SS or Fj forces. Heer troops in the area were small in number. Locations are difficult. I do think we should be looking at Fj.Rgt.6 though. Locations match and they are easy enough to confuse with Heer troops. The highest officer was the famous Maj. von der Heydte, followed by battalion commanders (all Hauptmann). The regiment had a battalion HQ on/near the D917 but the map is a very rough sketch (situation of 26 June). If I had to guess it would be were the D443 meets the D197. Regimental HQ was apparently the first building to the northeast of the road just below the road triangle at what GE calls 'Village de Raffoville'. The sketch unfortunately does not show the HQ of the other FJ battalion, but it should be somewhere to the north. Regarding translations again: "sack of dirt"... do they mean sand bags? "gray cards"... do they mean black and white maps? I still think the translation is quite stiff.
Hi Niels, There appears to be no clarification that the 'commander' referred to is SS, Fj or Heer, though two of the three forces are referred to in the very next passage as being present at Raffoville Farm - at least for meals. As Raoul and Henriette go to leave the HQ to return home, Raoul ponders the noise of type writers upstairs: That last sentence seems to me to indicate that the tyrannical feldwebel was neither SS nor Fallschirmjaeger. However, this still does not place the officer known to the French as the 'commander' in any of the three forces with any certainty. I am still trying to ascertain if this 'commander' is one and the same as the officer who arrived at Raffoville Farm in the cape. As to the translation, I think we need to take a wide field view, especially in the use of military terminology. IIRC, when I was researching Raoul on the French sites, it was stated that he suffered from a life long physical disability, which probably precluded him from service in the First World War. His use of the word 'dirt' to describe the contents of the sandbags is a case in point - and of course his description was more accurate that the generic name 'sandbag' - soil, rather than sand, was almost certainly the more commonly available filling in Normandy. Regards, Pat
To continue... Now under orders to evacuate the Farm, Raoul and Henriette have no option but to prepare wagons and load supplies: On the morning of their departure, which I now take to be Sunday 2nd July, Raoul has his wagon loaded and ready to go. Henriette comes over to say farewell: Unlike the use of a seudonym for Raffoville Farm, ie 'Vassanville', Raoul gives the correct name for the village where his friends live and the location where he is now headed - Feugeries, which does indeed lie just south of the D900 Periers - St Lo road...and as we know, within the Operation 'Cobra' bomb box! More follows... Regards, Pat
To continue... In order to reach Feugeries, the family had to pass through the town of Periers, where Raoul expected to find some acquaintances. Though I cannot be certain from the text, the route taken to Periers appears to have been along secondary roads via the villages of Blehou (D197) and Les Milleries (D140). Almost certainly the main present day D971 Carentan/Periers road would have been considered too dangerous. The only named landmark on the route is described thus: Below is my guess at the route taken, with Raffoville Farm at top right and my candidate location for the 'Saint-Germain chateau circled red: Anyone able to confirm the location of this chateau? - which if correct, is shown on present day IGN mapping as been in ruins at centre bottom below: <iframe width="725" height="350" frameborder="2" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="2" src="http://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/embed/visu.html?c=-1.3670084705845351,49.23301295687081&z=0.000021457672120657332&l=GEOGRAPHICALGRIDSYSTEMS.MAPS.3D::GEOPORTAIL:OGC:WMTS==aggregate(1)&permalink=yes" allowfullscreen></iframe> Its not quite clear from the text if the chateau ruins are pre-war; I suspect so, as the front line only passed over this area some two weeks later when the U.S 90th Division were badly mauled in an attempt to take St Germain sur Seves from the 6th Fallschirmjaeger Regiment under Major von der Heydte. Eventually Raoul reaches Periers which it appears is heavily damaged and the mule refuses to pass through the main street because of the smell of death. Raoul has to back track and circumvent the town to reach the southern exit. More follows. Regards, Pat
To continue (p.156 refers), The route taken by Raoul and his family from Periers to his friend's house in the village of Feugères is not explicitly detailed in the narrative, but there are some hints which has led me to a house which might be the location. Here is how I have come to the candidate location: After leaving Periers, Raoul appears to have taken the main Saint Lo road, being the present day D900, having picked up a local man who travels part of the way with the family on the wagon. Assuming that the road is the D900, the only substantial bridge between Periers and the turnoff for Feugeres (arrowed yellow below), is that which spans the River Taute, circled in blue below: There is no available digitised NCAP cover to confirm bomb damage to this bridge and I see no signs of filled in craters on 1947 IGN cover below: Its easy to get lost in speculation, but I would wonder if the farmhouse at centre right might be a match for this man's destination as per the following passage: The tree visible on the 1947 cover above, is an oak and is still there today, complete with a horse resting in its shade, as seen from this 'street view' looking from the main road towards what does indeed appear to be a light toned stone farmhouse. The location is marked Rochefort Ferme on present day IGN mapping. Cover flown post invasion during the summer of 1944, showing the bomd craters at the bridge would be needed to confirm this theory :s As the wagon arrives in the village of Feugeres, they meet the local blacksmith on his way to Sunday mass. He knows Raoul's friend and informs him that this man's house is already full of refugees, as indeed are many of the other houses in the village. The mans kindly tells Raoul to come back if he cannot find accommodation and he will take in the family. The blacksmith also offers to shoe Raoul's mule the following day. Raoul proceeds into the village on what I take to be Sunday, 2nd July. There is an interesting account of village life during this period of relative calm on this site. Therein, there is a refernce to a German evacuation order dated 22nd July, so life is about to change in this little French community, as it has done for numerous others closer to the front. More follows... Regards, Pat
Now to find the house in Feugeres where Raoul’s friend Andre lives... The specific location is not revealed in the narrative, but there are quite a few hints as to the road taken to reach the house. That said, I could be very far out, but here goes... Firstly, I think its pretty safe to assume that Raoul has entered the village from the north end on the D57, having turned onto this road off the main Periers – St Lo highway. Below is my estimation based on the narrative of the route through the village and junctions A, B & C, with the destination being the house marked on present day IGN mapping as 'l'Hotel de Tetu': So how did I get to this house? Following the narrative from p159: The chateau with the turrets has to be Chateau de Feugeres, which does indeed have at least one turret as can be seen from this satellite view: In order to see the man reading the newspaper, Raoul must have passed the gate on the D533 as seen from this angle - I cannot see how he would have obtained the same view passing south on the eastern side of the chateau grounds. Assuming I am correct so far, the next question is which fork did he take at the junction marked 'C' above? I am going to go left, onto the laneway named after the house which I am betting on; 'l'Hotel Tetu'. This is marshland, with no hedgerow on the left and a view of 'l'Hotel Tetu' on the right from this spot on the laneway. Reaching the end of the lane here, I note the entrance to the avenue leading to 'Haras de Vauville' on the left between the two chestnut trees. This, I suspect is the larger house hidden by the clump of trees. 'lHotel Tetu is the building complex on the right. I could be completely out of course, having taken one or more wrong turns and if such be the case, I would welcome local knowledge in correcting the error. Anyone able to confirm or correct? Thanks, Pat
Another bit of the storey... Andre's house already has a number of refugees sheltering there, including a merchant family from Carentan and a larger, extended family whose elderly father appears to know Raoul, or at least has come to know him on his arrival at the house. In addition to the refugees, there are a number of Germans from an SS company using at least one room as an office. This unit is described thus by Raoul as he sits down with the civilians for Sunday lunch: Raoul is surprised at how both his new fellow refugees and Andre feel about the SS presence in the house. He goes on... I am assuming the next description refers to a pair of soldiers from a different unit, but this may not be the case. In any event, things begin to change... So, can we make any attempt at identifying the SS company already in place at Andre's farm? Also, can we say that the two infantrymen were not from this unit? Thanks, Pat
Pat, Having had a cursory look I can't find anything specific but if the following is indeed the case: then the unit is most likely from SS-GrenRgt 37 -(SS-Ostubaf. Jakob Fick). Will continue to look for clues as to which company. By early July Kampfgruppe Fick was indeed having a bit of a rough time of it near Marchesieux. Cheers Sean
Much appreciated Sean, The two infantrymen at the table demanding to be fed do not appear to be from the SS unit - though I am only assuming this from the context of the prose...which is of course an English translation from the original French book. Regards, Pat
To continue… On what appears to be the first night in their new refuge in Andre’s house, Raoul is roused from his sleep by a knock on his door. One of the other refugees in the house has either recognised him or has been told his name and wants to have a quite word. I wonder if it’s known locally where exactly this shooting took placeat Rouges-Terres? Rouges-Terres seems to be the name of a T junction on the main Carentan-Periers D971 road about 1 kilometre east of Meautis as seen here on Google Maps. It’s marked on Google Maps as ‘Les Terres Rouges’ , which I presume is a pre-war name unrelated to this incident. Thanks to Bertrand on our FB page, we know the family name at Raffoville Farm in 1944 was Regnault. Obviously the two men shot were Raoul's friend Feodal and the unknown stranger. Does anyone know what happened to Raoul's cousin, Pierre Regnault, the third and youngest prisoner described above? Any help much appreciated. Thanks, Pat
To continue… During a period which I take to be the eleven days between 2nd -13th July, life at Andre’s house takes on a mix of uncertainty and monotony. On the one hand Raoul appears to become apprehensive regarding the fighting to the north, while on the other he finds the days long and dragging in the cramped conditions which he shares with the other refugees. One evening during this period of relative calm, Raoul witnesses a strafing attack on the truck which the Germans use to take meals up to the front from Andre’s house. The civilian truck is hidden in a shed when not in use. The incident is described thus: I take it from this description that Raoul is stating the attacking aircraft had its engine turned off in order to catch the truck unawares. I never heard of this seemingly high risk manoeuvre before. Does anyone know if this technique was used in strafing attacks in Normandy? Thanks, Pat
Interesting story Pat, but who would risk their engine not restarting on a single lorry! I am not saying it didn't happen ever, but to destroy one truck, which could have been a flak trap needing a speedy reaction would seem to make a risky job even more dangerous Regards Allan
Hi Allan, I agree it seems very unlikely. Most probable the real description was lost in the French to English translation. Regards, Pat
A bit more… The only survivor of the strafing attack was the corporal, but he had been blinded in the incident. After the attack, the replacement vehicle used to bring the provisions from the kitchen to the front is described as being an old car with the spare wheel tied to the radiator by means of string. The German unit was being slowly ground down in number by attrition. While the number of Germans in the house was decreasing during early July, this was about to be change dramatically on the evening of Thursday, the 13th with the arrival of another German unit. This time there is no question as to the unit’s identity, as Raoul refers to it by name later in the narrative. The 2nd SS Panzer '(Das Reich’) Division had arrived in Normandy in mid June from the very far south of France where it had been refitting at Montauban, north of Toulouse. Arriving late to the fray; too late to have had any significant effect on the critical early days of the invasion, it had fought many large skirmishes with French Resistance units on the 450 mile march north to its forming up area near Domfront. Elements of this division had been responsible for the massacre of almost the entire population of Oradour sur Glane, being in number 642 men, women and children. Similar incidents, smaller in scale if not in ferocity, also occurred at other locations during the march north. The Division was not at full strength when it arrived in Normandy, as some elements had delayed departures from Montauban. Consequently it was deployed in various locations, split up by subordinate units in order to reinforce existing army formations on the Normandy front. It would appear that Andre's new guests have come from one of these units assigned to bolster the line between Periers and St-Lo. They were to leave a lasting impression on the French civilians at the house. More follows. Regards, Pat
To continue from p.176... On the evening of Thursday, 13th July as the refugees were sitting down to dinner, a small German car pulls up to the house. The feldwebel then went upstairs to ascertain the suitability and number of rooms in the house and then returned to the kitchen. He informs Andre that he will require all the upstairs rooms for his officers and the refugees will have to move out to the barn. The refugees are then made to dig two shelters by the side of the house, one for the commander and a second to accommodate the other officers. As the digging progresses, American shells begin to come over and impact in the area. More follows... Regards, Pat
A bit more... Morning came on Friday, 14th July and Raoul was up early following a restless night. The new German cook was already busy preparing breakfast. I presume this new group is a sub unit of the Das Reich and not the divisional HQ staff. Anyone able to add more on this division in Normandy, especially its locations in the first half of July. Thanks, Pat