I dedicate this post to my mother who passed away in July 2022. There she is on August 28, 1944, in the arms of American soldiers who have just liberated the town of Sézanne, where she was living with my grandparents. This picture was taken in front of the grocery store my great-grandparents Berjot used to manage, “La Ruche Moderne”.
I also dedicate this post to Maurice Solomon and all individuals, soldiers, resistants and civilians, who fought during WWII to ensure our freedom, as well as children caught in the middle of all of this…
As mentioned at the end of my previous post, the liberation of France started with the Allied invasion of French North Africa (French Morocco, French Algeria), from November 8-16, 1942. It was called “Operation Torch”.
1942 – Beginning of the Liberation of France
- 1942 (continued)
- November 8-16 – “Opération Torch“: Allied invasion of French North Africa.
- November 27: my maternal grandfather’s 43rd Infantry Regiment (see my previous post), then stationed in Marseille (South of France), got dissolved after the Germans invaded the south free zone. My grandfather was later sent to Brest (Brittany) until the end of the war.
- 1943
- September 8-October 4 – “Opération Vésuve“: Liberation of Corsica.
1944, June 6 – D-Day
This day has been commemorated in France every year for many, many years. Officials and veterans from France, United States, England, Canada and Germany attend a ceremony to remember and honor the 140,000 soldiers and civilians who lost their lives that day. Every year, different French TV channels show very emotional but beautiful stories of veterans or their family members representing them. I remember watching two identical stories: the meeting between an English D-Day veteran with a German D-Day veteran, hugging and crying together… They said: “We are rebuilding the world”. A similar story showing an American D-Day veteran with a German D-Day veteran, also hugging and crying together… Another very touching story was of two families, one American, one German, both descendants of an American and a German D-Day soldier, who have not only kept in touch all these years but also became lifetime close friends.
I was born and raised in France and spent all my Easter and summer vacations from the age of 10 to 18 in Barneville-Carteret, (Normandy), a village 45 minutes west of Utah Beach and one hour from Omaha Beach. My parents took my siblings and me several times to visit the D-Day beaches, museums and American cemetery nearby. They made sure we were aware of this period of History and of all those young people who gave their lives to ensure our freedom.
- June 6 – D-Day. “Opération Overlord“: Battle of Normandy. Allied forces (American, British and Canadian troops) land at 6:30am on five beaches of Normandy: Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach. As mentioned in my previous post, Maurice Solomon, the father of one of my American friends, landed on Omaha Beach that day… He received five medals for his service during WWII, including the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 and Légion d’Honneur (French military awards), as well as the World War II Victory Medal, and Good Conduct Medal (United States military awards).
- In the following days, weeks and months, Allied forces progress and liberate villages, towns and cities all over France.
Here is a video about D-Day in English. It includes the interview in French (with English subtitles) of Paulette Héron (code name “Marianne“) (1918-2022), a French Resistant lady whose husband was also a Resistant and the leader of the “Arc-en-Ciel” (rainbow) network for all of Normandy.
August 15 – “Opération Dragoon“: Allied invasion of the Provence region (southern France): gradual liberation of Marseille, Toulon, Nice, etc.
August 1944 – My Family at the Liberation
Both the towns where my parents were living with their families were liberated by General Patton and his troops. They liberated Villedieu-sur-Indre (where my father had moved to with his family after the Exode of 1940) then progressed to Sézanne (where my mother was living).
The distance from Villedieu-sur-Indre to Sézanne is 292 km = 181 miles
General Patton and his troops liberate Villedieu-sur-Indre
I don’t have a picture of my father at the Liberation, but I have this one, very, very close enough in time! This is him (11 months old) with my grandmother, picture taken on October 31, 1943, in Villedieu-sur-Indre (Indre department), which was liberated by General Patton’s troops a few months later, on August 16, 1944.
General Patton and his troops liberate Sézanne
292 km and 12 days later, on August 28, 1944, the same troops of General Patton liberated Sézanne (Marne department). This is my mother (7 months old) in the arms of American soldiers who have just liberated Sézanne. It must have been a pretty good feeling for them to hold a baby and seeing this “new life” starting, after witnessing so many deaths…
Who knows? Maybe the same smiling soldiers holding my mother in their arms had also smiled at my father just 12 days earlier…
- 1944 (continued):
- August 16: The troops of General Patton enter and free Orléans, as well as Villedieu-sur-Indre, town where my father (20 months old) had moved to with his family after the Exode in 1940.
- August 19-25: Liberation of Paris.
- August 28: The troops of General Patton enter and free the town of Sézanne where my mother (7 months old) was living with her family.
- August 30: my paternal grandfather gets attacked by Germans, fires back alongside the F.F.I. (French Forces of the Interior, French resistance) until he was captured. After the war, he was decorated with the “Croix de Guerre 1939-1945” (Cross of War), “Médaille militaire” (Military Medal) “Médaille Commémorative Française guerre 39-45) (1939–1945 Commemorative war medal), and the Légion d’Honneur.
- 1945
- May 8: Germany surrenders. End of the Second World War in Europe.
Genealogy
Here are the links to several pages on my Geneanet tree related to individuals or events mentioned in this post: (FYI: on Geneanet, the little “green circle” on an individual’s picture indicates my direct lineage with the individuals).
– Seconde Guerre mondiale (World War II). This page also links to other individuals and events.
– Paulette Héron (the lady from the YouTube video; she and her husband, both resistants during WWII, are alone on my tree, but I am honoring each individual I “meet” during my genealogy research and “link them” to my WWI or WWII pages)
– Ernest Revenu, my paternal grandfather
– General George Patton. I did a little bit of his genealogy, and as always, I made very nice discoveries:
- General Patton was an Olympic athlete (he competed in the modern pentathlon in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden (including fencing, sport in which my father (Daniel Revenu) won 6 Olympic medals over 4 Olympic Games! (I dedicated my post “1924: France 100 years ago” to my father));
- General Patton is a descendant of French Huguenot Nicolas Martiau (1591-1657), originally from Île-de-Ré (Charente-Maritime department, France)
- General Patton is related to 1st President of the United States George Washington (1732-1799). Their first common ancestors are Lawrence Washington (1659-1698) and Mildred Warner (1671-1701);
- George Washingon is also a descendant of… the same Huguenot Nicolas Martiau!
Don’t you just love the “coincidences” and surprises of genealogy?
My French Lineage 