Filed under: POWs, Veterans, WWII | Tags: Berlin, Bomber, Closure, France, RAF
Since my wife and I have an abiding love for France, I read a number of blogs about France. Sometimes, it’s just an entry or two in a blog about something else entirely, but mostly, it’s blogs by Americans or Brits who’ve transplanted themselves to France.
Among the blogs I follow is pépère the cat. It’s written by a young English woman with French boyfriend who spent some time living in Paris and also visited Normandy (ding, ding, that’s what brought me to her blog!) It’s mostly slice-of-life things, with some nice photos while she was in France. However, she posted the most interesting thing the other day, about her grandfather, who fought in WWII in the RAF.
On 21 January 1944, during a bombing raid on Berlin, his plane was hit and he was forced to bail out. Not all of the crew did so, and after spending a year in a German prisoner of war camp, not knowing what happened to his friends haunted him. I’d heartily recommend you go read her piece as it is well-written and contains details which we have only sampled here.
You might also check the story of the funeral, with video, on the RAF website or the one from The Daily Mail, which has some outstanding photos. Neither is as well written as his granddaughter’s, but they do help round out the story.
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We're not lost, Sergeant, We're in ... France 
Hey, thanks very much! I’m glad you found it interesting! 🙂
Comment by pépère the cat 24 January 2014 @ 17:46Today is my 90th birthday. My 21st birthday was celebrated in Lyons en route for Maison Blanc, Algeria. I was part of a small RAF detachment attached to the French air force. We landed at St. Maxine from Corsica, August 1944 and proceeded rapidly up the Rhone valley. Our last airfield was at St. Sauveur near Luxeil-les-Bains. it has been used by the Lafayette Squadron in WW1. The weather was freezing from Novembwer 1944 on. I loved France and was unhappy about returning to North Africa where I had previously spent 2 years. Geoff Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 22:32:26 +0000 To: drb11@hotmail.co.uk
Comment by Dr. Geoffrey Barker 25 January 2014 @ 06:48Happy birthday, Dr. Barker!
Comment by David Navarre 25 January 2014 @ 07:31Happy birthday! My grandpa (the one in the story) is 91 tomorrow!
Comment by pépère the cat 25 January 2014 @ 17:55