Heading Home

It was difficult to end our trip as we could have used more of a rest period but after two days in Paris is was time to go home. In the morning we headed to DeGaulle for our flight back to Dulles. All went relatively smoothly from what I remember and I was completely humbled by the trip. There were alot of good memories and plenty of additional stories only a small portion of which I recorded here. We had been to many of the spots Dad had been during his tour through Europe in WWII. We had a lot of surprises and good luck on the trip as well as if some “angel” was watching over Dad and I am sure that was likely the case. Considering the fact that there was no mobile Internet to speak of at the time, our navigation tools were largely paper maps, and that we largely had “No Reservations” it was a great success.

In summary, this trip was such a great experience and honor to be with our father who had served in the D-Day invasions and throughout Europe during 1944-1945. Upon reflection, given what he had been through, he was very lucky to be alive and therefore so were we his children. It was cause to celebrate but also a time to reflect on those who had made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

During the trip it also gave me time to reflect on how far that area of the world had progressed beyond conflict to establish a new set of peaceful relations. This was really encouraging and that part of the World had truly passed through a very dark time into a time of more light and optimism. There are certainly significant problems and injustices that we continue to face but this period gives us an example of hope that dark times may pass and that the united will of free men may prevail and overcome significant trials. May we be vigilant against dark times returning.

May god bless us all and preserve the peace.

-Joe Macker, Oct 2012

Seeing the City

Our second day in Paris we explored quite a bit of the City via the metro and walking. Dad loved the Seine and the various sites we visited.

Initially our goal was to walk all the way to the Champs d’ Elysses. A week before or so they had celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the liberation and Dad was deployed not far from Paris protecting various suburban towns and bridges during its Liberation drive in August 1944 so this felt pretty special. Unfortunately, we had just missed any real celebrations of parades,etc so we had to invent our own brand of celebration.

We walked from our hotel to Notre Dame and then to the Louvre area. Here is a picture of John and Dad in front of the Louvre pyramid entrance.

We then continued to walk through the Park and Gardens making our way to the Champs d’Elysses.

Here is Dad and I in the Gardens enjoying a nice day.

An ironic part of our walk was that Dad had been a real trooper downing baguettes and Camembert throughout our trip but really wanted a Cheeseburger at this point. He is the man of the hour and deserved what he craved. You can see the Golden Arches appeared as we neared the Arch de Triumphe in the background. At this point we did not eat at McDonalds but did get a Cheeseburger. We just thought the photograph was so ironic with the two arches. At this point in the trip I was also just dying for some good junk food.

We went on to the Arch de Triumphe and there were some nice memorial’s there honoring those who had served to liberate France and Paris in 1944, like Dad, and also in remembrance of the many who had died in doing so.

Here at the Arch, Dad and I pretending to hold it together. Just playing around it was a fun afternoon.

Here was a memoir to honor those that had served and died in the cause of freedom.

From the Arch we hopped on the Metro and made our way across town to the Montmartre area and Sacre Couer.

Here we are after arriving and looking up at the side steps near Sacre Couer.

And to the right the reward of a beautiful view of the city when you reach the top.

Dad really enjoyed this part of the trip. He loved churches and I think perhaps Sacre Couer was probably his favorite location for its beauty and solemnity (at least once inside).

We enjoyed the old artist and tourist section of Montmartre as well. We had a few beers, shared some stories, watched the artists, had a nice lunch and then headed on our way.

Beers and good talk after a long trip.

Pictures of both Dad and John in front of Sacre Couer on the way back down the steps to the Metro.

 

 

Next: Heading Home

Getting to Paris

The next day in the afternoon we drove to Paris and checked into our hotel for the next few nights.

We stayed on Left Bank in a nice quaint hotel on Blvd. St Germaine. It was fairly large and comfortable room with a balcony to the street so we could see all the activity. As a tourist it was very convenient to the subway, restaurants, and was only a short walk to Notre Dame and the Seine. Here we are celebrating our arrival.

We stopped by a cafe that day when we arrived across the Seine River bridge from Notre Dame cathedral and we leisurely had a few beers.

I remember Dad ordered a coffee and he had been dying for a good cup of coffee and he thoroughly enjoyed this one cafe americain style, a large with milk. We had a nice afternoon talking and sitting al fresco and enjoying the scenery. It was relaxing and nice after the long trip. We walked the Seine and visited Notre Dame and more sights and then we dined on the Left Bank at some Bistro. We made plans the next day to take the Metro and explore more of the city while we had time.

Pop Pop walking across the Seine. He had helped protect the outskirts of the city during the Liberation in August 1944. Here was his chance to later enjoy it as a tourist. Fascinating. It was like I was traveling with Dr. Who, I know it sounds corny but it was like being with a time traveler and I was just there to observe and enjoy his company.

 

 

Next: Seeing the City

Chalons sur Marne

We got into town at Chalons-sur-Marne and it was really quite nice for a small town. I remember us having a nice dinner and then in the morning we asked directions for a local church to take Dad to mass.

We got directions that there was a chruch behind this wall at the end of the street but I saw nothing but storefronts as we walked towards it. We noticed there was an entrance that people were going in and it looked like a modern storefront but as we pass through it suddenly opened up into the interior of a very medieval looking church. That in itself was mind-blowing like being teleported from modern times storefronts into and an ancient world. I am guessing that perhaps one side of the church may have been damaged in previous wars and required this sort of side support but I am not sure since the other side of the church was completely exposed like a more typical medieval cathedral.

From what I can tell this church was Saint Etienne's cathedral, including parts of the first Romanesque cathedral built in the 12th century. It was mostly a Gothic style cathedral. As I recall there were very interesting tombs placed within the church and the altar area almost looking like medieval knights with swords across their chests,etc but we really didn’t have time to investigate too much. We enjoyed a basic mass service with some of the people from town in this surrealistic surrounding. I would have liked more time to have explored and really learned the city’s history but we needed to move on.

 

 

Next: Getting to Paris

France Again and Its Getting Late

After Bingen we take a few highways West and head towards the Southeast part of Luxembourg where Dad was stationed to guard the city for almost a full month between November to mid-December 1994 right before he was attached to Patton’s Army to help relieve Bastogne. I did not know it at the time but they were partially stationed there to attempt to shoot down V-1 rockets although V-2 rockets were now flying and were at a much higher altitude impossible to shoot with artillery. There units official records mention a significant number of V2 rocket sightings.

 

We discuss stopping but agree that we will try to get closer to Paris so we can get an early start there the next day. We drive on towards Metz enjoying the scenery as we pass the city of Luxembourg. Around Metz we catch the A4 highway which heads us pretty much straight back towards Paris but its getting late and at this latitude the summer sun stays up late enough to fool you into thinking its really early. We have no hotel reservations again. This is also the era of no cell phones so we are beginning to get a little worried. We are all getting a little restless because we have been in the car so long today. We have likely been driving 6-8 hours and counting.

We pull over to a gas station to fill up, grab a quick snack, and we grab a few pamphlets. We are nearing Reims which is a large city but I really do not know this area of France at all from previous travels so we discuss what to do. Basically its between “head to Paris” arrive real late and take our chances or find something nearby. I see in the pamphlet something about a a town Chalons-sur-Marne and it looks like a good shot as its a short way of the highway. Here we go as we get off A4 and head towards Chalons-sur-Marne I see a bunch of cafes lining the highway with people outside and large buckets of empty champagne bottles turned upside down. O.k., looks good! It turned out this was their nearby grape harvest celebration and we are in the Champagne district region. Chalons-sur-Marne has been renamed since we visited by the government to Chalons-en-Champagne. Maybe a smart Chamber of Commerce move to attract tourists?

If anyone is curious check out the the Charlie Brown Great pumpkin episode where when Snoopy is shot down by the Red Baron he crawls past a sign indicating its 70km to Chalons-Sur-Marne. Nice!

 

 

Next: Chalons sur Marne

Koblenz to Bingen the Wonderful Mosel

Its the same day and we decide to try and drive all the way back to France, Luxembourg. For the afternoon, we have planned to drive from Koblenz to Bingen along the Mosel river. This was a great choice as its a beautiful drive through German wine country of the Mosel. The river winds its way down a valley between beautiful gentle hills each populated with local family run wineries and old castles (well at least at the time we went in 1994). We have less pictures from this period of our trip as we ran out of film.

The drive is fun and relaxing and we pick a winery about halfway to stop and eat lunch at. They have a nice biergarten atmosphere there and we enjoy a nice lunch and a few drinks as we overlook the river and the rolling hills surrounding us. Its a rest stop to beat all rest stops!

We take a few hours slowly making our way to Bingen and we finally exit the Mosel valley and enter more of a flat plains area.

 

 

Next: France Again and Its Getting Late

Goodbye Belgium into Germany: Where's the Remagen Bridge?

Well we head back to the Inn at Aywaille and drive and drive and drive from Aywaille through Bastogne to Remagen, Germany and points beyond as the day progresses.

One of Dads missions was to protect the bridges near Remagen, he claims it was Remagen itself but the platoon protected a large swath of bridges including those to the Southeast on the Ahr River surrounding the Remagen Rhine area. All these passages were important to support the later swift movements across the Rhine perhaps shortening the war by weeks. They would basic dig foxholes for the M15 and M16 halftracks on the banks or hills over the river in order to provide AAA protection for the bridges.

This is a photo of an M15 in action along a river bank.

Of course we had seen the old movie “Bridge at Remagen” but couldn’t remember the details.

So here we were and of course and we wanted to walk across that damn Remagen bridge that had been captured and saved. John’s looking around and making me circle back and forth in the car and he asking people where the Remagen Bridge is? They keep pointing and giving directions.

Well the Remagen bridge from 1944 no longer exists! As it collapsed several weeks after being captured by the Allies killing many.

See the following for the interesting related stories:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remagen#The_Bridge_at_Remagen

 

 

Next: Koblenz to Bingen the Wonderful Mosel

The Morning After and Bastogne

During the Ardennes Campaign and the 467th AAA was attached to the 4th armored Division.

In mid-December '44, the 467th Battalion was providing air defense for Luxembourg City. This was an interesting time with V2 rockets frequently flying overhead. The Germans attacked out of the Ardennes Forest and suddenly caught by surprise the Allies gave ground. Patton quickly organized portions of the Army to provide relief. The Battalion was attached to the 4th Armored Division and drove northward into the German southern flank of the Bulge. The 467th AAA was in combat for 41 days during the Ardennes Campaign. They engaged 74 enemy aircraft but were also often used to guard roads.

On Dec 26, 1944 elements of Patton’s 4th Armored Division attacked from the South and succeeded in make contact with the surrounded Americans at Bastogne. The 101st Airborne Division had been encircled and had held the city for several days under extreme odds while refusing surrender demands form the Germans. The 467th was deployed around the city during the initial relief and later to protect the city from further attack.

This linkup of the two forces broke the siege of Bastogne and was one of the great turning points in the Battle of the Bulge. Bastogne was another time Dad remembered well and was proud of perhaps being part of the 4th Armored Division to play a part in the dramatic rescue and relief operations. Being with him during this part of the trip took me back to watching “Patton” with him when I was 12 or so years old and I was beginning to understand the relationship.

We get up early to drive to Bastogne. First we hit a park where they have turned pieces of old tanks into something that kids can play on and interact with like a working turret that you put your head into and can swing around in. Swords into plowshares I guess. We hit the supermarket and grab a few supplies for the road and its off to Bastogne.

Here is John playing Tank Commander at the public park.

Dad was attached to Patton’s 3rd Army, 4th Armored Division for part of this campaign and he was also deployed at all kinds different spots in this region including Aachen, Germany, Maastricht, Netherlands and other places that are not too far away. We drive through Bastogne and see first hand the narrow multiple street entrances to the center of town. We decide to spend another night with the innkeeper in Aywaille so we head back do a little more sightseeing and plan the next part of our trip into Germany.

We drive through some of the areas of the Battle of the Bulge and go around the Aachen area as well where Dad spent considerable time.

 

 

Next: Goodbye Belgium into Germany: Where's the Remagen ...

The kind innkeeper of Aywaille

We get back to the car after being rejected at the hotel. In the dark we do the best we can to continue to navigate through town. The good news is there are only a few main streets and we are looking for a house up the hill a bit on the other side of town.

We find what seems like the address its a very large white house that looks almost semi-industrial but nice enough. We knock and the proprietor greets us and he can actually speak reasonable English.

He is instantly excited to hear that Dad is a veteran since he was a little kid during the conflict and remembers the occupation. He invites us in and sits us down to have a few beers with him. Nice, I am very happy at this point being a fan of Belgian beer.

We all get a Chimay Rouge and chat for 30 minutes or so. We learn that the owner often rents his house for meetings and catering events,etc and he has a large kitchen in the back but there is nothing tonight. We work out a deal for a room that seems like a real discount compared to what we would have paid at the hotel that rejected us. Only the deal gets sweeter as we find out we will each have a private room and the price is the total price which we thought was reasonable for one room was for all three rooms.

I have been driving all day long and need a good meal and perhaps a few more Trappiste beers that I am dying to try out. Dad is very tired and doesn’t want to go and he also is not hungry so after a beer and some snacks we get him setup in his room and head out to walk into town to a nice little restaurant area near the River. There were about 6-8 restaurants all in row with canopies etc for al fresco dining. We pick one and settle in. Its been a great trip and we have nice meal and some more Trappiste beers to talk the evening away. We eventually stagger back to the hotel and into our private bedrooms. Ahh PRIVATE ROOMS no snoring to deal with…..

Next: The Morning After and Bastogne

No room at the Inn

As I mentioned the earlier article we had no reservations for some of the whole second week of our trip. As afternoon turned to evening and we were getting farther into the Belgium mountain area I began to worry. I think the plan was to drive to Bastogne but we were slowed a little at border control and by our 4-cylinders.

I suggest that we start looking for a place but as we head into the hills there are less towns and population. I see a sign for “Spa” and that seems like a good name for a tourist town but the roads and very windy and its hard to navigate or get our bearings since its getting darker. I remember we stopped at a station and asked for some suggestions. I remember a guy in a Mercedes recommends a hotel that has a nice fish restaurant outside of the town of Aywaille. I tell him I have a map but I really cannot see anything in the light and he says to follow him and he will take us close to the turn off for the town. I follow his taillights for awhile through some twisty, winding roads and then the sign for Aywaille leads us off to the right.

We feel like we are lost as its getting late and its somewhat mountainous woodsy territory, but we finally get into the Aywaille area the hotel that was recommended is right at the edge of town and is called something “Roses”. Its a very quaint hotel and has an attached small restaurant and bar area. I pull into the parking lot and head into the lobby to negotiate for some rooms. John has been enjoying some Cabernet during the long road trip and saddles up to the hotel bar area. I can feel the hotel manager’s attitude shift as he scans us over more carefully.

Manager - “I am sorry sir but we are fully booked and do not have any rooms this evening”

Me - “Now we’ve traveled a long way and my father is an elderly man. Is there anything you can do to help us out? “ (I am playing up the old man card but I knew my Dad could kick-my-arse even though he was turning 70).

Manager - “I am sorry but are all out of rooms and you will have to leave the bar area as well since we are closing”. (Ok great they don’t like us at all its obvious from his mannerisms. No room at the Inn)”

Me - “Please, is there anything in town or nearby that you can recommend or something we could try out given the late hour?”

Manager - “There is a house at the edge of town up the road that sometimes lets rooms I can give you the address”.

We are running out of options and its getting late we need to try this out. I thank him and leave but I am expecting a barn with donkeys at the address he gave me.

Might this be the bar that rejected some poor weary travelers? Its O.K. we got something better.

 

 

Next: The kind innkeeper of Aywaille

Wine, Street Sausages, and the Road to Belgium

Off to Belgium:

When we are beginning our long drive from Normandy to Bastogne region of Belgium I tell John we should stock on some French red wines and load up the trunk while they are still so cheap. I mean really its cheaper than soda at the time we were there. We get a few bottles of some Chateau variety and since I am driving all the way I am not able to enjoy any until we reach our destination.

We also get some great sausages grilled from some street vendor in fresh baguettes for our lunch on-the-go. For me, that was one of the best sausage sandwiches I have ever had. Perhaps we bought them when leaving Amiens but wherever it was it was really good.

We began our drive from Amiens to Belgium and at some cross over point we have to stop for passport control since this is prior to the EU. Not sure if we hit a strip of an autobahn type highway but suddenly the driving is really fast and I have a cheap four cylinder rental. I made the mistake of being in the left lane for awhile but quickly realized I had to get over and stay over.

I read the posted major highway speeds in the Netherlands are around 81 mph after I do the metro conversion of course. Here I am talking about the 120km variety.

We stop to hit a quick late afternoon bite and a bathroom break then we keep moving.

I actually like this more “honored” system of stay over to the right if you are going slower and wish we had it more ingrained in the United States. People drive at all kinds of speeds in all kinds of lanes leading to lots of passing on the right and potentially alot more traffic incidents. Not sure if the statistics back this up but if people going slower would move to the right and people did not pass on the right at a whim it would seem to lead to less trouble overall.

Next: No room at the Inn

Lavomatic? Si vos plait.

Sept 1, 1994

We have a rough plan to leave Normandy and stop in Amiens for a pitstop. Our original itinerary was to find a place to stay around Amiens but we decide that we want to make it all the way to Belgium so we have more time in the morning to go around Bastogne and other places in that area.

Its been a week or so now and as three grown men living in close quarters who have been doing alot of outdoor walking and hiking its past time to get some laundry done. As we near Amiens we decide a large town like this should have quite a few laundromats. John and I have each had a few years of high school French but we are pretty bad and I can’t do much more than ask for “3 more beers please?” and “where is the bathroom?”. I have never done laundry in France or had a class where you pretend to do laundry and that’s unfortunate at this point. In class we practiced ordering soup, catching a train, going to the movies, more wine and baguettes. So it was time to try out my Dad’s newly acquired Radio Shack language translator!

My Dad had figured he would need a language translator at some point on this trip and had purchased a LCD handheld language translator from Radio Shack. Very alpha technology, as it did a few major languages, you typed in a word and it gave you the answer in the other language. So far it had not been put to use but here was its chance with the word “laundromat”. My Dad and brother were excited to try it out.

Type in:

L-A-U-N-D-R-O-M-A-T

Answer:

L-A-V-R-O-M-A-T-I-Q-U-E

Looks good. We get to town and start asking. “Ou est LAVAMATIC” .. “Je Voudrais LAVROMATIC”, “S’il vous plait LAVOROMATIC”. Its as bad as CAEN when we were asking for directions to the Womens Abbey and people thought we wanted women. People are not getting what we are saying and its getting frustrating. Again, at this time in history, there is no YELP or google map for us just the language barrier with our fellow humans to overcome. After a significant number of attempts an English speaking guy overhears us and asks.

English speaker: “What are you trying to say?” “What do you want?”

Us: “We need to do laundry ... what were we saying?”

English speaker: “I have no idea?! BUT there’s a laundromat about a block away down there”

While John sits with the laundry, Dad and I go to check out the Amiens Cathedral about a block away. Amazing Cathedral its really a tall ceiling inside. Thought I saw some Joan d’Arc memorial but wasn’t sure.

Dad enjoyed the Cathedral and we head back to the laundry. I watch the laundry for awhile and John hits the cafe around the corner for a beer. After that, I grab an espresso before we leave since I was about to drive a pretty long way to Belgium.

Finally we are done and on the road. Off to Belgium to find something, we are not sure what really, but we are targeting some lodging to get us within striking distance of the Bastogne area since Dad was all around this area during the Ardennes campaign and the Battle of the Bulge.

Next: Wine, Street Sausages, and the Road to Belgium

Arromanches and the Museum

Our last days in Normandy we also visited the other beaches and the related museums such as the beautiful beaches at Arromanches where can still see and swim alongside sunken Mulberry harbors left from the invasion.

Arromanches is to the East and closer to the British landing beaches

There is a nice D-Day museum there were found pins, insignia.

At the nearby museum I gathered a few medals and momentos along with John and Dad. I bought a pin of the 29th Infantry “blue and gray” that had done so much and suffered so badly on the beaches.

Next:

Breakfast Galettes

We wanted breakfast one morning in Port-en-Bessin and absolutely could not find anything open at least not obvious to non “Norman-savvy” Americans. So we asked at the Hotel de la Marine and they said we could likely get galettes right around the corner if we hurried.

Well we walked down around the corner and down a few blocks back and forth and everything just looked like residences with few or no windows and nobody was on the streets. Like a ghost town since we thought everyone was at work likely at this time of day.

Eventually I noticed there was a particular side door that people were occasionally popping out of at various intervals. We decided to try it out and see what was behind this door that seemed to lead into a residence. Well we knocked and opened the door and suddenly we were in what I recall looked like the lower floor of a residence with a bunch of tables in an open space with large number of locals eating galettes and drinking cider from ceramic jugs.

Fantastic we are hungry as hell but we don’t quite know how the system worked. As far as we could understand this local family opened their doors for breakfast and its a real communal affair sharing tables,etc. We saddled up and ordered a nice breakfast especially with accompanying local homemade cider.

.

Galette -- often served with mixture of savory ingredients.

Galettes are one of the classic food items in Normandy as is cider and other apple-based products (e.g., Calvados). I knew galettes as the savory buckwheat crepes from my last trip through Normandy with Sandy, Jean, and Clara. Just great stuff and I wish I could find it done well back in the States. Of course its like crepes but much heartier and with the homemade cider a great combination. Good stuff!

 

 

Next: Lavomatic? Si’l vous plait.

The American Gets a Medal

The Abbeye aux Dames, Caen

As a surprise to my Dad, John had applied months before for him to receive the Freedom Medal that was offered to veterans who had been involved in one of the major liberating campaigns in France. The “Abbeye aux Dames” or the Womens Abbey in Caen is where this took place and I believe the then mayor of Normandy was doing the honors of handing out the medals. We were a little lost on the way into town in our little economy car and John rolled down the window and asked a few locals “Wheres the womens .. Abbey?... we are looking for the women’s .. Abbey?” We got some very strange looks and then it dawned on us they are not hearing the “abbey” part. Some women even picked up there walking pace quickly away from us.

Some of the other attendants were standing in for a friend who couldn’t make the trip due to health or receiving it posthumously for someone in their family. There many several veterans mostly British who had taken part in various stages of the French Liberation and later battles. Dad had been on Omaha beach in the morning and through five major campaigns so overall he was a somewhat unique character.

They welcomed and treated everyone very well (a little champagne was offered) and the staff showed alot of respect to the veterans all within this beautiful historical Abbey which was very solemn and peaceful. Dad was of course the consummate American in polo shirt and khakis. I was incredibly proud of him in that moment, since he wasn’t dangling his many medals but he was deserving of anything they could offer and his service to the liberation goes way beyond the Normandy beaches.

Since we were two months late for the Anniversary the crowds had thinned a bit. It was probably a madhouse the week of June 6, 1994. We wish we could have been there.

 

 

Next: Breakfast Galettes

American Cemetery Omaha Beach

The American Cemetery above Omaha:

The front entrance contains some beautiful statues and monuments.

There is also a registry where you can look up who is interned in the cemetery and what site they are located at. Dad, John, and I went in and Dad found several guys from the 467th AAA that had died on Omaha and he also found Captain Napier’s location who was killed in St. Lo in July 1944 by American bombing.

This a beautiful and serene place and “Star of David” markers are also intermixed with the 1000s of white crosses. We left Dad alone for awhile but we also helped for some time finding the sites of people that he knew or were in the 467th AAA.

Below is Captain Raymond Napier’s marker.

CO of Battery A, 467th AAA who had done such an admirable job of directing his units onto the beach in the morning and keeping many of them from significant harm through his reconnaissance and leadership. For him to lose his life at St. Lo from misdirected friendly bombing must have been incredibly disheartening to the others in his Battery yet they went on to a significant number of additional hard battles and missions for another 10+ months with several more unit commendations.

Placido Quinonez, Ed Durnult who both died on Omaha in the 467th AAA landings were also buried here and we visited their resting sites. I noticed that Dad’s Battery A group was from all over the country Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Louisiana and from many different religions and ethnic groups. They were from all over the country and put together in a small units of 8-16 men. Brothers drawn together from different regions and backgrounds under extraordinary circumstances. Whenever they talked or recollected there was always a “deep” bond and solemn respect for each other.

Arromanches and the Museum

Visiting St Lo

The LIberation of St Lo

My Dad was very proud of the liberation of St. Lo and mentioned it alot when discussing his tour in Europe. This city was brutalized and to see pictures of it with barely nothing standing is a heart wrenching reminder of the destructive power of artillery and bombing. Dad remembers that one Church in town withstood the bombing and fighting and we went to see that Church that still stands today. Here is a picture we took of it as it was in 1994.

This largely happened during the month of July 1944. As an AAA Battery you get attached to whoever needs you and often reassigned and attached. After the beaches were secured, Battery A of the 467th AAA spent some time protecting ammo dumps and the like from aircraft attack and then they began significant fighting through hedgerow country around the various towns and villages. I am little light on the time period details but I remember my Dad discussed that a particular British gentleman that was with them did not dig and sleep in his foxhole at night like the others. Well they found him dead one morning from shrapnel between the hedgerows. While the Normandy beaches were brutal the Liberation of St. Lo took a month or so and was a tough fight especially for those in the hedgerow country.

Here is a shot of part of the town of St. Lo in its devastation.

We visited St. Lo right after Pointe Du Hoc. Dad mentioned to me alot about hedgerow fighting stories, including lots of other tragedies and difficulties that happened during this period such as bombing fratricide incidents. The fratricide incident was largely due to lack of ground-aerial coordination at that time and other miscues during operations. Smoke from earlier bombings had blown over friendly troop areas and masked actual targets. Captain Napier , loved by all the men of Battery A, also died during this fight from inaccurate American bombing that struck the Battery A Command Post due to inaccurate bombing.

Some of Dad’s Brothers-in-Arms Battery A Unit 4

--short story of the accidental bombings from Hyman Haas --

“We slowly advanced to the St.Lo area where we did much maneuvering and firing. On July 25th we were surprised to see wave after wave of our B17 and B24 Bombers fly overhead and begin to bomb the St. Lo area. It seemed hours that they Bombed. They also Bombed our Command Post and most of our men there, including Captain Napier, were killed. Lieut. Paul Nauer became our new C.O. The news of Captain Napier's death had a terrible effect on the unit. This was a shock that was hard to overcome. We had dug and fought our way to this position for almost two months and we were showing the strain. The positive part of the bombing was that soon we broke out of Normandy.” -- Haas

The breakout at St. Lo called for a massive bombing of the German lines prior to the Allied attack. As the lead bombers struck the target, huge clouds of smoke and debris were carried north over the American lines. It completely obscured the target to the succeeding waves of bombers. Those bombadiers 'dropped' on the smoke clouds as they were trained to do. As the clouds drifted northward, the bombs began dropping on units staged for the attack. Lieutenant General Leslie McNair, Commanding General of the Army Ground Forces, had traveled from Washington to observe the attack - he was killed in the bombing. As mentioned, the 467th also lost men in the accidental bombing of American of the front lines that day.

Out of the pan and into fire right off Omaha Beach. The halftracks of the 467th AAA were deployed around and through the St. Lo area throughout the month of July. Once the breakout occurred they began a swift march towards Paris area during August during its liberation period and then on into and across the Belgium region towards the battle of Aachen.

During St. Lo, I recall my Dad saying his unit was attached to the 29th so Dad was excited to find the street in St. Lo named in honor of their Division and the 35th.

 

 

Next: American Cemetery Omaha Beach

Pointe Du Hoc

We visited the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc and got a feeling for what the 101st was up to with those cliffs and big gun emplacements. The moon craters were everywhere from being bombarded and are still there after 50 years.

You can see it here in this overhead from Google Earth.

You can go into the gun emplacements and truly see how large a set of sguns were emplaced here.

It began to rain during our time at Pointe du Hoc but we stuck around long enough to tour and walk through most of what was there.

I was impressed by the unbelievable size of the gun emplacements and the engineering systems needed to run everything. There were literally large train tracks systems built to bring the ammunition forward to be placed in the gun.

John and Dad checked out some of the views from the bunkers and Dad spent some time reading the Ranger memorial plaque. I remember him being interested in that because they had camped nearby some of the Rangers in when marshaling in England prior to departure.

 

 

Next: VisitVisiting St Loing St. Lo

Finding the 467th AAA Memorial on Omaha Beach

Searching the various pathways, bunkers, and dugouts around the St. Laurent sur Mer pass we stumble across a dedication plaque to Dad’s 467th AAA AW Battalion not even expected or known by anyone of us ahead of time.

This was a fantastic find and made Dad and our day. Here is Dad next to the plaque.

As you can see from the plaque some of the others members had been in attendance at the dedication when this was placed on the pillbox on June 6, 1994. The was the site of a German 88 gun which was knocked out by members of the 467th AAA Battery A on the morning of June 6, 1944 (see Sgt. Hyman Haas’s account of that incident). Dad was in the same platoon and can vividly remember Hyman’s unit firing on this defense. The defense bunker is part of Widerstandsnestern (WN) 65, in German basically meaning resistance nests.

This is somewhat directly in the center of the Omaha beach area (pretty much were Dad’s platoon landed) and the main armament of WN65 was a 50 mm cannon housed in a type H667 casemate that was only completed in late April 1944. Also installed nearby were two mortars housed in Tobruks (machine gun nests basically), and covering the road further up the hill was an old 75 mm gun hidden in the woods.

WC65 had a lot of underground interconnecting bunkers and storage facilities in the hills above the draw.

Here we are exploring some that are still there.

Unfortunately Dad missed this dedication and reunion but had gotten in touch with a few of the surviving members, mainly Hyman Haas, whom I had also emailed over many years about Dad. Hyman Haas later sent Dad a personal video and a correspondence about the dedication ceremony. Some of Hyman’s description of the beach scene was referred to and used by historian Stephen Ambrose in his D-Day chronicles, pg.489 of his book D-Day. I will likely have a separate entry on Hyman if I can pull up some of his old emails. Fantastic guy may he rest in peace and I drew much of my evidence and knowledge from crosschecking his oral record against other records like Navy LCT official records of after actions and later various battle incidents he recalls in his memoirs..

The pictures below taken by John shows Dad and I celebrating awhile John snaps a picture. John is celebrating too he’s just not in the picture! See him above in trenches.qw

While this trip had alot of great moments this was one of my favorites. When you find something directly related to your journey that you didn’t even know you were looking for its just great.

Here is Dad walking up the same draw from the Beach that they left heading towards WN65.

I just wish Dad could have met some of his old buddies their just weren’t many of them left from his Battery A unit. Hyman Haas (Battery A) and friends (from various Batteries) had been here a few months earlier to dedicate this plaque. Here is the same bunker the day after the landings on June 7, 1944 showing some POWs cleaning up the beach area.

 

 

Next: Point Du Hoc