Back to Articles

A French woman says:

“MERCI BEAUCOUP, AMERICA”!

  I felt proud again and motivated afresh by the recent speech delivered by  French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the American Congress.

  Nations, like people, have a calling. The calling of America is one of a “deliverer nation.” Personally, I will eternally be grateful to America for the role of “deliverer” America has played in my life:

  The first time was in 1944 when America crossed the Atlantic “to deliver us from Germany.”

  The second time was when I was “born again” on the American soil. Had you not come over to free us and had I not learnt English, the narration of my life would have been totally different. People ask if “I am a war-bride?” Not so! I was nine years old in 1944: At the very best, I qualify as “a war-child!”

  I understand why a man would defend his own country but I ask what moves a man to rise up and deliver another man’s land?  

  At dawn of the 6^th of JUNE 1944, the Armada of the Allied Nations set forth across the English Channel and drew near the fortified beaches of occupied France. Never before nor since has such a glorious feat been accomplished, nor such a battle arrayed! I have pondered what those young men were thinking in the preceding hours before the invasion, each one being aware that many - too many - would fall and that, themselves could be among the fallen! This is what some wrote before landing: “We don’t consider ourselves heroes. We want this war to be over. But however much dread we may feel, you can count on us.” As any of us would, they experienced dread, but dread didn’t keep them away!

    The flagship Belfast was designated to fire the first volley of the invasion. The captain read to his men from Shakespeare, Henri V; “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, for he to-day who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.”

176,000 men landed in the first 24 hours . . .

  We call it “LE DEBARQUEMENT”, you call it “D-DAY”, was a combined effort of many armies coming together: Learn from the fact that their strength stemmed from their unity. The Americans were there, the British were there, the Canadians were there and the Free French Forces were there also, under General Jacques Philippe Leclerc, among them many from the lands of Africa fought on the side of France.

  THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY lasted a total of seven weeks. It took nearly three months for the Allied Forces to free their way to Paris . . .  one kilometer at a time.

  IN PARIS (I just turned nine) WE WAITED! Our sole comfort was the Boom! Boom! Boom! of the BBC: No one in our family understood a word of English - but we put our trust in the sound of the voice of Winston Churchill. I remember particularly well the last two weeks as we barricaded ourselves behind our metal shutters to deflect any stray bullet. At that point, we were living on our last reserve of spaghetti, without sauce or salt. One kilometer away, Place de la République, the Germans had ambushed every avenue with a gun and shot at everything that moved. The underground subway passed right under the apartment building. We had heard that, rather than give up, the Germans were considering blowing up the city by setting up explosives throughout the subway. Instead, we stood ready for total victory with our own French flag discreetly hidden at the back of our radio! (my mother’s idea!)

  Nine times, the order was sent by the Furher to General Dietrich Von Choltitz in charge of the Greater Paris, to “make Paris a heap of ruins.” But Von Choltitz, in his own words, says: “If for the first time I disobeyed, it was because I knew that Hitler was insane.” History records that it was the Swedish Counsel in Paris, Raoul Nordling, a Diplomat, who negotiated with the Germans and prevented the destruction of Paris.

  The last days were days of great tension when, on the one hand, WE KNEW “the Allies” were coming, and on the other, we were aware that the enemy was not going to give up easily. Any scenario could have played out. On the 15^th of August, 1944, hundreds of French political prisoners were still sent to Buchenwald. On the 16^th of August, 35 young Resistants were executed in the Bois de Boulogne for reprisals. On the 19^th of August the F.F.I. (the French Forces of the Interior), also called the French Resistance, took the Liberation of Paris into their own hands.

  The F.F.I. called for “a general mobilization of all patriotic bodies, from 18 to 50, able to carry a weapon, to join the struggle against the invader”. On the 20^th, the Parisians took to the streets and began building the barricades with trees, pavement and sand bags: Some barricades were positioned in  chicanes to slow down the movements of the enemy. Older men, women and children were there, carrying one paving stone at a time . . .  I remember watching a man crossing the avenue by pulling himself on his elbows, lest, if he stood, he be killed with the bullet of a German sniper!

 On the 22^nd and 23^rd of August skirmishes reached their height when, under von Choltitz orders, the Germans burned the Grand Palais, then an F.F.I. stronghold, and panzers (tanks) fired against the barricades. It is estimated that some 1,500 Resistance members and civilians were killed during the Battle for Paris. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation _of_Paris

  Later that day the 2^nd Armored Division’s vanguard commanded by Captain Dronne entered Paris and reached the City Hall. General Leclerc’s message to the Resistance was  “HOLD ON, WE ARE ARRIVING TO-MORROW!!!”  The next day, on the 25^th of August 1944, after bitter fighting, the Free French 2^nd Armored Division under the leadership of General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque rolled into the capital and marched down the Champs-Elysées.  

  General Omar Bradley honored General Philippe Leclerc by letting his 2^nd Armored Division fight their way into Paris first and complete the Liberation of the City sparked by the F.F.I.

  I still remember the telephone call from one of our cousins, the kind who knows more than anyone else: “THEY CLAMOURED IN THE TELEPHONE: “THEY ARE HERE, . . .  THE ALLIES ARE HERE, THEY ARE ON THE BOULEVARDS . . .   To us, it meant: “FREEDOM HAS LANDED!”

  THE SAME DAY, August 25^th, 1944, after a fierce battle at the Hotel Meurice -  then the German HQ - General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the Paris garrison and military governor of Paris surrendered. Later in the day, he signed the Instrument of Surrender at the Gare Montparnasse railway station in front of General Leclerc and Colonel Rol, commander of the F.F.I. in the Paris region.   

    Led by the bourdon of Notre-Dame, every church bell began to echo  throughout the city! The heart of Paris was beating again. To us, it was the signal we, Parisians, had been waiting for: At the sound of the bells the crowd began flowing into the streets . . .  Not even danger could hold them  back! From our second floor open windows, my family and myself were watching this human river flow down the avenue. I remember a woman, wearing a dress she herself had made with the French, American and English flags sewn together: She was decreeing “D-DAY”, THE DAY OF VICTORY, with her own attire.

  Finally, my mother gave in to our pressure . . .  grabbing my younger sister and myself we ran down the stairs leading to the avenue and disappeared into the crowd . . .  Place of the République, German prisoners were yet  surrendering under our own eyes. An amazing sight! *

  The F.F.I. had waited four years to settle their differences with the Milice who were the pro-Germans French elements. Suddenly, bullets started to fly: “La Guerre des Toits”or the roof-war was “on”. It was time to settle the owes and the dues. Women who had befriended German officers were sheered, tarred and feathered! I was too young to understand?  . . .  But I remember my mother pushing us both quickly under a porch, Place de la République, to take shelter from flying bullets!

  The day after La Libération, on August 26^th, General de Gaulle led a parade down the Champs Elysées with General Leclerc, all the way to Notre-Dame. They even braved sporadic sniper fire inside the cathedral itself from pockets of German resistance that remained.

  After the arrival of the U.S. Army’s 28^th Infantry Division, a combined Franco-American military parade was organized on the 29^th, down the Champs Elysées and throughout the city streets. Delirious crowds greeted

L’Armée de la Libération and the American Division as Liberators.

  I was too young for the “kisses” but I quickly learnt that the fellows driving the Jeeps were in charge of the chocolate!!!!  Yah! My first piece of chocolate was given to me by an American soldier . . .  That’s right! I will NEVER forget that!  “MERCI POUR LE CHOCOLAT!” . . .  My mother quickly advised: “Do not swallow the chewing-gum!” 

  A few years back, my American husband, Dr James E Lovell and I visited the NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY AND MEMORIAL. The cemetery site covers 172 acres. There are 9,386 American War Dead buried there. The remains of approximately 14,000 others originally buried in Normandy were returned home at the request of their next of kin. The average age is twenty and under. The Christian crosses alternate with the Stars of David: In a silent garden, they rest silently, until the Day of the trumpet call.

  Round the corner from the American Cemetery and Memorial, you need to go to LA POINTE DU HOC, a 100 ft cliff, once a German bastion that stood between Omaha and Utah Beach:   

  This is the description of the attack as written in wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_du_Hoc

  “With La Pointe du Hoc, situated between Utah Beach to the West and Omaha Beach to the East, these guns threatened Allied landings on both beaches, risking heavy casualties in the landing forces. The U.S. 2^nd Ranger Battalion was therefore given the task of destroying the strongpoint early on D-Day. The Ranger battalion was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder. The plan called for the three companies of Rangers to be landed by sea at the foot of the cliffs, scale them using ropes, ladders and grapples under enemy fire, and engage the enemy at the top of the cliff. This was to be carried out before the main landings. The Rangers trained for the cliff assault on the Isle of Wight, under the direction of British Commandos.

  Prior to the attack, the guns were moved approximately 1 mile away. Removal of the guns had actually been completed two days prior on June 4^th, 1944, but poor weather conditions prior to the invasion limited a final reconnaissance effort which would have revealed the guns’ removal. ‘This  act alone had to be GOD!’

  The costliest part of the battle for the Rangers came after the cliff assault. Determined to hold the vital ground, yet isolated from other assault forces, they fended off several German counterattacks over the next two days, until reinforced from Omaha Beach. The original plans called for an additional, larger Ranger force of eight companies to follow the first attack, if successful. Flares from the cliff tops were to signal this second wave to joint the attack, but because of the delayed landing, the signal came too late. And the other Rangers, mostly of the U.S. 5^th Ranger Battalion, landed on Omaha instead of Pointe du Hoc.

  At the end of the 2-day action, the landing force of 225+ was reduced to about 90 men who could still fight.”

THESE WERE THE DAYS WHEN EVERY MAN WAS A HERO!

  Jim and I scoured the ground at the top of the cliffs. Wisely the place has been left untouched as was at the end of the battle. The craters where the bombs fell are still there. We entered the German bunkers and photographed the horizon seen through the gun holes. The barbed wire is still in place. Only the grass has returned to “cover” over the scene and give it life.

  In January 1979, grateful France bequeathed La Pointe du Hoc to the United States where you can watch the Star Spangled Banner fly into the wind.

  It was right and it was good that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on November 7^th, 2007, thanked the Americans for coming and liberating France and Europe at the end of WWII.  Should I have been present, I too would have joined the Members of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, in their numerous standing ovations.

  Indeed, France will never forget how “thousands of young American soldiers lay who had fallen not to defend their own freedom but the freedom of all others, not to defend their own families, their own homeland, but to defend humanity as a whole.”

  Before they landed, Eisenhower told them: “The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” 

  To-day, I say to you, America, “THE EYES OF THE WORLD ARE STILL UPON YOU” . . . . .   Indeed, we will NEVER FORGET and we will CONTINUE TO TELL the next generations of the sacrifices of those who’s BLOOD YET SPEAKETH!

* Watch the 30 minute film on the Liberation of Paris, filmed live, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_of_Paris  go to Page 11, Filmography and click on “La Liberation de Paris (1944)

Evangelist Francine J Lovell

Founder & President

End-Time Harvest, Inc

PO Box 340

Omaha, Arkansas 72662-0340

USA

RES Phone: 870 426 5377

Email jflovell@omahaweb.net