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June 12, 2008
Bastards!
But then again, what else is there to expect from the french?
The beech trees of Saint Pierre de Varengeville-Duclair forest bore a poignant testimony to the D-Day landings for more than six decades. Thousands of American soldiers stationed there after the liberation of Normandy spent their spare hours with a knife or bayonet creating a lasting reminder of their presence.
Although the trees grew and the graffiti swelled and twisted, this most peculiar memory of one of the 20th century’s defining moments remained visible - until now. Amid bureaucratic indifference and a dispute between officials and the forest owner, most of the trees have been felled, chopped up and turned into paper.
Claude Quétel, a French historian and Second World War specialist, was horrified when he discovered what he called a catastrophe and a shameless act. “It is a typically French failing to wipe out the traces of the past,” he told The Times.
The trees surrounded land in the heart of Saint Pierre de Varengeville-Duclair forest, near Rouen in Normandy, which was once home to a US army camp named after the Twenty Grand brand of cigarettes. It was one of nine cigarette camps - along with Pall Mall, Old Gold, Philip Morris, Chesterfield, Lucky Strike, Home Run, Wings and Herbert Tareyton - used by troops needing treatment or waiting to be sent elsewhere. They were places of calm between the D-Day landings and the Ardennes, the Siegfried Line or the Pacific.
Camp Twenty Grand, set up in September 1944 and closed in February 1946, had tents for 20,000 US soldiers as well as a few hundred German prisoners. Some of the Americans stayed weeks, others months, bringing chocolate, fruit and parties to a French population emerging from the rigour of Nazi occupation.
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Gah! I spit on the french, and all their generations, yesterday, today, and into the future.
Posted by LindaSoG at June 12, 2008 07:08 PM
Comments
...I know feel really sick.
I don't know HOW I'd feel if I'd had family I knew of in the camp.... (mine were in Italy and Germany)
Posted by: Foxfier at June 13, 2008 04:17 AM
I am just glad that some of the French still remember and are fighting to get these trees saved for future generations.
So, I can't spit on ALL the French. Besides, they would think it was a bath and skip their usual weekly one.
Posted by: Bruce at June 13, 2008 11:44 AM
It is a travesty............
Posted by: Dammit Woman at June 13, 2008 06:17 PM