Hi Kerian,

Thanks for your reply.
It is always interesting to have a direct testimony of these difficult days. I think you are lucky to have the chance to talk about this with your father. I did the same with my own father a couple of years before he passed away, although mine was not a soldier. But he has been caught by the Gestapo in 1944 and I told his story somewhere else in this forum.

Listen to him is like reading your father's testimony: it gives me shiver. We, civilians for the most part of us, easily forget that this war was done by very young men (and your father was only 20 years old!) And I often think about what could have been my reactions during these dangerous missions. Anyway...

I am not surprise, with the time elapsed since then, that your father think about the significance of his return back to St. Lambert, and then not closing the Gap. But if he did not have done it, he might have been killed, didn't he? Big History against one man's life? It is better your father stayed alive.

One more question: what can you tell us about the relationships between american and british soldiers? We read a lot of different things about that. I am curious to have your, or your father's opinion.

Thanks a lot for all.
Olivier

Hi Olivier,

Thanks for your thoughts.

As I get older, and the feeling of invincibility that young men have fades, I realize more how fickle life is and that it's amazing my father survived the war and that I was born. The battle of the Falaise Gap was not even the worst situation he was in. At Igoville, on the Seine, his unit had to run 200 metres across a field under German machine gun fire, and suffered 50% casualties. At Moerbrugge, in Belgium, "C" Company was surrounded for three days on the north side of a canal and nearly ran out of ammunition before the Engineers completed a Bailey bridge and the South Alberta tanks came to the rescue. In Holland, a German 14 inch shell came through the wall of the building my father was in and blew up beside him. He has had very bad hearing ever since then, but amazingly was not wounded. Many of his friends and colleagues were killed near him, but luck was on his side.

My father has never spoken to me of the relations between British and American soldiers. Canadians are sometimes caught in the middle, because we have traits of both but are neither. Have you ever seen the film, "My American Cousin"? It shows some of the differences between Canadians and Americans, from a Canadian perspective. I think there was some envy from the British side of the fact the American soldiers had more money and were charming to the British girls. Having a common enemy in the Germans probably helped keep them from fighting more with each other.

Kieran

Kerian,

It is funny because I did have the same reaction when I was listening to my father: “how did he succeed to get through the war without a scratch?”
The story of this shell explosion is quite impressive! It seems your father had had really a lot of luck.

Your statement about Canadians makes me smile. And I think you are right: neither American nor British. And I do not speak about the French Canadians… Your analyse of British and American behaviour makes sense. I read that a lot of street fights between British and American soldiers occurred in UK before the D-Day. It is surely linked to some king of “culture shock”. Maybe we need to create a topic on this subject in this forum.
I did not see the movie you are talking about. Maybe it was not issued in France. Or it has a different title.

Did your father see a lot of photographers or journalists during the conflict? It is always amazing when you look at old black and white movies or pictures showing the WWII that they were filmed by some unarmed people. I am pretty sure a lot of them get killed.

Well, thanks again for sharing your feelings and views on this. I think we must not forget, ever, that before seeing a white flag on a picture it took many, too many, casualties.

I love very much the job did by Capra. Very vivid pictures. D-Day ones are particularly amazing.
I was aware of this accident during development in England. What a pity.

And what a pity Capra had to be blown up by a mine in '54...

Thanks for all these precisions. I was glad to share these with you.

Cheers

Are you guys talking about Franck Capra, the great american director, or Robert Capa, the famous Dday photographer (who indeed died in south east asia from detonating a land mine...)?

Some confusion there...

Or was it Francis Coppola ....

They must have been brothers.

kieran,;

"... also read that Frank Capra, who accompanied the American troops on D-Day at great risk to himself, took many photos during the first hours of the fighting. Unfortunately, most of the film was destroyed by a film processor in England who worked too quickly because he was eager to see the photos..."

THis IS Definitely the ubiquitous Robert CAPA's story...

Yes... I confirm... Robert Capa.
Even if I made the mistake myself... Sorry...

No probs fellas! keep up the good posts!