Marie
Simon Spurdle (sms@INF.RL.AC.UK)
Sun, 20 Oct 1996 15:58:59 +0100
Hi everyone,
I was wondering if any of you might be able to help me with a project that I am
about to undertake. I am a young `amateur' artist with a very limited knowledge
of WWII and I have been asked to produce some wartime sketches to illustrate an
article for a local magazine. The article is by a French lady called Marie
Vacher and she has written about her mother's childhood in a small French town
during the German occupation.
Marie's mother used to talk about some fighting that she had seen take place in
the town square between parachutists and German soldiers. Marie would like me
to try and sketch what happened but she cannot remember when or where it took
place. Her mother passed on in 1983 and so we only have Marie's memories of her
mothers conversations to go on. Marie was not at all interested when her mother
was alive (as was too often the case) and so the details are very sketchy.
This is what we know so far
It happened on a warm Summer's night in a town near the Normandy coast, Maries
mother had been staying with friends. She was awakened by the church bell and
the light from a big fire (sorry if this all sounds a bit disjointed). She saw
Germans who were very 'overdressed' patrolling in the town square and there was
a lot of commotion. Suddenly there was a lot of shooting and the sky was full
of shapes and soldiers. The Germans won very easily but then lost the town
before daybreak.
Does this ring any bells? I would like to hear to hear from anyone who has heard
of such a battle. Does anyone know what 'overdressed' might have meant?
Thanks
Simon, Oxfordshire