10 years ago, my grandmother Paulette was invited by French President François Hollande to the ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings which took place on Ouistreham beach. Ouistreham, land of my childhood, but also land of history. Paulette lived there until 1943 after fleeing the North. It was there that the French and English landed on June 6, 1944. It was also there that she met my grandfather. And in 1958, they bought a house in which I would spend all my summers until I was 26.
In 2014, even though I was not able to accompany her to the ceremony, I was with her for this historic moment. Ten years later, my grandmother is no longer there to “celebrate” the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. As this anniversary date approaches, I wanted to create work in tribute to my grandmother. She can no longer testify, but men and women still can.
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Madeleine, 95 years old. “We expected to see the English, but we saw these men coming from so far away to free us. The Americans are and will remain my heroes. We celebrated the capture of Cherbourg together, in the farm dining room, and sang the American and French anthems. » Delphine Lefebvre
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A path taken by the Germans and the Allies in the area around Bény-Bocage during the Battle of Normandy, which lasted almost 3 months. Delphine Lefebvre
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Mireille, 84 years old. Despite her young age at the time, Mireille remembers the landing and, above all, the bombings. During one of them, “everything was black, there was smoke everywhere and screams.” Mireille finds herself under her kitchen table, one of her big brothers protecting her with his body and the second continuing her omelette without fear. Delphine Lefebvre
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The Allies had not anticipated the difficulties that the Norman blockade would cause them. They suffered numerous losses during the Battle of Haies, which lasted three weeks and delayed the liberation of Saint-Lô. The hell of this battle ends with the start of Operation Cobra. The month of July 1944 will be the bloodiest for American allied soldiers. Delphine Lefebvre
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On August 19, 1942, eight beaches around Dieppe were the scene of Operation Jubilee, a landing of 6,500 men which caused many victims, particularly among Canadian soldiers. Even if this operation was considered a failure, it was considered necessary in view of D-Day. Rémy, 89 years old, could never qualify the British allied soldiers as liberators. The tommies continued to bomb even though “the Germans were no longer there, so why destroy everything!” » he says. In one of these bombings, Rémy also lost a childhood friend, Odette, who was in the trench next to his. Delphine Lefebvre
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Gisèle, 93 years old. Saint-Lô is nicknamed “the capital of ruins” because of the violent Allied bombings it suffered. On the evening of June 6, Gisèle found herself buried in her cellar with her family and neighbors: a bomb had destroyed their house. A few hours later, another allows them to go out. Having left on an exodus, she did not return to Saint-Lô until December 1945. Delphine Lefebvre
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The Taurus Bridge. During Operation Bluecoat, a small reconnaissance group notices a flaw in the enemy system. Led by Lieutenant Dickie Powle, this patrol will make a breakthrough of 9 kilometers. Several hours passed before reinforcements arrived. This action pushed the Germans back towards the Falaise-Chambois pocket, which ended the Battle of Normandy. Delphine Lefebvre
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Richard, 86 years old: “My childhood was marked by the absence of men. Only the women remained, daughters of fighters aged 14-18. They had to take care of all the mental loads. » While his mother ate the leftovers, Richard never felt the lack. One of the four metal supports of the 6 meter guard tower which was located on the heights of Mortain. The battle that took place there will be the final counterattack by the Germans in Normandy to try to reach Mont-Saint-Michel. Delphine Lefebvre
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Paul, 97 years old. In mid-July 1944, Caen had still not fallen into the hands of the Allies even though it was to be liberated on the evening of D-Day. Paul’s house was requisitioned by the SS, so he left with his family a few kilometers to south. On July 18, Operation Goodwood aimed at liberating the city began: Paul lost eight members of his family that day, before leaving alone on an exodus. Delphine Lefebvre
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A stained glass window from Sainte-Mère-Église in honor of the 82 US Airborne Division. It represents the Archangel Michael, patron saint of paratroopers, and pays homage to those who arrived on the night of June 5 to 6, just before the landing. This is the start of Operation Overlord. Max, 90 years old. During the failure of the Dieppe raid in 1942, he spent several nights under the cliff with his aunt and two sisters to protect themselves from the fighting. He sees the first Canadian prisoners pass in front of him. He still remembers the cold and fear he felt during the fighting of this raid. Delphine Lefebvre
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In August 1944, the Allies took advantage of a strategic error by the Germans to surround them in the famous Falaise-Chambois pocket. This is the last great battle in Normandy. The Moissy ford, located in the “death corridor”, saw the last German fighters flee towards the Seine, as well as numerous corpses of men and horses. Delphine Lefebvre
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Andrée, 95 years old. Evacuated to Reims by the Germans, she attended the signing of the armistice in early May 1945 in the company of her father, found the day before after five years of separation. He was taken prisoner after going to the front in 1940. Delphine Lefebvre
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The Antifer cliff experienced, on the night of February 27 to 28, 1942, the first combined land-air-sea military operation. Operation Biting was a lightning raid carried out by only 120 paratroopers to seize a German radar whose specifications were still unknown to the Allies. Its capture will allow other German radars to be jammed on June 6, 1944. Huguette, 90 years old, was one of the 8 to 10 million French men and women in exodus in the spring of 1940. It was one of the largest population movements of the 20th century. century in Europe. “We gathered at night, and we left with several families from the village. We were mainly women and children. » What traumatized Huguette the most was “when we had to throw ourselves into the ditch when things were drifting”. Delphine Lefebvre
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Marguerite, 85 years old. Very young at the time, she is still traumatized today by the noise of planes and sirens. Like nearly 300 civilians from Saint-Lô, his older brother was killed by American bombings on D-Day. Delphine Lefebvre
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Dieppe will be liberated by Canadian allied soldiers on September 1, 1944, two years after the tragic raid of 1942, which definitively puts an end to the Battle of Normandy. Delphine Lefebvre
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