St Marcel 70th Anniversary, Morbihan, France

I hope to be attending the upcoming 70th Anniversary as noted above. I have just received the official information from the association, and intend enrolling as a volunteer to help out during the celebrations.

I doubt may members on here will be in the vicinity, but if you are or you have friends etc coming this way then please let them know.

The information is online here : http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwww.afpsas.org%26biw%3D1136%26bih%3D590&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&sl=fr&u=http://www.afpsas.org/index.php/fr/nos-actions/evenements&usg=ALkJrhj6xP5zR7at2yW6L-ABaM_KSQBbBw

There is also some sad news:
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwww.afpsas.org%26biw%3D1136%26bih%3D590&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&sl=fr&u=http://www.afpsas.org/index.php/en/component/k2/item/17-actualite-1&usg=ALkJrhi2-W3CheG0IivFYFk3xVFUxhwqqQ

TD

 

Some photos for you from the event:

Models:







Radio Controlled Models - ideal for vP to have his own amoured division in the garden :biggrin:




Renactment:







French Paratroopers from Toulouse:




TD

 

I have just been emailed a link for more photos if you are interested:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.593174417468588.1073741833.383620645090634&type=1

TD

 

T.D

Thanks for the update of the events.I can see that some of the shots took place in the grounds of the Resistance Museum. ...surprisingly, no shots of the Resistance Memorial.

Did you get any of Bourgoin's veterans to the attend the anniversary of the St Marcel engagement?

 

Hi Harry

As one of the links in post 1 states (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.afpsas.org%2Findex.php%2Fen%2Fcomponent%2Fk2%2Fitem%2F17-actualite-1&sandbox=1) the last of them died this year.
However there were some (4 or 5 I believe) of the Maquis still around - 15 - 17 years old at the time. I did find out that the Mayor of Serent, who was at the memorial celebration was in the maquis at the time.

The anniversary was centered around the museum, which I am told will close in Sept this year and be refurbished over the next 18 months, so opening again spring of 2016.

 

For those that are interested I note this event has been mentioned in The Times:

Times, The (London, England)-June 28, 2014
Author: Michael Tillotson

It was General Charles de Gaulle's cherished hope that Frenchmen would rise against their Nazi oppressors with such success that they - and he - could claim France had liberated herself.

The rising of Resistance partisans in Brittany supported by the 4th (Free French) Special Air Service (4th SAS) 70 years ago, which was commemorated with characteristic French panache last weekend, began so vigorously that VIII Corps of General George Patton's 3rd (US) Army was able to take the countryside virtually unchecked, leaving the German garrisons in the main ports under siege.

The Breton peninsula was significant to Allied plans as the four German divisions there threatened the Allies' rear as they attempted to advance to the east and south. The first phase of liberation was assigned to the SAS and the Special Operations Executive (SOE), jointly tasked with arming the Breton partisans with weapons and explosives through a series of air drops.

The commemoration began last Friday with a parachute drop by men of the French special forces wearing wartime battledress from a DC 3 Dakota aircraft, as used in 1944. The drop zone was that used by 4th SAS close to St-Marcel, one of two key areas of action by the partisans. Further parachute drops followed as part of the celebrations last Saturday and Sunday, to the delight of the thousands of spectators.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French minister of defence who attended, said: "The combined operations of the French Resistance and 4th SAS were critical to the continued success of the Allies after D-Day, as they contained the German forces in Brittany, preventing them joining the Normandy battle." Thomas Liaudet, representing the Association of Free French Parachutists in the UK who organised the threeday event, said: "The role of the SAS in Brittany in 1944 is almost forgotten and this 70th anniversary is an opportunity to remember the courage of those who played a significant part in the liberation of France. We are so glad to see the veterans from France and from England who are here to see our tribute to them."

Alec Borrie, an 89-year old British SAS veteran, laid a wreath in memory of those who fell.

During the battle, the local partisans comprised the Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur (FFI) which supported de Gaulle, and the communist Francstireurs et partisans (FTP), which, between them, put more than 15,000 men and women into the field during July and August 1944. In the words of the Allied Supreme Commander, General Dwight Eisenhower, they "surrounded the Germans with a terrible atmosphere of danger and hatred that it ate into the confidence of the leaders and courage of the soldiers".

The SOE established networks of agents in the north-west and the southeast of the peninsula and 14 three-man SOE teams, known as "Jedburghs", were parachuted in after D-Day. As the German divisions were deployed around the coast ready to repel any seaborne assault, the SAS and the partisans had the initiative in the early stages of the battle.

The Germans hit back and reacted brutally. Farms were burnt and civilians shot. The 4th SAS lost 12 killed, including four taken prisoner and summarily executed in accordance with Hitler's infamous "Commando" order. Five more SAS troopers were killed in the fighting in the north-west. The Germans, however, were never able to reinforce Normandy from Brittany.
Veterans gathering last weekend to remember the Brittany rising in June 1944Edition: 01Section: FeaturesPage: 81
Record Number: 87332092(c) Times Newspapers Limited 2014

TD

 

TD .

Apologies for assessment of your post above.I pressed the wrong button...its a good job,I do not have the nuclear keys.

Once again... profound apologies....perhaps the mods could amend it to a plus?

 

TD

 

TD

To get back to the discussion at large...thanks for the information.

I think generally people are not aware of the treatment of civilians by the German occupying forces when they met adversity....also treatment by fellow Frenchman as henchmen to the Germans.

Marienne,the leader of the 4th SAS The French Battalion of Heavan was captured,wounded I believe by Milice operatives under German control.He lies in a tomb adjacent to the outside of the village cemetery,which forms a memorial at Plumelec.The account of his torture and murder is well covered in the St Marcel Museum.

In the same cemetery is Bourgoin who took over from Marienne and died about 1971 after being a Member of the French Assembly.I see his wife who died much later is interred in the same grave.Bougoin,it is recorded, was a quality leader in gorilla warfare..there was "never any afters" once the job had been done,it was a case of dispersing quickly and not having to be attacked by superior German forces.The story goes that he was fortunate at St Macel as when the going got tought,he called out for support...luckily they were US Thunderbolts "shopping" in the vicinity...... picked up his call for help and gave valuble air support.

Bourgoin.the man the Germans could never catch up with....they were always after the man with one arm as they described Bourgoin.He was never betrayed...lost an arm while serving with the Free French in North Africa.

There was also a Jedburgh who was murdered in similar circumstances to Marienne...Major Odgen Smith...wounded after an engagement,his presence was betrayed by a Belgium farmer who in turn was slain,with his wife and son by the Resistance forces.

 

Hi Harry,

1. you can always tick other posts to counteract the problem above.

2. Yes, basically the whole village of St Marcel was raised to the ground by the Germans after the battle, and has obviously been rebuilt since, it says something of the resilience of the French, and was also the reason de Gaulle went there after the war and the 'village' was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm. This presently resides in the mayors offices if anyone needs to see it.

TD

 

Major Ogden Smith:

http://www.ouest-france.fr/29-juillet-1944-la-mort-du-major-colin-ogden-smith-1290115

TD

 

Thanks TD,

I have visited his grave before after being interested in who he was about 30 years ago when I first saw his name inscribed on the Black Mountains civilian memorial at Guiscriff.At first I thought he may have been an Englishman who had retired to France and was caught up in a excess against civilians.When I first found his grave,it was the day before All Saints Day when there was plenty of activity about in preparation for the following day,the majority being ladies rending graves.I mentioned the Soldat Anglais to a lady at the entrance to the cemetery...she took a few steps and pointed out the grave to me..

Pleasing to see his grave is well maintained by the locals,I could see that when I last visited about 2 years ago but the important point is that he is remembered by the people, in whose locality,he was killed.

I did a little research on his background after I found out he was in the special forces...off hand,I think he was in the Francis Jedburghs....a very dangerous area for anyone to be caught up in during the 3 months following D Day with the Germans murdering civilians at will, looting and burning down farmsteads.

There are some good reports of the Jedburgh operations in SW Brittany which have been archived in US military records...NARA for example.

 

Thanks Diane,

I promise to be a good boy in future