Kleine Normandië Quiz....
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Shifty
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- Locatie: Heist od Berg - België
- Contacteer:
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Shifty
- Lid
- Berichten: 2215
- Lid geworden op: 31 okt 2004, 22:10
- Locatie: Heist od Berg - België
- Contacteer:
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Shifty
- Lid
- Berichten: 2215
- Lid geworden op: 31 okt 2004, 22:10
- Locatie: Heist od Berg - België
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Jeeper704
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Heb de foto gevonden, maar er staan geen namen bij. 
Bring in the Hellcats! (M18 TDs)
World War II - European Theater of Operations
http://www.ww2-eto.com
World War II - European Theater of Operations
http://www.ww2-eto.com
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Shifty
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- Lid geworden op: 31 okt 2004, 22:10
- Locatie: Heist od Berg - België
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Ni zo gemakkelijk zenne.
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Jeeper704
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- Lid geworden op: 05 jun 2005, 13:05
- Locatie: Dendermonde (België)
Marie Hebrauld
Olive Leroux
Olive Leroux
Bring in the Hellcats! (M18 TDs)
World War II - European Theater of Operations
http://www.ww2-eto.com
World War II - European Theater of Operations
http://www.ww2-eto.com
-
Shifty
- Lid
- Berichten: 2215
- Lid geworden op: 31 okt 2004, 22:10
- Locatie: Heist od Berg - België
- Contacteer:
-
Shifty
- Lid
- Berichten: 2215
- Lid geworden op: 31 okt 2004, 22:10
- Locatie: Heist od Berg - België
- Contacteer:
-
Shifty
- Lid
- Berichten: 2215
- Lid geworden op: 31 okt 2004, 22:10
- Locatie: Heist od Berg - België
- Contacteer:
-
Shifty
- Lid
- Berichten: 2215
- Lid geworden op: 31 okt 2004, 22:10
- Locatie: Heist od Berg - België
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onne
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- Lid geworden op: 17 okt 2004, 18:13
Marthe en Odette Rigault?
Verhaal van http://www.326airborneclan.com:
The battle for Graignes.....
Situated six miles south of the Norman town of Carentan lies the village of Graignes. Graignes is situated on high ground overlooking marshlands that surround the village on three sides. Graignes in June of 1944 consisted of about two hundred homes, businesses, and other buildings, but the most prominent building was undoubtedly the XII Century Roman Catholic Church. This church, with its tall steeple was visible for miles around. Up until the night of June 5th, 1944, the village was a quiet town, where the German occupation for the most part had passed the village by. That was all about to change. Over the next five days, the small village was to become a lesser known battleground in Normandy, lesser known except to the brave troopers of the 82nd Airborne, and the equally brave citizens of the village.
In the early morning hours of June 6th, at approx 1 A.M., and continuing into the early morning hours of darkness, paratroopers began to descend around the village. These troopers for the most part were members of the 3rd Battalion/ 507th PIR of the 82nd Airborne Division, whose transport pilots had badly missed their drop zone. As one trooper who found the house of the Rigault family discovered, they were in an area that wasn't even on their maps, and only confirmed that the troopers were far away from the rest of their division. As more troopers dropped into the marshes around the village, the troopers gravitated to the only visible landmark, the church steeple. As more and more men converged on the church, the ranking officer decided Carentan and the drop zones of the rest of the 82nd were too far away to attempt to reach. As the town sat south of Carentan, and on a supply route the Germans would surely use to defend Carentan against the 101st Airborne, which had the town as one of its objectives, the crucial decision was made to dig in, defend the town, and start the war from Graignes.
Quite a few equipment bundles were recovered, some with heavy weapons, including 81mm mortars and Browning .30 caliber machine guns, however, many bundles were also widely dropped, especially into the marshes. As the troopers of the 507th began to recover more ammunition and weapons, they began to prepare defensive positions for an all-around defense of the village. The two daughters of Mr. Rigault, Marthe and Odette, along with a family friend, Mr. Folliot, began to take boats out into the marshlands to recover more and more equipment bundles. In the meantime, at 5:30 P.M. on June 6th, another large group from the 507th filtered in, bringing with them eighteen men from B Company, 501st PIR of the 101st Airborne, also misdropped. More men came in during the night of June 6th, including a C-47 pilot, a glider pilot, and two soldiers from the 29th Infantry Division, bringing the total defenders to 182 enlisted and officers.
On June 7th, the provisional mayor of the village, Mr. M Alphonse Voydie, called a meeting in the church of all the heads of every family in the village. Mr. Voydie appealed in the meeting for the villagers to do everything they could to help their American liberators. All the villagers agreed with this plan without regard for their own safety as the penalty for helping the Americans would be a swift death from the Germans. The women of the village were mobilized to procure and prepare food for all the troopers, as all realized the rations they dropped with would run out much too soon. Madame Germaine Boursier, the owner of the village cafe/grocery, took charge to mobilize the women around the clock cooking and distributing meals to all the troopers. Sometimes trips were made to nearby villages to procure additional supplies, right under the Germans noses. Other villagers of the town scoured the countryside for more equipment bundles of badly needed weapons and ammunition which they brought into town, hidden in wagons, right past the Germans.
In the meantime, an observation post was set up in the highest point in town, the steeple of the XII Century church. Germans were not idle during this period, as traffic could be observed on the nearby north-south road leading to Carentan. American patrols were sent out daily around the perimeter of Graignes. The main route into Graignes, over the Vire-Taute Canal, at a spot named Le Port des Panques, a few miles north of Graignes, was wired for demolations under German small arms fire, as by now, patrols from both sides had discovered each other, with small firefights developing. Other mines were placed around the approach roads to the village.
As the Germans had now definately determined and discovered the Americans were in the town, patrols increased daily in size, to probe the American perimeter. The days and nights of the 8th, 9th, and 10th of June produced more patrols, more firefights, and increased activity on the German side. On June 10th, under German small arms fire, and then a brief assault by the Germans, the bridge over the canal was blown, killing many German troops who were on the bridge.
On the morning of Sunday, June 11th, troopers were allowed to take a break to attend services conducted by Father Leblastier, as the morning had been a quiet one. At approximately 10 A.M. a Mrs. Bazire burst into the church to warn of approaching Germans. As some villagers fled the church, most huddled together inside to await developments. Meanwhile, Americans ran for their weapons and positions. The attack was repulsed with heavy losses inflicted on the Germans. At 2 P.M., the Germans began a prolonged mortar barrage of Graignes, followed by another assault by infantry, almost breaching the perimeter. The troopers successfully beat off the attack, and held the perimeter, again inflicting heavy losses on the attackers due to crossfires from the many .30 caliber machine guns, plus accurate mortar fire. This time however, the troopers and civilians alike began to take significant casaulties. An aid station was soon set up in the church.
As the men inside Graignes realized, after hearing heavy vehicular traffic outside the town, that a major attack was soon to come, the villagers were ordered out of town for their own safety. The two Rigault sisters, Marthe and Odette, retreated to their farm, which was miles away.
Other disturbing signs were beginning to develop that a major attack was soon to come. Two 88 mm guns were seen being set up just out of mortar range at a nearby farm. At 7 P.M., these guns opened up on Graignes, with one target being the observers in the church steeple. The assault that followed was made by an assault force of approximately 2,000 troops of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division, in other words, the defenders of the 507th were outnumbered 10 to one. Heavy losses were inflicted on both sides, with the Americans running out of ammunition little by little, and the Germans continuing to come on wave after wave into the darkness of night. A final decision was made, as the Germans were beginning to get into the village, to break up into small groups, escape through the marshes, and try to get back to friendly lines in Carentan or St. Mere Eglise. Sometimes in ones and twos, sometmes in larger groups, Americans began to escape the village. In the meantime, the 3rd Battalion surgeon, Captain A. Sophian Jr., made his descision to remain behind to care for all the wounded soldiers and civilians alike in the church sanctuary. With the battle now over, the soldiers of the 17th SS consolidated their hold on the village.
Despite the terrific odds, the troopers of the 101st, but most of all, the troopers of the 507th of the 82nd Airborne, had inflicted an estimated 500 killed and another 700 wounded on the Germans. The battle by the brave, elite troopers of the 507th/82nd, and members of the 501st/101st will live forever in these two unit's histories, not to mention the bravery and unselfishness of the villagers of Graignes. This battle also brought a swift, brutal reprisal carried out by the 17th SS Grenadiers.
The aftermath of the battle for Graignes.....
At the conclusion of the battle for Graignes, the troops of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadiers stormed the XII Century church, and captured Captain Sophian's aid station, with 19 soldiers in all. This group was divided into two groups, with one marched off to a field four kilometers south of the village. There, the troopers of the 507th were forced to dig a burial pit, and after completing it, were shot in the back of the head and dumped into the pit. The other group was marched to the edge of a nearby shallow pond, bayoneted, and dumped into the shallow water. In the meantime, more SS troopers rounded up citizens of the town suspected of helping the Americans. This included the two priests, Father Leblastier and Father Lebarbanchon, who were dragged into the church courtyard and executed. The German troops then discovered the rectory's two housekeepers, cowering in their beds, and shot both of them where they lay. A total of 44 villagers were rounded up, with most of these being sent to nearby Le-Haut-Vernay where they were forced to remove German bodies. The Germans then sealed off the town, with the 12th spent ransacking every home in the village. The 13th began with the German troopers burning the church, which quickly spread out of control, eventually burning down 66 buildings. After the Germans were through with Graignes, there were only two buildings left undamaged out of two hundred. Long after the battle was over, and the Americans and French back in firm control of Graignes, the head of the Rigault family, Gustave, was awarded a certificate of appreciation by General Eisenhower. After the war was long over, the XII Century church was turned into a memorial to those troopers and civilians alike who gave their lives. In 1986, the two Rigault sisters, Odette and Marthe were awarded the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service by the US government for their courageous efforts to help the troopers of the 507th during and after the battle.
Verhaal van http://www.326airborneclan.com:
The battle for Graignes.....
Situated six miles south of the Norman town of Carentan lies the village of Graignes. Graignes is situated on high ground overlooking marshlands that surround the village on three sides. Graignes in June of 1944 consisted of about two hundred homes, businesses, and other buildings, but the most prominent building was undoubtedly the XII Century Roman Catholic Church. This church, with its tall steeple was visible for miles around. Up until the night of June 5th, 1944, the village was a quiet town, where the German occupation for the most part had passed the village by. That was all about to change. Over the next five days, the small village was to become a lesser known battleground in Normandy, lesser known except to the brave troopers of the 82nd Airborne, and the equally brave citizens of the village.
In the early morning hours of June 6th, at approx 1 A.M., and continuing into the early morning hours of darkness, paratroopers began to descend around the village. These troopers for the most part were members of the 3rd Battalion/ 507th PIR of the 82nd Airborne Division, whose transport pilots had badly missed their drop zone. As one trooper who found the house of the Rigault family discovered, they were in an area that wasn't even on their maps, and only confirmed that the troopers were far away from the rest of their division. As more troopers dropped into the marshes around the village, the troopers gravitated to the only visible landmark, the church steeple. As more and more men converged on the church, the ranking officer decided Carentan and the drop zones of the rest of the 82nd were too far away to attempt to reach. As the town sat south of Carentan, and on a supply route the Germans would surely use to defend Carentan against the 101st Airborne, which had the town as one of its objectives, the crucial decision was made to dig in, defend the town, and start the war from Graignes.
Quite a few equipment bundles were recovered, some with heavy weapons, including 81mm mortars and Browning .30 caliber machine guns, however, many bundles were also widely dropped, especially into the marshes. As the troopers of the 507th began to recover more ammunition and weapons, they began to prepare defensive positions for an all-around defense of the village. The two daughters of Mr. Rigault, Marthe and Odette, along with a family friend, Mr. Folliot, began to take boats out into the marshlands to recover more and more equipment bundles. In the meantime, at 5:30 P.M. on June 6th, another large group from the 507th filtered in, bringing with them eighteen men from B Company, 501st PIR of the 101st Airborne, also misdropped. More men came in during the night of June 6th, including a C-47 pilot, a glider pilot, and two soldiers from the 29th Infantry Division, bringing the total defenders to 182 enlisted and officers.
On June 7th, the provisional mayor of the village, Mr. M Alphonse Voydie, called a meeting in the church of all the heads of every family in the village. Mr. Voydie appealed in the meeting for the villagers to do everything they could to help their American liberators. All the villagers agreed with this plan without regard for their own safety as the penalty for helping the Americans would be a swift death from the Germans. The women of the village were mobilized to procure and prepare food for all the troopers, as all realized the rations they dropped with would run out much too soon. Madame Germaine Boursier, the owner of the village cafe/grocery, took charge to mobilize the women around the clock cooking and distributing meals to all the troopers. Sometimes trips were made to nearby villages to procure additional supplies, right under the Germans noses. Other villagers of the town scoured the countryside for more equipment bundles of badly needed weapons and ammunition which they brought into town, hidden in wagons, right past the Germans.
In the meantime, an observation post was set up in the highest point in town, the steeple of the XII Century church. Germans were not idle during this period, as traffic could be observed on the nearby north-south road leading to Carentan. American patrols were sent out daily around the perimeter of Graignes. The main route into Graignes, over the Vire-Taute Canal, at a spot named Le Port des Panques, a few miles north of Graignes, was wired for demolations under German small arms fire, as by now, patrols from both sides had discovered each other, with small firefights developing. Other mines were placed around the approach roads to the village.
As the Germans had now definately determined and discovered the Americans were in the town, patrols increased daily in size, to probe the American perimeter. The days and nights of the 8th, 9th, and 10th of June produced more patrols, more firefights, and increased activity on the German side. On June 10th, under German small arms fire, and then a brief assault by the Germans, the bridge over the canal was blown, killing many German troops who were on the bridge.
On the morning of Sunday, June 11th, troopers were allowed to take a break to attend services conducted by Father Leblastier, as the morning had been a quiet one. At approximately 10 A.M. a Mrs. Bazire burst into the church to warn of approaching Germans. As some villagers fled the church, most huddled together inside to await developments. Meanwhile, Americans ran for their weapons and positions. The attack was repulsed with heavy losses inflicted on the Germans. At 2 P.M., the Germans began a prolonged mortar barrage of Graignes, followed by another assault by infantry, almost breaching the perimeter. The troopers successfully beat off the attack, and held the perimeter, again inflicting heavy losses on the attackers due to crossfires from the many .30 caliber machine guns, plus accurate mortar fire. This time however, the troopers and civilians alike began to take significant casaulties. An aid station was soon set up in the church.
As the men inside Graignes realized, after hearing heavy vehicular traffic outside the town, that a major attack was soon to come, the villagers were ordered out of town for their own safety. The two Rigault sisters, Marthe and Odette, retreated to their farm, which was miles away.
Other disturbing signs were beginning to develop that a major attack was soon to come. Two 88 mm guns were seen being set up just out of mortar range at a nearby farm. At 7 P.M., these guns opened up on Graignes, with one target being the observers in the church steeple. The assault that followed was made by an assault force of approximately 2,000 troops of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division, in other words, the defenders of the 507th were outnumbered 10 to one. Heavy losses were inflicted on both sides, with the Americans running out of ammunition little by little, and the Germans continuing to come on wave after wave into the darkness of night. A final decision was made, as the Germans were beginning to get into the village, to break up into small groups, escape through the marshes, and try to get back to friendly lines in Carentan or St. Mere Eglise. Sometimes in ones and twos, sometmes in larger groups, Americans began to escape the village. In the meantime, the 3rd Battalion surgeon, Captain A. Sophian Jr., made his descision to remain behind to care for all the wounded soldiers and civilians alike in the church sanctuary. With the battle now over, the soldiers of the 17th SS consolidated their hold on the village.
Despite the terrific odds, the troopers of the 101st, but most of all, the troopers of the 507th of the 82nd Airborne, had inflicted an estimated 500 killed and another 700 wounded on the Germans. The battle by the brave, elite troopers of the 507th/82nd, and members of the 501st/101st will live forever in these two unit's histories, not to mention the bravery and unselfishness of the villagers of Graignes. This battle also brought a swift, brutal reprisal carried out by the 17th SS Grenadiers.
The aftermath of the battle for Graignes.....
At the conclusion of the battle for Graignes, the troops of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadiers stormed the XII Century church, and captured Captain Sophian's aid station, with 19 soldiers in all. This group was divided into two groups, with one marched off to a field four kilometers south of the village. There, the troopers of the 507th were forced to dig a burial pit, and after completing it, were shot in the back of the head and dumped into the pit. The other group was marched to the edge of a nearby shallow pond, bayoneted, and dumped into the shallow water. In the meantime, more SS troopers rounded up citizens of the town suspected of helping the Americans. This included the two priests, Father Leblastier and Father Lebarbanchon, who were dragged into the church courtyard and executed. The German troops then discovered the rectory's two housekeepers, cowering in their beds, and shot both of them where they lay. A total of 44 villagers were rounded up, with most of these being sent to nearby Le-Haut-Vernay where they were forced to remove German bodies. The Germans then sealed off the town, with the 12th spent ransacking every home in the village. The 13th began with the German troopers burning the church, which quickly spread out of control, eventually burning down 66 buildings. After the Germans were through with Graignes, there were only two buildings left undamaged out of two hundred. Long after the battle was over, and the Americans and French back in firm control of Graignes, the head of the Rigault family, Gustave, was awarded a certificate of appreciation by General Eisenhower. After the war was long over, the XII Century church was turned into a memorial to those troopers and civilians alike who gave their lives. In 1986, the two Rigault sisters, Odette and Marthe were awarded the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service by the US government for their courageous efforts to help the troopers of the 507th during and after the battle.