« FROGGIES »  UNDER BOMBING

 In World War II following the official figures, almost 600 000 tonnes of bombs were dropped by British and American air force on 1.570 French cities. From June 1940 untill may 1945 officially  more than 90.000 houses were destroyed and 45.000 others were heavily damaged. 67.078 French people were killed.

But what were and what are today the feelings of those who were under bombing ?

First of all we have all to keep in mind other figures :

- More than 29.660 French people were shot  by the Nazis or the Vichy forces. 

- 222.000 persons were deported  and more than 102 718 of them  died in the Nazi camps.. 

- officially 58.000 other French  civilians died because of war fighting.  

At the outbreak of World War II most of the French civilians knew that they could died under bombing. French newspapers had informed them about the bombing of civilians in the Spanish civil war and for instance the Guernica massacre or even the Bombing of Nankin or Shanghai.

Many of them remembered that in the Great War cities and civilians were war targets. The  1940 invasion of France and the bombing of French cities and civilians by the German air force confirmed their fears.

I am 42 years old and was never bombed…as my my parents and their parents were.. Doing research about WWI and WWII gave me the opportunity to meet  RAF veterans and families who had lost relatives over Europe. I also met many older French persons who were under bombing…I just want  to report their feelings. All are very humble persons and do not want to have their names mentioned. 

  One man called Claude who was living in Paris and was  straffed by German diving bomber “Stukas”  said to me :” we  did not want to see the Germans.. we were afraid.. as thousands others.. we had to leave Paris and on the road nearby Chartres we were strafed…the worst was to think that they knew that we were civilians .their sirens  and the sounds of their bullets  are for ever in my mind. It was just butchery… when  later I was bombed by the Allies..I knew that they were firstly bombing the Germans and their factories. I always managed to watched them  at night . My parents did not want to shelter. What a show it was !.. I never had hard feelings towards the Allies pilots . They did their job. On my side I just wanted the departure of the Nazis”. 

Colette  from Saint Nazaire remembered very well the German bombing of 1940 : “ I was just 10 years old..the first  German bombing was horrible. The sounds of explosion  was deafening. We were losing a war… our morale was very low. I and my family were sheltering in a cave… we were living nearby the harbour ..and the British were evacuating there men. I was dead scared…I remember well my 9 months old brother loudly crying . Since then he is suffering from the nerves. Doctors have confirmed that bombing was the reason.

When the Germans built their submarine base and after the first “English “ raid we the children were evacuated from the city. My parents had to stay.. till around February 1943.. but my grandfather working in the harbor has to carry on to work.. He was a member of the French underground and was used to send informations. The city of Saint Nazaire had about 8000 houses ..in May 1945 when the city was liberated just about 100 houses were still existing… and the German submarine base as well. We children suffered from lack of food and from living far our parents. When the Americans liberated us we were so happy. I have never heard somebody saying something about bombing. War is a sheer insanity.” 

Guy F…he was just 16 years old in 1940.. was also bombed and strafed on the road of France in May 1940…and when  reaching the south part of France he and his family were attacked by Italian aircrafts…He reminds well the anger of his father who had fought on the Italian front in WWI..

Back to Paris he and his father became members of the Underground. Guy joined Réseau Gilbert . Life was hard.  Guy was  studying at Chamber of Commerce.. is still sad when he is showing the photo of his classroom friends… several were deported …  He told me that one day he was  in 1944 at Rouen  under the bombing . After  the raid he helped to clear up from bodies the cellars. Still today he is used to say : “If there is a new war..never use the cellar “. He is thinking that bombing was a necessity. We preferred to be bomb by the “English” at night .. they were more accurate….in day light came the Yankee…were bombing from Higher….”mistakes & sad accidents” happened. War is just war…we became very fatalist.

Many times Guy and his father helped Allies aircrews.. “Some  were just kidds…and had guts to face the Nazi Flak ..it was a duty to help those shot down…their bombs were giving us HOPE. The sister of my father and her 2 sons 10 and 12 years old died at Auschwitz. We are knowing the meaning of Freedom. We have a great debt towards the Allies aircrews who came at night and in daylight to bomb. Today when I hear a plane passing over my head ..

my thoughts are back to 1944. I am lucky to have survived…and happy to know that my children are living in Peace.” 

J..G..”I was 15 years old in 1940… when in 1944 “the English” bombed the railway network at Tergnier..it was terrible..I shall never forget the sounds of the explosion.. and the alarm sirens”. When the “2 QUEUES” (Lightning aircrafts) came back.. flying very low.. they destroyed a German ammunition train…it was just hell”

An other French man just said…” when I knew what had happened in the Nazis camps I understood that our civilian sufferings were nothing  ..”

Many thanks from Peter Johnson to Yves Fohlen for this insight into the personal feelings of people who were affected by Bomber Command. It is hard to know how people felt or even how I would feel given the same circumstances.

Yves has his own page dedicated to the remembrance of the fallen soldiers during the two Great Wars in Europe. It is well worth a visit. Just click the link below.

http://au.geocities.com/thefallenofthe42nd/asstd/froggys-page.htm

I would appreciate any comments about this story please.