Solemn Day

Sunday Ted & I took a train from Paris to the lovely town of Chaumont and yesterday we traveled by taxi to Vitry-Les-Nogent, a small village 25 kilometers to the south east. In 1944 a Lancaster bomber crash landed after being struck by Nazi fire and all aboard were killed. One of the young men was Ted's cousin. At 25 he was the crew's Navigator and the oldest of the 7 British Airmen.Ted had spoken often of his cousin and it was indeed this event that lead us to add France to our itinerary on this visit to his family in England. 

The lovely village of Chaumont

Our taxi driver, Sandrine, was instrumental in making our day special. Upon arrival in Vitry she phoned the number written on the sign on the church cemetery and within minutes folk started arriving. Emmanuel and his 2 charming children who just happened to have the day free of classes at school sauntered down the hill to meet us, accompanied by Alain, the self-proclaimed"story-teller" of the group whose father was instrumental in seeing that the crew were given a proper burial those many years ago. And then came the saving grace of the arrival of Alec who just happened to be in town...an Englishman who served as our translator. As the stories poured out of Alain, Alec, in his proper British accent, relayed them to us. 
 

The original Union Jack used at the burial in 1944

Each year on September 14th, the whole town of Vitry-Les-Nogent (population 164 including children) comes together at the cemetery and commemorates this occasion. The airmen are revered here! They managed to crash land in an open field between 2 villages which was difficult considering the rolling and heavily treed terrain, and no lives were lost: but theirs, the airmen themselves.

Standing by the headstones of these 7 brave young men brought tears to our eyes as we whispered a prayer of thanksgiving for their bravery.  The townsfolk who had joined us then drove us to the site of the crash itself. We stopped along the roadside to pick a handful of red poppies and then traveled on to a quaint chapel nearby commemorating the town being saved from a cholera epidemic 200 years ago.
 

Standing by the headstone of Ted's cousin Roy

At the end of the afternoon Alain & his wife opened their doors and we sat round the kitchen table and shared a bottle of wine and some sweets. Our taxi arrived about 17:00 and we shook hands (Ted) and kissed on both cheeks (moi)!!! as we said goodbye to our new found friends.
 

Alec, our British translator...and friend...and Ted

It was, and remains to be, a surreal experience; one that neither of us will ever forget.