Testimony of resistance fighters
Title
Testimony of resistance fighters
Description
First witness statement from a Resistance fighter
They had been warned by an English airman that the SS were going to carry out shootings and found refuge on 25th August. They were liberated on 29th August. The SS shot eight Resistance fighters and arrested three (out of 18-20). They had two airmen with them when they attacked the Sainte Catherine road. They had been ordered only to attack isolated Germans to avoid civilian reprisals. The American officer’s machine gun jammed and they were told to leave. They volunteered the following day and although the German command car was at the head of the convoy, they could not do anything.
Second witness statement from a Resistance fighter
The SS managed to shoot down their own aircraft instead of the British aircraft. The pilot bailed out.
Third witness statement (Pierre Madry)
Pierre describes former buildings including where George M. Mikels was imprisoned, the German Staff Headquarters and the prisoner camp. M. Le Monnier testified that the English were shot after being forced to dig their own graves. Against German wishes, the priest, Abbé Vard, came to bless them before burial. Five prisoners were shot. Gordon Brian Lafayette was not in the cemetery. Some bodies had allegedly been repatriated. Five soldiers remained.
Fourth witness statement (Pierre Madry)
An officer from the Wehrmacht was billeted at Pierre’s house and told him he was lucky to be alive after an encounter with some inebriated SS soldiers. The regular German army generally treated people well. They had given concerts and he had played darts with young German soldiers who were afraid of the SS. The camp held around 100 prisoners and George Mikels hid from the SS behind the dairy door.
A copy of a map showing where the Lancaster ND 533 crashed and the cemetery where the pilots were buried.
They had been warned by an English airman that the SS were going to carry out shootings and found refuge on 25th August. They were liberated on 29th August. The SS shot eight Resistance fighters and arrested three (out of 18-20). They had two airmen with them when they attacked the Sainte Catherine road. They had been ordered only to attack isolated Germans to avoid civilian reprisals. The American officer’s machine gun jammed and they were told to leave. They volunteered the following day and although the German command car was at the head of the convoy, they could not do anything.
Second witness statement from a Resistance fighter
The SS managed to shoot down their own aircraft instead of the British aircraft. The pilot bailed out.
Third witness statement (Pierre Madry)
Pierre describes former buildings including where George M. Mikels was imprisoned, the German Staff Headquarters and the prisoner camp. M. Le Monnier testified that the English were shot after being forced to dig their own graves. Against German wishes, the priest, Abbé Vard, came to bless them before burial. Five prisoners were shot. Gordon Brian Lafayette was not in the cemetery. Some bodies had allegedly been repatriated. Five soldiers remained.
Fourth witness statement (Pierre Madry)
An officer from the Wehrmacht was billeted at Pierre’s house and told him he was lucky to be alive after an encounter with some inebriated SS soldiers. The regular German army generally treated people well. They had given concerts and he had played darts with young German soldiers who were afraid of the SS. The camp held around 100 prisoners and George Mikels hid from the SS behind the dairy door.
A copy of a map showing where the Lancaster ND 533 crashed and the cemetery where the pilots were buried.
Date
1944
Temporal Coverage
Type
Format
Four printed sheets
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Identifier
CHoldenJ-170725-020001, CHoldenJ-170725-020002, CHoldenJ-170725-020003, CHoldenJ-170725-020004
Transcription
[inserted] SCALE = 1/100.000 [/inserted]
[inserted] Direction ROUEN [symbol] Direction GOURNAY EN BRAY [symbol] [/inserted]
[inserted] LA FEUILLIE [/inserted]
[inserted] [circled A] = place of the crash of the Lancaster ND533 (first commemoration)
[circled B] = cemetery of LES HOGUES (second commemoration) where the pilots shoot [sic] and killed by the S.S (August 1944) were buried. [they were killed in Ste HONORINE [/inserted]
[page break]
[inserted] [circled B] see on map opposite [/inserted]
[underlined] ler témoignage d’un resistant [/underlined]
Savait-on qu’ils allaient procéder à des fusillades ? demande le Général Oui, un aviateur anglais était venu nous prévenir: ‘’sauvez-vous’’. Les SS étaient chez moi; nous sommes allés nous réfugier chez Mme. Alleur et Mme. Guérin en passant par les champs. C’était le 25 août, deux jours avant le débarquement; nous avons attendu 8 jours.
Nous étions cernés par les allemands. Les alliés ne sont arrivés que le 29 pour nous libérer.
Les SS ont fusillé des résistants dans un autre coin de la forêt de Mortemer à 5/6 kms d’ici. Nous étions 18/20 résistants; 8 ont été fusillés et 3 arrêtés. Le soir nous avions deux aviateurs avec nous lors de la lère attaque sur la route de Ste. Catherine. Comme nous savions ce qui c’était passé à Oradour sur Glane, nous avions ordre d’attaquer uniquement des Allemands [underlined] isolés [/underlined] pour qu’il n’y ait pas de réprésailles sur la population civile. Nous avons rencontré quelques allemands isolés. L’officier américain a voulu tirer et sa mitraillette s’est enrayée. Le chef nous a dit de partir. Le lendemain nous nous étions portés volontaires. Un commandcar [sic] allemand s’est présenté mais s’étaient le début d’un convoi. Aussi n’avons-nous rien pu faire.
[underlined] 1st testimony of a Resistant fighter [/underlined]
“Were you aware that the SS were going to shoot the men?” asked the General. “Yes, because a British soldier came and told us to try and escape”.
SS men were in my house. We ran through the fields to hide at the houses of Mrs. Alleur and Mrs.Guérin. It was two days before the landing and we were surrounded by Germans on all sides. We waited 8 days until the allies arrived to liberate us on 29th. of August.
The SS shot some men in another area of Mortemers forest, 5/6 kms from here. Out of 18/20 members of the resistance, eight were shot, ant [sic] three were arrested. In the evening, two British pilots joined us for the first attack on the Ste. Catherine Road. After what had happened in Oradour sur Glane, our orders were only to attack groups of Germans on their own in order to avoid reprisals against civilians.
We [underlined] did [/underlined] meet some lone Germans but when the american soldier tried to fire his gun, it jammed. He told us to run, as we were young.
The next day we were drafted as volunteers. Soon a German command car arrived and we realised it was at the head of a convoy. We could’nt do anything else.
[page break]
[underlined] 2ème témoignage d’un résistant [/underlined]
Celui-ci raconte une courte histoire au Général: Il y avait deux avions en vol, le premier britannique et le second allemand et en tenant d’atteindre le premier les SS ont abattu leur propre avion. Un peu comme cela se passe à la chasse aux canards. Leur pilote a eu le temps de sauter en parachute.
[underlined] 2nd testimony of a Resistance fighter [/underlined]
He told the General a funny short story. Two planes were in the air; the first one was British, the second one German. The SS were on the ground trying to shoot down the British plane but in doing this they missed and shot their own plane by mistake! It was like something that would happen whilst shooting ducks. The German plane crashed but the pilot managed to jump out.
[underlined] 3ème témoignage [/underlined] (Pierre Madry)
Nous sommes devant la maison où George M. Mikels a été emprisonné. Il ne reste que la façade. Le bâtiment derrière servait
d’Etat Major aux allemands et encore derrière il y avait avant la guerre une fabrique de balles de tennis. Il reste une petite remise en briques et plus loin un bâtiment en bois, maintenant détruit qui servait de camp de prisonniers.
D’après le témoignage de M. Le Monnier les Anglais ont été fusillés après qu’on les ait obligé à creuser leurs tombes. L’Abbé Vard qui était là à l’époque est venu, contre la volonté des allemands, bénir leurs corps avant qu’ils soient enterrés à lisiére de la forêt.
Pierre Madry précise qu’il y a eu cinq prisonniers fusillés
Gordon Brian Lafayette n’est pas dans le cimetière. Certaines personnes des Hogues sont plus ou moins au courant que certains corps ont été exhumés puis rapatriés, soit dans un cimetière militaire près de la Manche, soit aux Etats Unis. Il reste 5 soldats dont le dernier a été tué plus tard à libération lors d’une opération militaire.
[underlined] 3rd. testimony (Pierre Madry) [/underlined]
We are in front of the house where G. Mikels was imprisoned. Only the front still remains. During the war the building behind was used as a German Headquarters. Behind that there used to be a tennis ball factory before the war. Only the small brick shed remains. Further behind, a wooden building, which does not exist anymore was used as a camp for prisoners of war.
According to the testimony of Pascal Lemmonier after the British soldiers were shot, the SS gave orders for their graves to be dug. Mr Vard, who was a priest at the time, came and blessed the bodies, against the orders of the SS, before they were buried at the edge of the forest.
Pierre Madry explains that 5 prisoners were shot. Gordon Brian Lafayette is not buried there. Some of the people of Les Hogues think that some of the bodies were exhumed and repatriated, either to a military graveyard near the Channel, or to the USA. The graves of five soldiers are still there. One of these soldiers was killed later in action.
[page break]
[underlined] 4ème témoignage (Pierre Madry) [/underlined]
Selon un témoin, Pierre Le Monnier, un officier de la Wehrmacht était logé chez lui. Deux villageois racontent qu’une nuit Pierre rencontre des SS en ribote qui tenaient une lampe de poche. Pierre donne un coup de pied dans la lampe. L’officier qui logeait chez lui dit qu’il a eu de la chance de s’en sortir car ce sont des chiens sans pitié entraînés à tuer.
Par contre, dit Pierre, Il y avait beaucoup de jeunes soldats, dont certains âgés seulement de 18 ans dans l’armée allemande régulière. Il explique qu’il jouait avec eux aux fléchettes. Ils avaient peur des SS et filaient dès qu’ils les voyaient.
Pierre Madmry [sic] explique que dans le bâtiment détruit des soldats de la Wehrmacht avaient formé un orchestre, répétaient de la musique et donnaient des concert au début de la guerre.
D’une manière générale les gens des Hogues disent avoir été bien traités par les Allemands de l’armée régulierère.
Pierre et Pascal et Gérard, le fils de René Laout, gendarme résistant, habitant à St-Sauflieu, se retrouvent maintenant devant le camp qui abritait alors une centaine de prisonniers.
Voici la porte de la laiterie qui existait à l’époque. C’est derrière cette porte que s’est caché George Mikels, après s’être échappé du camp lors de la fusillade du 25.8. Les SS, alors en état d’ébriété, ne se sont pas aperçus immédiatement de sa fuite et, ayant rejoint la laiterie, n’ont pas vu non plus que G. Mikel était derrière la porte. Ces évènements sont relatés par sa fille.
[underlined] 4th. testimony (Pierre Madry) [/underlined]
According to the son of a resistance member, Pierre Lemonnier, an officer of the Wehrmacht lodged at their house during the war.
Two villagers recount that one evening Pierre met the SS whilst they were drunk and one of them had a torch. Pierre kicked the torch out of his hand and ran. Afterwards the German officer, who lived at his house, told him that he was lucky because the SS were dogs without mercy and were trained to murder people. On the contrary, says Pierre, the regular German Army was different. It employed young soldiers, some of whom were only 18 years old. He explains how he played darts with some of them and says that they were afraid every time they met the SS.
Pierre Madry tells how some of the soldiers of the Wehrmacht used the now derelict building to give concerts and to have band practices before the war.
Gérard, an inhabitant of St-Sauflieu and son of René Laout, warrant officer of the gendarmemrie [sic] and member of the resistance, Pascal and Pierre are now in front of the camp where about 100 prisoners of war were kept. René Laout had given refuge to George Mikels who had escaped from the camp during the shooting there.
We are now in front of the door which belonged to a milk house at the time. According to G. Mikels daughter, it is behind this door that he hid. The SS who pursued him were so drunk that they did not see him behind the door or notice straight away that he had escaped. They had been the same SS men who had captured him when his plane crashed on the 18th. August.
[inserted] Direction ROUEN [symbol] Direction GOURNAY EN BRAY [symbol] [/inserted]
[inserted] LA FEUILLIE [/inserted]
[inserted] [circled A] = place of the crash of the Lancaster ND533 (first commemoration)
[circled B] = cemetery of LES HOGUES (second commemoration) where the pilots shoot [sic] and killed by the S.S (August 1944) were buried. [they were killed in Ste HONORINE [/inserted]
[page break]
[inserted] [circled B] see on map opposite [/inserted]
[underlined] ler témoignage d’un resistant [/underlined]
Savait-on qu’ils allaient procéder à des fusillades ? demande le Général Oui, un aviateur anglais était venu nous prévenir: ‘’sauvez-vous’’. Les SS étaient chez moi; nous sommes allés nous réfugier chez Mme. Alleur et Mme. Guérin en passant par les champs. C’était le 25 août, deux jours avant le débarquement; nous avons attendu 8 jours.
Nous étions cernés par les allemands. Les alliés ne sont arrivés que le 29 pour nous libérer.
Les SS ont fusillé des résistants dans un autre coin de la forêt de Mortemer à 5/6 kms d’ici. Nous étions 18/20 résistants; 8 ont été fusillés et 3 arrêtés. Le soir nous avions deux aviateurs avec nous lors de la lère attaque sur la route de Ste. Catherine. Comme nous savions ce qui c’était passé à Oradour sur Glane, nous avions ordre d’attaquer uniquement des Allemands [underlined] isolés [/underlined] pour qu’il n’y ait pas de réprésailles sur la population civile. Nous avons rencontré quelques allemands isolés. L’officier américain a voulu tirer et sa mitraillette s’est enrayée. Le chef nous a dit de partir. Le lendemain nous nous étions portés volontaires. Un commandcar [sic] allemand s’est présenté mais s’étaient le début d’un convoi. Aussi n’avons-nous rien pu faire.
[underlined] 1st testimony of a Resistant fighter [/underlined]
“Were you aware that the SS were going to shoot the men?” asked the General. “Yes, because a British soldier came and told us to try and escape”.
SS men were in my house. We ran through the fields to hide at the houses of Mrs. Alleur and Mrs.Guérin. It was two days before the landing and we were surrounded by Germans on all sides. We waited 8 days until the allies arrived to liberate us on 29th. of August.
The SS shot some men in another area of Mortemers forest, 5/6 kms from here. Out of 18/20 members of the resistance, eight were shot, ant [sic] three were arrested. In the evening, two British pilots joined us for the first attack on the Ste. Catherine Road. After what had happened in Oradour sur Glane, our orders were only to attack groups of Germans on their own in order to avoid reprisals against civilians.
We [underlined] did [/underlined] meet some lone Germans but when the american soldier tried to fire his gun, it jammed. He told us to run, as we were young.
The next day we were drafted as volunteers. Soon a German command car arrived and we realised it was at the head of a convoy. We could’nt do anything else.
[page break]
[underlined] 2ème témoignage d’un résistant [/underlined]
Celui-ci raconte une courte histoire au Général: Il y avait deux avions en vol, le premier britannique et le second allemand et en tenant d’atteindre le premier les SS ont abattu leur propre avion. Un peu comme cela se passe à la chasse aux canards. Leur pilote a eu le temps de sauter en parachute.
[underlined] 2nd testimony of a Resistance fighter [/underlined]
He told the General a funny short story. Two planes were in the air; the first one was British, the second one German. The SS were on the ground trying to shoot down the British plane but in doing this they missed and shot their own plane by mistake! It was like something that would happen whilst shooting ducks. The German plane crashed but the pilot managed to jump out.
[underlined] 3ème témoignage [/underlined] (Pierre Madry)
Nous sommes devant la maison où George M. Mikels a été emprisonné. Il ne reste que la façade. Le bâtiment derrière servait
d’Etat Major aux allemands et encore derrière il y avait avant la guerre une fabrique de balles de tennis. Il reste une petite remise en briques et plus loin un bâtiment en bois, maintenant détruit qui servait de camp de prisonniers.
D’après le témoignage de M. Le Monnier les Anglais ont été fusillés après qu’on les ait obligé à creuser leurs tombes. L’Abbé Vard qui était là à l’époque est venu, contre la volonté des allemands, bénir leurs corps avant qu’ils soient enterrés à lisiére de la forêt.
Pierre Madry précise qu’il y a eu cinq prisonniers fusillés
Gordon Brian Lafayette n’est pas dans le cimetière. Certaines personnes des Hogues sont plus ou moins au courant que certains corps ont été exhumés puis rapatriés, soit dans un cimetière militaire près de la Manche, soit aux Etats Unis. Il reste 5 soldats dont le dernier a été tué plus tard à libération lors d’une opération militaire.
[underlined] 3rd. testimony (Pierre Madry) [/underlined]
We are in front of the house where G. Mikels was imprisoned. Only the front still remains. During the war the building behind was used as a German Headquarters. Behind that there used to be a tennis ball factory before the war. Only the small brick shed remains. Further behind, a wooden building, which does not exist anymore was used as a camp for prisoners of war.
According to the testimony of Pascal Lemmonier after the British soldiers were shot, the SS gave orders for their graves to be dug. Mr Vard, who was a priest at the time, came and blessed the bodies, against the orders of the SS, before they were buried at the edge of the forest.
Pierre Madry explains that 5 prisoners were shot. Gordon Brian Lafayette is not buried there. Some of the people of Les Hogues think that some of the bodies were exhumed and repatriated, either to a military graveyard near the Channel, or to the USA. The graves of five soldiers are still there. One of these soldiers was killed later in action.
[page break]
[underlined] 4ème témoignage (Pierre Madry) [/underlined]
Selon un témoin, Pierre Le Monnier, un officier de la Wehrmacht était logé chez lui. Deux villageois racontent qu’une nuit Pierre rencontre des SS en ribote qui tenaient une lampe de poche. Pierre donne un coup de pied dans la lampe. L’officier qui logeait chez lui dit qu’il a eu de la chance de s’en sortir car ce sont des chiens sans pitié entraînés à tuer.
Par contre, dit Pierre, Il y avait beaucoup de jeunes soldats, dont certains âgés seulement de 18 ans dans l’armée allemande régulière. Il explique qu’il jouait avec eux aux fléchettes. Ils avaient peur des SS et filaient dès qu’ils les voyaient.
Pierre Madmry [sic] explique que dans le bâtiment détruit des soldats de la Wehrmacht avaient formé un orchestre, répétaient de la musique et donnaient des concert au début de la guerre.
D’une manière générale les gens des Hogues disent avoir été bien traités par les Allemands de l’armée régulierère.
Pierre et Pascal et Gérard, le fils de René Laout, gendarme résistant, habitant à St-Sauflieu, se retrouvent maintenant devant le camp qui abritait alors une centaine de prisonniers.
Voici la porte de la laiterie qui existait à l’époque. C’est derrière cette porte que s’est caché George Mikels, après s’être échappé du camp lors de la fusillade du 25.8. Les SS, alors en état d’ébriété, ne se sont pas aperçus immédiatement de sa fuite et, ayant rejoint la laiterie, n’ont pas vu non plus que G. Mikel était derrière la porte. Ces évènements sont relatés par sa fille.
[underlined] 4th. testimony (Pierre Madry) [/underlined]
According to the son of a resistance member, Pierre Lemonnier, an officer of the Wehrmacht lodged at their house during the war.
Two villagers recount that one evening Pierre met the SS whilst they were drunk and one of them had a torch. Pierre kicked the torch out of his hand and ran. Afterwards the German officer, who lived at his house, told him that he was lucky because the SS were dogs without mercy and were trained to murder people. On the contrary, says Pierre, the regular German Army was different. It employed young soldiers, some of whom were only 18 years old. He explains how he played darts with some of them and says that they were afraid every time they met the SS.
Pierre Madry tells how some of the soldiers of the Wehrmacht used the now derelict building to give concerts and to have band practices before the war.
Gérard, an inhabitant of St-Sauflieu and son of René Laout, warrant officer of the gendarmemrie [sic] and member of the resistance, Pascal and Pierre are now in front of the camp where about 100 prisoners of war were kept. René Laout had given refuge to George Mikels who had escaped from the camp during the shooting there.
We are now in front of the door which belonged to a milk house at the time. According to G. Mikels daughter, it is behind this door that he hid. The SS who pursued him were so drunk that they did not see him behind the door or notice straight away that he had escaped. They had been the same SS men who had captured him when his plane crashed on the 18th. August.
Collection
Citation
“Testimony of resistance fighters,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed December 14, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/41102.
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