'My Longest Night' by Genevieve Duboscq

Hi All,

I picked up a second hand copy of "My Longest Night" by Genevieve Duboscq while in Dublin the other day. A book which, in itself is a masterful and unique account of a young French girl's life before, during and after the invasion, but also has specific new (to me) accounts of the fighting around La Fiere bridge.

Genevieve lived with her family in a railway gate keepers house at one of the level crossings near La Fiere, designated Level Crossing 103. Her father was responsible for opening and closing the crossing gates and also for inspecting the track between Level Crossings 103 and 104. I presume the numbering system is counting upwards from Paris to Cherbourg.

I am trying to tie down this stretch of track and was wondering if anyone knows where Level Crossing 103, Genevieve's home in 1944, is or was located?

Between pages 38 and 39 of the 1984 edition, there are two photographs of Level Crossing 104. I have reproduced the aerial shot below:

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When I found this photograph's location on Google Earth, I noted that it was about 5.5 Kilometres south of Chef du Pont, just north west of Saint Come du Mont:

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Note the 'teardrop' shaped field 'T' for reference. The gate keeper's cottage (circled red) seems to have gone and the crossing replaced by an overpass 50 metres down track.

So, if this is Level Crossing No. 104, and my assumption that the numbering system is counting up from Paris is correct, where is the crossing numbered 103 where the Duboscq family lived :huh:

I must be wrong; the description of the fighting around La Fiere as seen from the Duboscq home must be much further north. If anyone knows this story and the locations mentioned in the book, I would be grateful if you would set me straight. I am also very keen to know where on the track Genevieve's younger brother Claude was killed by a mine on the 14th August 1944. She describes the location in which she herself suffered life changing injuries as being at the 'Irsa' Bridge. In addition, there is a reference to a building in a large 30 acre field called 'The Sheepfold' where a glider landed intact.

Any help very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Pat

 

Hi Sean,

Apologies for the delay in replying to your efforts; I was held up by more mundane matters yesterday.

First, I made an error in the stating that the Duboscq home was located at PN103; it should of course be PN104. Your link to the French forum also yielded the fact that the family grave is in the cemetery at Sainte Mere Eglise which ties in well with your location.

The aerial photograph in the book 'of PN104' does indeed seem to be an error or, as you state, a generic use of an aerial photograph showing the track and a level crossing.

Your location for the 'second home' at 'The Sheepfold' also fits the description in the book. The family moved here during certain periods of the farming calendar. An older brother of Genevieve was at this location studying for exams on D-Day night.

I have some screenshots done on my home PC which I will post tonight.

Thanks for your efforts Sean.

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi Sean & List,

Another hint as to the location of PN104 (Duboscq home), reading page 38 after the first paratrooper enters the house on D-Day night and, using his map, confers with Papa Maurice as to German positions in the area:

I don't have access to Google Earth at the moment, but from this description it should be easy to confirm the location of PN104.

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi All,

Below is a photograph of 'The Sheepfold' building at page 38-39 of the book:

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Note the off centre dormer window or loft door marked thereon which appears to match Sean's location on Google Earth below:

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I am pretty sure the same dormer window or loft door feature is showing in the roof above. Google Earth also appears to match very well with Papa Maurice's estimation of the distance to Chateau de La Fiere and Chateau d'Amfreville, known to the American troops as the 'Gray Castle':

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'The Sheepfold' candidate location is centred within the red rectangle above.

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi All,

In a further attempt to understand the locations mentioned by Genevieve in her book, I have produced some screenshots from IGN 1947 cover as indicated by the blue rectangles below:

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Reading extracts from chapter 4, 'The Night of June 5th', I note the following:

The refusal of Papa Maurice's offer of soup was to cost all those remaining in the sentry box their lives as was the dumping of the armbands to save the lives of Papa Maurice and Gaby within a few minutes.

Below is my guess as to the location of PN 103; the southern extent of Papa Maurice's 'beat'...

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...If anyone can confirm or correct my assumption, I would be grateful. If correct, the railway bridge being guarded by the local "recruits" must be that shown below between PN 103 and PN 104 (the Duboscq home). Again the IGN cover has been zoomed below to show the railway bridge over the Merderet:

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The Duboscq home can be seen on the eastern (right) side of the double track below:

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I would imagine that the sentry box at the railway bridge must have been similar to that photographed at PN 105 (Friesville Crossing) as we see below in an extract from page 223 of Michel De Trez's book "Sainte Mere Eglise - Photographs of D-Day":

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The photographs are taken looking eastwards across the double tracks during a mine clearance operation. I have marked this crossing at extreme top left of the 1947 IGN cover with the northern most of the blue rectangles and zoomed to below:

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More to follow.

Regards,

Pat

 

To continue...

In order to celebrate the arrival of the Allies and the destruction of the swastika embroidered arm bands, Papa Maurice was about to head down to the cellar to acquire some of his favourite cider when the door burst open and a soldier clad in a strange uniform with blackened face and hands stood in the doorway.

After a period of introduction the American paratrooper enlists the help of Papa Maurice in orientating himself by means of a map. Papa Maurice then realises the danger the rest of the paratroopers face as some of them land in the flooded marshland either side of the railway embankment on which PN 104 sits. Below is a photograph from page 38/39 and captioned as being Genevieve's home at PN 104. The view appears to be north towards PN 105 (Friesville):

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Papa Maurice launches his flat-bottomed marsh boat and commences a night long rescue effort retrieving paratroopers from the somewhat shallow waters of the marsh before they inadvertently walk into the much deeper waters of the Merderet River while attempting to gain dry land. As far as I can tell from reading the account, he brings back at least three boat loads of troopers to the house where Genevieve and her mother attempt to dish out what meagre stocks of food they possess.

In an attempt to use the house as a rallying point, Genevieve puts an over supply of firewood in both fireplaces and lights the fires. The soot in both chimneys takes hold and from the outside the fires appear like two furnaces in the dark night with the light spilling onto the shining tracks. Troopers appeared out of the dark from all directions. The experience was to stay with Genevieve all her life.

I wonder if it's possible to identify this paratrooper :dodgy:

He can speak French and eventually tells 'his men' that they would be attacking at 0600 but the narrative does not specifically indicate where the attack is to go in. My guess is that he is 507th PIR as he seems to be heading northwards, when Genevieve runs after him and his group calling on him to stop.

Does anyone know what unit of the 507th PIR was tasked with taking the Chateau d'Amfreville ('Gray Castle')?

This officer, as I now take him to be, calls to Papa Maurice out in the boat and when the French man arrives back, he offers to bring the officer and his group south along the tracks to La Fiere as he states that there is only one German in a 'mirador' there. This, to me would indicate that this officer is not 505th PIR as he would be already heading for La Fiere bridge if he was. He orders the entire group in the Duboscq house at PN 104 to fall in in two lines, one on each side of the tracks, including a badly stunned trooper who had to be dragged from the marsh having landed on the lean-to shed roof at the back of PN 104. The group advance down the tracks towards La Fiere with Papa Maurice acting as guide. The Duboscq house seems oddly empty to Genevieve.

I know General Gavin came down the tracks to La Fiere but I have a feeling that this officer is somewhat junior to Gavin in rank.

Later tonight:
Having spent a hour or so searching Shawn Youngers 'World War II Archives' site - an excellent resource for any student of the subject - I found the extract below on this page of a report titled "Movement On East Bank At Merderet Crossing":

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The context above relates to Lt. John W. Marr, C.O., 1st Platoon, G/507 PIR, in organising the attempt to relieve Timmes Orchard but note the reference to Lt. Marr talking to some French people on D+2 who had helped 'Wisner' on D-Day morning and the reference to the French man with the boat. There is, in my view, a high probability that this reference is to the Duboscq family at PN 104.

Using the surname 'Wisner', I had a look in the index of Phil Nordyke's 82nd 'bible', "All American All The Way" and discovered an entry for one Lt. John H. Wisner, S-2 2nd Battalion, 507th PIR. On page 248 we have:

Not exactly the same version of the story, but I have little doubt that it was Lt. John H. Wisner who burst into the Duboscq house and was disarmed by little five year old Claude when he answered the challenge 'Friend or Foe?' with:

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi All,

On page 48 there is a very interesting reference to an event which took place "on an autumn evening in 1943":

La Couture Farm, as some readers will know, was to become the 82nd Airborne Division's first CP in Normandy. There is no connection though, as far as I know, between this incident and the selection of the farm as the CP. Below is a screenshot from the IGN map showing the relevant locations mentioned by Genevieve:

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I take it that the agent was on the 'Chasse de la Couture' laneway when Genevieve ran into him. The object being buried was, as you might expect, a parachute as confirmed by this extract on page 50:

I checked Pierre Tillet's "History of WWII Infiltrations into France" pdf but cannot see any good matches for this insertion.

I find this particular type of research absolutely fascinating but it is very difficult to advance the story once you hit a wall. This story reminds me of my old chestnut regarding the 'Drop Zone 'O' Puzzle' which remains unresolved after many years of frustration. Funny the same location (DZ 'O') is referenced in both stories, though again, I doubt if there is any connection.

Anyone got any ideas as to how we might discover the identity of this agent?

Comments and suggestions welcomed and appreciated.

Regards,

Pat

 

Thanks Bruno,

I appreciate you posting these photographs.

This roadway which necessitated the construction of PN 104 seems to be an agricultural route across the marshland - why did the railway company build PN 104 if all that was crossing the railway tracks was the occasional load of hay or movement of herds to new pasture?

Had the construction of the roadway some tie to Chateau Amfreville or, less likely, something to do with the old tram line from Sainte Mere Eglise which had been removed before the War? Just wondering; nothing to do with battlefield research

The bridge you show I take to be the one circled yellow below - can you confirm this please Bruno?

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Another unrelated point of interest; there is a description in the book on page 78 which reads:

I take it that if this jeep travelled some distance along the track from PN 104 before heading out across the flooded marsh towards Chateau Amfreville, it was not on the 'secret road'. From the description in the book, I am not sure if the 'jeep' is an American vehicle or a captured 'Schwimmwagen'. The latter seems more plausible as Genevieve continues:

Would a 'Schwimmwagen' be throwing two sprays of water as it made it's way across the flooded marshland; do the wheels turn when the propeller is engaged?

Again, just curious :dodgy:

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi Bruno & List,

Thanks for the photo of the 'blue' bridge Bruno; the photograph, along with the others you have posted, adds significantly to our knowledge base of the marshland in this area, something which the Google Earth 'traveller' or indeed the average road-bound tourist to the area would be unable to access.

I have a few observations on Chapter 5 'Tuesday, June 6th, 1944':

Papa Maurice, having guided those troopers whom arrived at PN 104 during the night of 5th/6th June down track, arrived back at PN 104:

I wonder if 'Emile's farm' near PN 103 is the 1st Battalion, 505th PIR CP? Below is a Google Earth screenshot where on I have indicated the farm I have in mind:

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Can anyone confirm if this is the farm owned by 'Emile' in 1944 and also if it was the 1/505 CP? It looks about the correct distance back from the La Fiere Bridge for a battalion CP but I am not an expert in these matters. I would also be very interested to know where the Leroux farm is where General Gavin landed.

There are a few photographs in Michel de Trez's "Sainte Mere Eglise - Photographs of D-Day - 6th June 1944" which have a location caption reading '1st Bn. 505 CP'. The one below taken from page 232 is typical:

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I wonder if it might be possible to link these photographs to the farm buildings of the holding near PN 103?

Papa Maurice then goes on to describe some of the glider landings in the immediate western edge of LZ 'O':

So, there is an intact Waco near the Sheepfold! I have no vertical cover over this area apart from some poor low resolution proofs from my first NCAP search back in 2007. You can see the search results on the web page I created to allow viewing. On file 04.jpg, you may notice a small shape at centre right across from the kidney shaped field marked above in the same field as the Sheepfold is located. The house itself is just out of shot. Not very obvious I'll grant you but I then recalled the footage shot from the B-26 Marauder raid on the British Pathe site here. Regular readers will recall heavy cloud cover over DZ/LZ 'O' as the raid over flies the area on a south westerly course. Below is a still from this footage:

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Lady luck is smiling on us today as the cloud breaks just at the right moment - The Sheepfold is circled yellow and the Waco is circled red. Note the kidney shaped field across the lane for reference. While we might not describe the Waco as being "right in front of the Sheepfold", I have no doubt but to a French civilian it is. I would also have little doubt but that Papa Maurice means the SW face of the Sheepfold when he refers to the glider as being 'in front of' the building. My reasoning being that the view from the SW side is looking downhill with a much bigger panorama that that visible from the NE side of the building.

Comments and corrections welcomed and appreciated.

Regards,

Pat

 

Ah, yes the penny has dropped!

The Chateau de La Fiere is not the same holding as the Manoir de La Fiere :idea:

That had me quite confused Bruno - thank you very much for the clarification.

The opening passage of Chapter 2 'September 1939 - June 1944' states:

I hope the Leroux family will forgive my intrusion while I hone my interpretative skills on their archway:

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If the French order of things on farms is anything like Irish farms, I'll bet the stables were/are to the north west of the archway, closer to the farmhouse.

Just an observation

In relation to Papa Maurice's account of the damaged gliders in the western LZ/DZ 'O' area, I note with interest he refers to a glider hitting "the big oak". This to me describes a particular tree which stands out in the area and is well know to the locals. Oak trees, even in 1944, would only be growing as individual specimens, rather then in stands or rows like the (then) more common elms.

Again, just an observation.

Regards,

Pat

 

Hi All,

On a planned visit to Sainte-Mère-Église next July, I would like to pay my respects at the Duboscq family plot in the town cemetery. As my group will be in the adjoining Airborne Museum, my time will be quite limited. I would be very grateful if someone here could narrow my search for the plot to whichever of the quadrants numbered 1-4 on the Bing Map extract below applies:

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Thanks,

Pat

 

As the dawn breaks on Tuesday, the 6th June...

Papa Maurice obviously has been informed by the Americans that these men are unaccounted for - but how does he know the number is only three - I assume this is a very local count. In any event he is given a new armband which reads 'MP' and he immediately rouses Gaby to accompany him and help with the recovery of the three wounded, injured or dead men. They depart in the flat bottomed marsh boat punting in the direction of 'Port-de-Neuville', keeping close to the railway embankment to prevent the Germans in that location from seeing them.

I presume the boat is being punted north west close to the eastern side of the railway line. The IGN extract below shows the hamlet of 'le Port' and I take this to be the location referred to:

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Note location of PN 104 at bottom left.

Regards,

Pat