Tracing Route Taken In 'Roads Without Birds'

Hi All,

I am attempting to trace the route taken by a French refugee family as described in the book "Roads Without Birds - Memories of Normandy, 1944" by Raoul Dujardin. The book describes how the family had to deal with the very real and present danger of being killed as they try to flee the fighting with their few meagre possessions.

Menacing German officers, becoming more drunk and dangerous with each passing day, constantly turn them out of houses along the route. American artillery fire becomes just as dangerous as they constantly try to move back from the fighting. It's a very moving story with lots of references to locations along the way. My problem is that I am unable to tie down where the family were living when they had to take to the road. I need a starting point and would be very grateful if any French readers who know the book and story could help me find the location of the farm.

Thanks,

Pat

 

Hi All,

I have been neglecting this thread for too long, so over the weekend with the aid of the all powerful Google, I think we may have some progress as to the location of Raoul Dujardin's farmhouse from which he and his family were forced to flee.

First, here is a 'WikiManche' page on this French author, wherein Google Translate appears to indicate his home is in or near Meautis:

So, my first quandary: does the spelling 'Chesnaie' in the Wiki article above refer to the same location name 'La Chenaie' on the IGN extract below:

​

Any French readers able to help?

Also, to reinforce my theory, I also discovered this interesting French page on the Battle of Donville (aka Bloody Gulch/Gully). A quick search of the page using using 'Ctrl+F' on the family name 'Dujardin' gave me this Google Translate passage:

Google Maps shows the name of the road passing the farm circled in blue as 'La Chesnee'

My candidate location is based purely on a hunch and the fact that the farmhouse is described in the book as been on a short avenue from the road.

Anyone able to add more dots please?

Thanks,

Pat

 

More more query tonight;

Does the French phrase 'Ruines de la ferme de la Chesnée à Méautis', used in the French page referenced above, refer to any farm on the road -or- to one particular farm?

Thanks,

Pat

 

Hi All,

I just want to do a little on the reasons why Raoul had to leave his home, which resulted in the long, arduous and dangerous journey which was to last most of the 1944 summer.

On D-Day morning, like many other French civilians on the Cotentin, Raoul finds himself talking to a small American paratrooper group who are lost in the hedgerows, having been miss-dropped during the early hours of June 6th.

The milk maid, Marie had first discovered the group as she went to milk the farm cows. There are four paratroopers in the group and when Raoul shows them where there are on a map, he states that they seem disheartened as they were supposed to have landed 'beyond the marshes', which if as now seems likely, they are in the Meautis area, indicates that these men are far to the south of their DZ.

Raoul tells the four Americans to stay hidden until he returns from the farmhouse. There he discovers that friends are waiting for him and enthusiastically tell him that they too have seen some Americans and helped to gather equipment from parachute containers in the nearby fields.

Interestingly the author states that there are two groups of paratroopers hidden at two separate farms, making a total of approximately thirty men in all.

I note that Mark Bando in his 101st Airborne books makes reference to at least one group in the Meautis area, but more on that later.

So how does this idyllic farming scene turn into a nightmare such that the author is forced to flee his beloved farm? The first hint is in this very well crafted passage:

Raoul describes further the great day as it progressed from morning to afternoon. He notes that the sound of battle from the area around Saint Come du Mont, clearly heard in the morning, had by afternoon quietened down considerably. He also states that Carentan is bombed once in the morning and again in the afternoon, by 'two bomber squadrons' This may be confusion caused by naval gunfire falling on the town as aircraft are seen to fly over because as far as I know, Carentan was not bombed on D-Day. Anyone able to confirm this or correct me?

Shortly after the bombardment, the first refugees arrive at the farm with news of casualties in the town; the names of which are known to the Dujardin family, though Roul does not name these people.

Soon after the arrival of the refugees, three German trucks pass on the road outside the farmhouse and a firefight ensues close by, presumably with some of the stray American paratroopers. This action sets the Germans on a rampage of the adjoining properties, including the Dujardin farmstead. Two Germans soldiers enter the house and immediately begin searching every room.

Later on during the night of D-Day, the family hear from their beds more shooting starting up again as one of the American paratrooper groups are discovered in a farm nearby. The Germans burn the farm in an attempt to force the Americans out, shooting fleeing civilians in the process. The Dujardin family see the silhouette of the farm buildings against the orange skyline as the flames take hold.

The story moves forward to Saturday, 10th June and things are rapidly deteriorating into chaos as the family decide to begin hiding food...

As more shells followed and began landing closer, the family move bedding downstairs to the strongest walled section of the ground floor and turn in for the night.

The following morning, Sunday 11th June, Raoul goes outside to survey the damage to the farm. Apart from a demolished apple tree, the damage is light. In the village (Meautis?) however, the horrors of war are visited upon one family in particular:

As Sunday lunch is underway, a short calmness pervades the area. The refugee family from Carentan tell of the loss both of their house and all their possessions. Raoul decides to open a good bottle of wine and seeks out his stash of cognac and some cigars in order to help lighten the mood at the table.

Their peaceful respite does not last long as two more Germans, described as 'Russians in German uniform, enter the farmhouse kitchen. One is drunk and proceeds to partake of the cognac with fervor. His comrade is uneasy and remains standing. Eventually this sober one has to take away the pistol from his now very drunk comrade, who is waving the weapon at the family. They both eventually leave.

The family and refugee friends decide to build a shelter trench that afternoon and when the work is finished in the evening, they sit down once more for a meal in the farmhouse. The arrival of a motorcycle sidecar once more disturbs the meal as what is described as a 'non commissioned officer'...

More follows...

Regards,

Pat

 

To continue...

The German doctor has arrived at Raoul Dujardin's farmhouse on the evening of Sunday 11th June in order to commandeer the property for use as a field hospital. The location of the house is, as far as I can make out, close to the village of Meautis.

After some persuasion by Raoul that his mother is sick and cannot be moved, together with the fact that the family of friends who are refugees from Carentan have young children, the doctor finally agrees to let them all stay in one room!

Soon after the first causalities from the fighting at Carentan begin to arrive. This turn of events has a profound effect on the author:

Monday morning brings little respite as a fresh batch of wounded are brought in following the night's fighting. Raoul describes the arrival of this batch as being carried on Russian or Polish forage wagons, pulled by Mongolians. The wagons were covered with green branches. This morning rush had ended by nine o'clock. We then get a better insight into the character of the German doctor in charge.

Raoul had asked a question too many. The German officer exploded into a rage:

As the day progresses, the farmhouse descends into a scene of near anarchy. Raoul is about to intervene as his donkey is being taken by soldiers, but a German nurse, sent by the doctor, makes it very clear he should not intervene! As other soldiers steal from the hen house, he sees yet more upstairs in a bedroom ransacking a wardrobe. His remaining horse is luckily in a far field out of sight.

Almost certainly the scenes of arriving German wounded at the farmhouse as described above are also those witnessed in the account of Léon Lehay on this French page on Franck Feuardent's LE MANOIR DE DONVILLE site.

I have also checked for digitised NCAP cover for the Meautis area from the 10th June onwards in the hope of finding that red cross flag on the ground, but alas, no luck. We did do a manual search back in 2009 for the area of Bloody Gulch/Gully, which yielded some frames from sortie US30/4195 flown on the 22nd June. Two frames, 1114 and 1115 both show the village and my suspect farmhouse:

<iframe seamless="seamless" src="https://docs.google.com/viewer?embedded=true&url=http://www.normandy.whitebeamimages.ie/ncap/search_results/27117_ge_index.pdf" width="100%" height="600px"></iframe> ​

Unfortunately I don't have either frame in high resolution - anyone else by chance have either?

Raoul and his group had hoped to hold on and await the American advance to take the village of Meautis, but by the next day, Tuesday 13th June, with the Invasion now a week old and Carentan finally in American hands, all hope of staying on at the farm disappeared. Its not quite clear from the wording in the book, but it seems that the medical detachment leave sometime on Tuesday. The doctor warns Raoul that it would be better if his group left before the arrival of retreating troops. As noon approaches the first of these troops arrive and give the two families five minutes to pack! The order is short, curt, to the point and delivered at the point of a Schmeisser machine pistol. Any sign of disobedience would have had fatal consequences.

The refugee family from Carentan elect to walk south through the fields as Raoul's small farm cart cannot accommodate both families. Both groups bid farewell to each other and Raoul decides to head for his cousin's holding at 'Vassanville'.

The journey begins...

Regards,

Pat

 

To continue...

Raoul feels the irony of having to flee further behind the German lines, just as the Allied advance appears to be just a few miles away. Nevertheless, with a mother who was very sick, weeping bitter tears at the thought of having to leave her home and the servant girl lamenting the possibility of never seeing her own family again, Raoul had little choice but to comply with the German evacuation order.

Thanks to Bertrand Lemonnier's work on our FB page, we are now certain of the location described in the book as 'Vassanville' - Raffoville Farm. I am still not certain of the starting point - Raoul's own farmhouse near Meautis, but I am going to proceed on my original hunch that its the location marked with the easternmost of the two green circles on the IGN extract below:

​

The only location between the starting and ending points of the trip as stated in the account is the staggered crossroads La Croix Piquard. I am therefore going to proceed on the assumption that the route is first the short NW leg to the village, then Raoul turns onto the D443 and travels SW to the La Croix Piquard crossroads and from there turns once again southwestward on the D197 until he reaches the long Raffoville Farm avenue. If anyone can confirm or correct this route with local knowledge, I would be very appreciative.

Raoul's account of the journey begins:

So Raoul is hoping that the American advance will overtake the Raffoville Farm during the night and they would then be free to return home the next day, with the fighting having moved further south. Unfortunately, with the arrival of German reinforcements to the area, this was not to be the case for some time to come.

The barbarity of war was about to revealed to the occupants of the little farm cart.

This turn described I take to be at the intersection of the D443 at the SE end of the village of Meautis.

For obvious reasons I don't particularly want to dwell on the location where Hercules was shot, but if anyone has local knowledge and time on the ground, I would very much appreciate a photo of his gravestone, which I would like to publish here.

More follows...

Regards,

Pat

 

To continue...

I do want to put an effort into finding the location of Feodal's house. If I am following the route correctly, there appears to be a candidate on both digitised NCAP cover for June of 1944 and also on 1947 IGN cover, but first here is how I arrived at the possible location. Again, the assumption on my part is that the farm cart carrying the refugee party is heading in a southwesterly direction down the D443 towards the La Croix Piquard crossroads:

Feodal explains to Raoul that every half hour now, an American artillery battery fired on the La Croix Piquard crossroads - and a salvo was due imminently! Sure enough as the two men conferred by the fireplace, shells arrived over the house and landed three or four hundred meters further on at the crossroads.

Raoul told Feodal of Hercules' murder and urged him to leave the area also. Feodal replied that he would follow later and meet Raoul at Raffoville Farm. Raoul, using the half hour interval between the American salvos, presses on to the crossroads.

On the present day D443 above the La Croix Piquard crossroads, I can see no house which might match a distance of 300-400 meters. However, the extract below from IGN cover flown in 1947 does, I believe there is what we here in Ireland would term a 'cottage plot' (house with a small garden plot behind it) visible at about the right distance from the junction:

​

As can be seen from this Google Maps 'street view', no sign of the house remains today. Just my take on the location and I may well be on the wrong road completely. Again, anyone able to confirm or correct this location?

As the cart arrives at the La Croix Piquard crossroads, a scene of devastation greets the refugee party:

Local knowledge very much appreciated to confirm or correct my locations please.

Thanks,

Pat

 

To continue...

It would appear that there were already a large number of extended family members taking refuge at Raffoville Farm when Raoul and his group finally arrived. The location is described thus:

Below is the GE satellite view of Raffoville Farm:

​

The farm buildings at left top and bottom with the sky lights in the roofs are all post war, but look at how well the above description fits the view of the house, moats, courtyard and bridge on the right hand side of this view!

More follows.

Regards,

Pat

 

To continue...

Raoul's cousin, whom he names as 'Henriette Arnaud', having been recently widowed, runs the farm. Her daughters and grandchildren are already taking refuge from the fighting at the farm and although space is limited, Raoul's party are afforded a warm welcome and assigned a room on the first floor.

Henriette hopes to one day pass on the farm to her youngest son, Pierre who is also present.

While the peaceful corner beside the marshes seems an ideal location to let the war roll past them, Henriette confides in Raoul that she is worried for the safety of the family. German patrols do sometimes come as far as the farm and there is good reason to fear the presence of these troops.

A group of American stray paratroopers have taken refuge nearby and are being fed by Henriette and Pierre. The location of this group is described thus:

I would be pretty sure the location of this camp is the wooded area to the north of the farm, which I have marked 'Grove' on the IGN extract above and seen in this Google Maps satellite view. Anyone able to confirm or correct this location?

As to the identity of this group, I note with interest that Mark Bando in his book 'Vanguard of the Crusade' refers on page 124/125 to a group of H/501st troopers who were miss-dropped near Baupte.

Could this be the 'Reffoville Farm' group?

Their C-47 was trying to correct a navigation error when it began loosing altitude and crashed near 'Dead Mans Corner', killing the three members of the crew. All the troopers jumped to safety but it appears that the Lieutenant in charge was not exactly proactive in moving his men northwards to American lines, seeming more interested in making sure that the men were properly shaved on the morning of 7th June.

At this point Sergeant Norman N. Nelson took over command and moved the men from their initial landing location to, I am guessing from this quote of Mark's, the grove at Raffoville:

It is also stated by Mark in the same account that there were other miss-dropped men from 1/501st in the area, so it's difficult to draw a conclusion without knowing more on the identity of the 'Raffoville Farm'
group.

In his other book, '101st Airborne - The Screaming Eagles at Normandy', Mark adds to this misdropped account by stating on page 149 that:

We will meet one of these troopers shortly in Raoul's account.

Regards,

Pat

 

To continue...

In an attempt to calm his mother's worry at having the mis-dropped paratroopers sheltering in the nearby wood, Pierre suggested to Raoul that they should go to visit the Americans.

Having promised to bring more food to the group, Pierre and Raoul re-traced their steps back to the farmhouse. Raoul was informed by the young man that he estimated the group to number perhaps thirty - far too many to risk sheltering them at the farm.
As they arrived back at the farmhouse, they approached the property by means of a secluded corner used for the storage of seasonal farm machinery. A useful screen of nettles had grown up in this corner and shielded the two men's passage from the wood from view at the farmhouse. This was just as well, as when they came out into the courtyard, they discovered a German with a machine gun on his back looking at the ducks in the moat.

At the farmhouse door, the two men discovered Henriette in conversation with a German officer, accompanied by a number of other soldiers. They had a map opened and were asking Raoul's cousin for directions to a road which was poorly shown on the map. The author describes this road as:

I have been wondering about where this road might be and would hazard a guess that part of it is the raised pathway here, which only appears as a drain on present day IGN mapping - arrowed in red below:

​

Note that if this is the road, it would lead directly to the wood at the edge of the marsh! A further pointer to this being the route in question stems from this comment by Henriette to Raoul, once the Germans had departed:

Anyone with local knowledge able to confirm or correct the line of this old road?

Almost as soon as the Germans had departed, Feodal, the WWI veteran and friend of Raoul's father, arrived at Raffoville Farm to seek shelter.

While Pierre and Raoul had been visiting the Americans in the wood, the family had decided to dig a shelter away from the buildings in the event of bombardment. The three men now went to the nearest hedgerow to choose a good location for the shelter. The farm bull became curious and wandering towards the group of men in the field. Suddenly a shell impacts within meters and the three men are thrown to the ground by the impact. More shells follow and impact the field and trees on the hedgerow. One also hits a farm building. When they eventually recover and stand up to survey the damage, the bull is seen to go down on his knees and keel over with a bellow of pain. The animal is dead when they reach him.

The war has arrived at Raffoville Farm.

More follows,

Regards,

Pat

 

To continue...

That evening at supper, as the assembled refugees passed a shell fragment to each other around the kitchen table, they each suddenly realised that Raffoville Farm was no longer the safe haven they had hoped for when they first arrived.

As if fate was reading their minds, the following day at the same time, one of the refugees informed the others at the table that a number of trucks were pulling into the courtyard outside. They were not American trucks.

As the group watched from behind the curtains and half opened door, the Germans began searching the farm buildings, paying no initial attention to the farmhouse itself.

The Germans did not immediately enter the farmhouse and the refugees took the time to return to their respective rooms in order to give the fullest possible impression that the house was fully occupied and could take no more lodgers.

As darkness fell, American artillery rounds began to once more fall in the immediate vicinity of the farm, culminating with two rounds exploding in the courtyard. Raoul had also another worry on his mind:

The stray paratroopers are obviously anxious to move now that there are Germans close by at Raffoville Farm. I wonder does this latest bit of information help to identify this group of mis-dropped troopers? Anyone with extensive knowledge of stray troopers to the south of Carentan able to put forward any candidates?

During the night, using the excuse of the American shelling, the Germans make themselves at home in the farmhouse, relighting the fire and searching the pantry for food. All semblance of pre-invasion civility has gone.

Next morning, despite the hopes of all the refugees, the Germans had not departed. As the morning sun rose higher in the sky, Raoul observes the activity in the courtyard below the window of his room.

There then seems to follow an unspecified period of some days during which the Germans become more at home at the farm. The NCOs take it upon themselves to have their meals in the kitchen with the refugees. As time passed. the ordinary soldiers soon followed suit, forcing the French to take their meals in their rooms.

The Germans are described as a mixed group of artillery men, paratroopers and SS, all of which to some extent come to resent the presence of the refugees in the house. Tension builds.

More follows...

Regards,

Pat

 

A bit more...

A reference to the weather turning wet and cold might mean the period being described was around the 19th June, when the gale which destroyed the artificial harbour at Omaha Beach, first hit the Normandy coast.

The day before the change in weather however was also of note:

Anyone like to guess at this German officer's rank - or better still his name?

Thanks,

Pat

 

Hi Niels,

It seems to me that the description refers to young officers as in younger than him. I could be wrong, but my guess would be that he is more senior than a major. If this is correct, then it should be possible to come up with a short list of candidates.

Regards,

Pat

 

Thanks Niels,

The reason for the sudden departure of the officer is speculated upon by Raoul in the next passage:

The discovery of the camp and the food scraps was the excuse which the German NCO had been waiting for. In a rage, he confronts Henriette with the egg shells and bones and demands to know if she had been giving food to the enemy. Raoul wades in to defend his cousin and tries to fake complete ignorance of the camp.

Raoul had to think quickly in an attempt to defuse the situation which was rapidly getting out of control.

The lives of every French civilian at Raffoville Farm depended on the answer to this question.

More follows...

Regards,

Pat

 

A little more...

The vacant thatched cottage which saved the refugees - its tempting to wonder if the farmhouse and buildings across the field from Raffoville Farm, known as 'La Greslerie' might be the location for this building:

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​

However, a check on IGN cover flown in 1947 indicates no buildings whatsoever at this location. There is an indication though of a possible candidate to the NE, about where the multi-directional 'N' navigational button appears on the live Bing Maps above. My candidate for the wood where the stray paratroopers camp was appears at top left.

Anyone with local knowledge able to confirm a thatch roofed house at this location in 1944?

Thanks,

Pat

 

Hi Niels,

Great to get confirmation of the house location, which may well be the vacant thatched cottage described in the book. I am not sure if its the action Sean and yourself were researching, but I found this page on the 'Island Battle' fought by the 2nd Battalion, 329th Infantry, 83rd US Division on the 4th July. The movement arrow on the map therein clearly shows the action occurring in these very fields!

The battle date is also useful here as it must have been before then that the refugees, including Raoul and his family, were forced to leave Raffoville Farm. No date is given in the book for this departure and no mention is made of the battle.

The refugees at the farm become increasingly fearful of the German NCO and plans are made for Henriette's son Pierre to leave the following day to stay with relatives in a nearby village. Henriette fears that her son may be taken as a hostage. Her fears are well founded as the escalating situation at the farm now enters a new phase. The NCO orders all the refugees out of the house and has them locked in the various farm buildings for a number of hours. The reason for this action is not explained to the French, but becomes apparent when they are finally freed and allowed to return to their rooms in the farmhouse.

They find that all their possessions have been carefully searched and then replaced as found. This in turn sparks a fear among the refugees that evidence has been planted and the night is spent going through all possible hiding places looking for any incriminating signs of American cigarettes, food or weapons which might be 'found' in a search the following day.

Following a night of intense artillery bombardment, dawn broke to a scene of desolation at Raffoville Farm:

Apologies for the long extract, but it is one of the most poignant passages in the book and the prose is far better in its original form than any shorthand I could ever use to shorten it.

Feodal is known to have been shot as witnessed by a local man further along in the story, but I have not read the fate of Henriette's son, Pierre.

More follows...

Regards,

Pat

 

To continue...

The period between the day Pierre and Feodal were taken hostage and the day Raoul and the other refugees were finally forced to leave Raffoville Farm appears to be relatively short towards the end of June.

It is a foreboding time for the French as described by Raoul in this passage:

Fire eventually caught hold in the barn and farm outbuildings, threating to destroy the wagons which were the only means of transport for the refugees. Henriette, desperate for news of her son, and watching her home being slowly destroyed by shell fire, found some solace in prayer.

Increasing the strain still further, a soldier is sent to the refugee rooms during a rainy night. He is accompanied by Henriette and has orders to tell the people all must leave the house at once. The order has come from the tyrannical feldwebel whom they have titled the "SOB". The order was reversed only when Raoul and Henriette took it upon themselves to go and plead with the "commander", whom it appears is located in a nearby farmhouse. They are some way to the house when a soldier is sent to recall them with the news that they do not have to leave that night. They had called the feldwebel's bluff and won...for that night.

I wonder is this "commander" the same officer who came to Raffoville Farm and then hurried off again in such haste? He appears to have visited the farm from this passage further along when Raoul and Henriette do finally make the journey across the fields to his HQ to enquire about the two hostages, Pierre and Feodal:

The location of this HQ cannot be far from Raffoville Farm, and must be a large building with a courtyard. I wonder if a possible candidate might be 'Ferme des Ormeaux', which is a mere 1.5Km to the east. The Google Maps view here shows no enclosed courtyard, but an enclosed area may not be that which is described. Also, IIRC, this farmhouse was an objective of the 329th Infantry on the 4th July during the 'Island Battle'.

Anyone any thoughts?

Thanks,

Pat