Day 126 - My Dad's 17th Birthday - May 10, 1940!

Blitzkrieg in the west

Friday, May 10, 1940 www.onwar.com

On the Western Front... The Germans launch Operation Gelb, the offensive in the west. Army Group C (Leeb) holds the German frontier opposite the French Maginot Line while Army Group A (Rundstedt) makes the main attack through the Ardennes and Army Group B (Bock) makes a secondary advance through Belgium and Holland to draw the main British and French forces north. During the day, Army Group A strikes, with three armored corps in the lead, heading for Sedan, Montherme and Dinant. The advance is rapid and the little opposition, mostly French cavalry, is thrown aside. To the north, Army Group B carries out parachute landings deep inside Holland which do much to paralyze Dutch resistance, while German units cross the Maas River near Arnhem and the Belgian fort at Eben Emael is put out of action by a German airborne force which lands its gliders literally on top of it. The fort is meant to cover the crossings of the Albert Canal nearby and this is not achieved. The Luftwaffe gives powerful support. At the end of the day the German advance has gone almost exactly according to plan. Meanwhile, the Allied Plan D provides for the French 1st Army Group ( General Billotte), consisting of the British Expeditionary Force ( General Lord Gort) and the French 7th Army (General Giraud) to advance to the line of the Dyle River and the Meuse River above Namur, to be joined there by the Belgian forces and on the left to link with the Dutch. General Gamelin is the Allied Supreme Commander and General Georges commands the armies on the French Northeast Front. The Allies react quickly to the German attacks as soon as they hear of them from the Belgians. By the evening much of the Dyle line has been occupied but the troops find that there are no fortifications to compare with the positions they have prepared along the Franco-Belgian frontier during the Phony War period. Some of the reserve is therefore committed to strengthen the line. Some of the advance forces of French 7th Army make contact with the Germans in southern Holland and are roughly handled. In Britain...Churchill visits the King and officially takes office as prime minister. In Norway... British forces are sent south from Harstad to Mo-i-Rana to join the small units trying to delay the German advance to relieve the Narvik force. Some of these units are now engaged at Mosjoen. In Iceland... British troops land on the island. They are the advance elements of a force which is to set up a destroyer and scout-plane base to help in the convoy battles in the Atlantic. Equally, they will prevent the Germans using the island to aid their U-boat campaign. See my dad's story beginning Day 1 of this blog!

Day 125 - Left in the Dark, May 10, 1940 - Belgium!

"In May 1940, Dunkirk, the biggest Churchill defeat of the lot....Letters between Churchill and the French Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, revealed the ugly truth that Churchill, himself, gave the secret order to Lord Gort, the British General in command of the British expeditionary force at Dunkirk, "Withdraw, fall back," or as Churchill put it, "Advance to the coast." That was Churchill's wording. "And you are forbidden to tell any of your neighboring allies that you are pulling out. The French and the Belgians were left in the dark that we were pulling out."

I just found the above information on the Internet.  Churchill's decision had a big impact on my family in Belgium fThe most profound thing I have learned from my Dad's memoir and subsequent readings is that life is very random!

From May 10, 1940 onwards my dad, his family and the Belgian and French people were left very much in the dark and initially had to rely to a great extent on their own resourcefulness to survive what they were confronted with as events continued to unfold ...........

Day 124 - Belgian Buchenwald Survivor!

Have just got back from a trip to Europe to visit my mother!  I was able to read a family tree book that she has in  her possession.  My maternal grandfather's family also came from Belgium and settled in London during World War One as refugees.  Yes, my mum and dad are related, which is something I had a bit of trouble coming to terms with until recent times! 

My grandfather on my Mum's side and my Dad's side were both Flemish!  The family tree book traces their common ancestors back to one man from Bruge, now Belgium, mid 1500's, who had four children.  Surreal to see photos of my ancestors staring out at me through the generations! 

I am not sure how this blog is going to continue and what form it is going to take - I will think about that later.  I am still jet lagged and consequently not thinking very clearly.

During my trip,  I visited Spain, France and Italy and was very close to Morroco.  I had time to reflect on some of the experiences my Dad mentioned about Morroco and World War II.  

I was very pleased to see a monument in the harbour at Ajaccio!, Corsica, dedicated to, Resistance Fighters from WWII.  I took some pictures - my dad would have liked that!!! I also visited Rome and Tuscany which included Florence and Pisa in Italy - loved that too!

I feel I should mention my maternal grandmother and her family as they also have had a great and interesting background.  The family tree book describes my maternal grandmother as a "cockney" - she was brought up in London, England - all her family and remaining family were can be very Londonish!!

My maternal grandmother spent a lot of her youth round and about The British Museum and The Strand in central London.  In an article in the, London, "Sunday Times",  my uncle described his mother as a feisty lady - she was alive at the time and took offence to that description!!! 

It is very interesting through reading the family tree to learn about  ancestors from the past.  It would appear that some family patterns and (dare I say, idiosyncracies)  and characteristics have coincidentally!!!???? manifested themselves again and again in future generations, Surreal!!!!!!!!!!!

For new readers this blog starts at Day 1 and is the story of my dad's war experiences during World War II from a Belgian POW's perspective. 

Coindidentally, I met someone yesterday, who mentioned to me that he has never come across anybody who had a family member  who survived a German concentration camp experience and was not Jewish - he is 70 years old!

Day 123 - I have fixed the blog as sometimes it is not visible!

I apologize - sometimes this blog is or has been blanked out in white.  I have fixed it now - there seems to a bug in the system!

For anybody new,  Day 1 - Day 123 are blogs of my Dad's memoir.  Day 1 is the beginning of his story.  The blog is mostly about his experiences in the Second World War as a Belgian political prisoner in France, Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.  

Day 122- Finally settling down!

"My fiancee and soul mate now asked me to come and get married in England.  I was 25 years old!  On an earlier occasion,  with a ring I had purchased in Antwerp with my first month's wages, I had made a quick dash to England with an engagement ring - I was 25 years old! 


For our wedding day in England, the hall was booked, the guests invited and the cake brought over from South Africa - things still being short in England!


At the time, Belgium being slow with permissions due to Napoleonic Laws we had to post a notice in the town hall in Ostend, Belgium.  We also had to obtain special permission to get married.


In addition, we went to Church House, Borough of Westminster, London, England, where I swore on the bible and became an accepted Anglican.


My career in the Navy was over and I could now look forward to a shore life with all the responsibilities of a large family.  I ended up with four lovely girls and a boy.............................


Will be continuing this blog with my Dad's manuscript about our his adventures in South Africa and Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)!

Day 121 - Casablanca and American ciggaretes!

"When we arrived in Casablanca there seemed to be a curfew going on and some trouble.  I had not time to wait for the Pursor to get an advance on my salary. So, I borrowed loose change from my dear friends and also tucked a couple of  packages of American cigarettes under the collar of a raincoat which I then put over my arm.   At that time, American cigarettes were still the best collateral!

Morroco was a protectorate of France and the cigarettes and raincoat as well as my Belgian passport worked well!   Anyway,  I made for Irene's address - not before getting some flowers, which to my surprise had used up all my change when I asked the price, so I threw the bunch back to the Arab vendors and made a run for it taking no notice of the screaming sellers.

Arriving at the house, I was told that Irene was at the cinema, so I bought my way into the show using a pack of cigarettes and with the aid of an usher found her.  Her welcome was warm and hospitable and I told her I was engaged.  She said that I should name my first daughter Irene - my second daughter was eventually so called!  I cannot remember the names of her children!.

The last thing I remember looking at, before leaving Casablanca, was the Casbah.  Lots of men were walking around there hand in hand, which Irene said was quite usual.  She also warned me to watch out for sexually transmitted diseases. 

Soon after we left  we heard that the Atlantic plateau between Safi and Agadir had moved upwards and had caused an earthquake that killed at least two thousand people.  It was a good thing we were away from there at that moment!  After that I never heard from my family in Morroco again.

On our return trip, Roger and I made it back to Ostend.  We later got taken on for the cargo boats by; Maritime Belge in Antwerp.  They respectively sent us off to Angola and the Congo.  I was assigned to Lobito and Roger to Matadi in the Congo stream - a climate Roger could not tolerate.

After that trip, he got married and forever stayed ashore.  For me, it was only the start, the sea was good to me, good money, a home and an appetite like a horse".

To be continued ...

Day 120 - Ports of call Lisbon and Casablanca!

"The ship was waiting and we sprang aboard ready to sail.  Later, my cousin Irene had undertaken the 200 km. trip to meet me.  Unfortunately, she didn't reach Safi before we sailed again and were gone with wind!  The "Gella" now took us north.  On the next voyage we were scheduled to stop in Casablanca so I wrote to my cousin Irene and told her the news. 

We arrived back safely in Ghent with the boat was on a bit of a tipping angle as the load had moved to one side on the high seas.  We had a bit of mutiny going on - the daily meal was always mutton and nothing but mutton every day!  So, we circled around from the kitchen, in indian file, and went bleating to the Captain until we got his promise of a change in our diet.  We went out in Ghent and had a very good time and then went home.

Before our return trip we tried out the lifeboats  - that was a bit of a trial.  Some were leaking, others were lacking plugs and some of the pumps were not working.  In the Gulf of Biscay we floated around without power until John took action.  He had to swim down and under in the engine room to open valves and release the water that had come in to the boat.  He had to keep releasing water until everything was working properly again.

On the next voyage we first went to Lisbon - we had a better time than on our previous time and this time visited the fairgrounds and The Alexander Bar.  Our biggest difficulty proved to be finding our way around town.  The Portuguese woman were very inhibited but we got to the bar eventually and had a good time.  Lisbon looked pretty new and different to us - they now had a lift tram climbing up the side of the cliffs.

Alongside the big seafarers statue we boarded the old "Gella"and again sailed the north coast making for Casablanca but this time we left early in the morning!

To be continued ...