Liberation by Virgil R. Marco Sr., 366BS Tail Gunner, 305BG
Bill Bergman dressed, packed his few possessions, told everyone good-by and left for Paris. Gene and I borrowed Genevieve and Denise's bicycles and peddled to the main street where the long convoy of American troops was traveling through Chauny. When we arrived, we could see the trucks loaded with American soldiers stopping for a few minutes and then starting forward like an accordion. Gene and I joined the people crowded along the street. We were not greeting them in French but in English. We yelled at the passing trucks, "Give 'em Hell Yanks-Give ‘em hell". After the convoy stopped for a few minutes, our greeting brought this reply. "Where did you Frenchies learn to speak English like that?" We replied, "Oh we picked it up in the states". We then proceeded to inform them that we had been shot down and had been hiding in Chauny. Another soldier on the truck commented, "We have some extra rifles and room for two more". This brought a reply of, "No thanks". Shortly after this conversation we saw a jeep with a Captain in it approaching and we stopped him, identifying ourselves as missing airmen. We inquired how to get back to the 305th Bomb Group in England. While we were talking a M.P. Colonel stopped his jeep and began lecturing the Captain about stopping and blocking part of the road. The Captain invited us in his jeep along with our bicycles. He then drove us back to the quartermaster trucks in the convoy. While making this trip, he told us that it was not safe to travel on the road to Paris because of the German soldiers that had been bypassed and were hiding in the wooded areas. He suggested that we stay in Chauny a few more days before attempting to hitch hike a ride to Paris. He also said the Army Air Force had occupied the Paris Airport where we should report for transportation back to England. When we arrived at the quartermaster unit, we were given a field jacket, underwear, socks and a pair of shoes for myself. We thanked the Captain for the GI (government Issued) clothes, took our bicycles off the jeep and peddled back to town where we joined a crowd gathered in front of the City Hall. The military band began to play the French and the American National Anthems proceeded by In the crowd that gathered in front of the City Hall we found the Tavernier family, Alfred, Marcelle and their daughters, Denise and Genevieve. They were talking to a friend. They introduced us to their friend and in turn he introduced us to a tall young man with him. Much to our surprise the young man was the P-38 pilot who had been shot down near Chauny, August 22. The Tavernier family friend had been hiding him. We informed the P-38 pilot that we had witnessed his aerial battle that day when we had counted seven ME-109s and one P-38 destroyed. The one P-38 must have been his plane. After the ceremonies the pilot thanked the old Frenchman who had a few tears in his eyes and said good-by. We gave the pilot the information given us about the possible danger between Chauny and Paris. We also informed him that he could find transportation back to England at the Paris Airport. When riding our bicycles about the city, we observed street fighting, Frenchmen beating up Frenchmen. We saw women being assaulted and having their hair shaved off. We were told that they had fraternized with the Germans. This violence began to become as noticeable as the celebrations everywhere. This prompted us to return to the Tavernier home with great speed. That evening, the two American soldiers arrived at the Tavernier home where Mr. Tavernier gave them several bottles of wine. We introduced them to the family before driving in their jeep to the bivouac area. We had an unusually good Army meal. The homemade rolls were delicious. The mess sergeant gave us a "Life" magazine, which I brought back with me. Genevieve was very impressed with the food advertisements. She said America must be paradise. The next morning we bid the Taverniers good-by. The departure was as sad for the Taverniers as for us. We thanked them for all their hospitality and they wished us well on our trip to Paris and back to the 305th Bomb Group.
The Celebration in Chauny 2nd September 1944
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© Copyright Virgil R. Marco, Sr. All rights reserved. |
During the night of September 1, 1944, Gene Snodgrass, Bill Bergman and my self heard explosions and saw lights flickering on the horizon as if a storm was brewing when in reality it was American mortars and artillery being fired at the enemy. They seemed to be closer than ever now. Would Chauny, France be another battlefield as it had been during World War I when it was turned to rubble? The noise of the enemy trucks and horse drawn wagons were retreating through Chauny toward Belgium most of the night.
The next morning was Saturday, September 2, 1944, a day I will always remember. Genevieve Tavernier knocked loudly on the door and at the same time said, "Wake up, the American soldiers are here". I jumped out of bed, dressed in record time. There is no way I can express the joy felt in receiving this news. The daily fear of being caught and the resulting consequences were now over and Chauny was not going to be a battlefield in this war, thanks to the American 28th Infantry Division who had arrived, giving Chauny back to France.
speeches by the military and civilians. I was very sorry to learn in my research that the 28th Infantry Division suffered greatly during the Battle of the Bulge. They received many casualties and many became POWs.
The next morning Gene and I walked to town where we found it had returned to normal again. American soldiers were scattered about the city. A new sound of U.S. Army trucks, jeeps and other military vehicles was heard as the heavy traffic passed through Chauny. Gene and I walked to the business section where we noticed two American soldiers dressed in their battle fatigues; each sitting on the ground very relaxed smoking a freshly lit cigarette. We approached them and stopped short of where they were sitting. Gene started speaking to me using the French words he had learned and I spoke back using the same words. We never learned to speak French, only a few words and phrases. The two GIs gave us a very strange stare as we were wearing the Army field jackets given us by the Captain along with our civilian clothes. In a louder tone of voice I spoke to Gene in English, "I bet those GIs are wondering where we got these field jackets". The look on their faces was one of complete surprise. We laughed and then told them who we were and why we were in civilian clothes. We talked for a while and during the conversation the GIs invited us to have supper with their unit that evening. We then walked to the train station and viewed the massive destruction. Huge bomb craters with twisted rail lines were scattered all about the large marshaling yards. The homes near the station had been destroyed or badly damaged. We wondered how much of this destruction was caused when the ammunition train blew up during the August 8th air raid.
