Rue St. Michel, Lonlay l'Abbaye, August 1944
Rue St. Michel, Lonlay l'Abbaye, August 2015
The photos above were taken at approximately the same spot in the village of Lonlay l'Abbaye, but seventy-one years apart. I took the color shot as I wandered, punchdrunk with jet lag, on my first day in Lonlay l'Abbaye. I had just arrived a few minutes before - concluding a four hour drive from Charles de Gaulle airport, on the heels of a long flight to Paris from Los Angeles. It would be months before I would see that World War II photo of American soldiers on this very same street. But I feel as if they were with me from the very first day.
Before I talked to a living soul, I felt welcomed and at home in this village - and as if someone was looking after me here. In fact, it was partly the experiences of two other American soldiers from WW II that led me to believe that Lonlay l'Abbaye was exactly the right place to buy a French house.
Before I talked to a living soul, I felt welcomed and at home in this village - and as if someone was looking after me here. In fact, it was partly the experiences of two other American soldiers from WW II that led me to believe that Lonlay l'Abbaye was exactly the right place to buy a French house.
Just about two years ago, in early April of 2014, as soon as I had spotted the listing of this house in Lonlay l'Abbaye, I started looking up information about the town on the internet. A mysterious pdf file came up under this url: https://nara-media-001.s3.amazonaws.com/arcmedia/nw/305270/EE-891.pdf. Someone had copied a previously classified report from World War II, written by Sgt. Joseph Porter and Lt. "Duffy" Kalbfleisch.
Why was this previously secret WW II report coming up in a search for Lonlay l'Abbaye? I was intrigued and read it all. It seems that Sgt. Porter and Lt. Kalbfleisch had survived the crash of their aircraft which was shot down near midnight in an area not too far from Lonlay l'Abbaye. The whole area was controlled by Germans at the time. It was the 5th of April, 1944. Sgt. Joe Porter was 28 years old. Lt. Kalbfleisch was only 24. After hiding separately, they were each helped by some courageous French people who later brought them together again.
For weeks, they sheltered at different places, and were introduced to a variety of persons. It was hard for them to know who to trust. One lady in Beauchêne let them sleep in her chicken coop to hide from the Gestapo, and fed them well during the day. Then they were on the move again.
At one point, two men from Lonlay l'Abbaye, Alexander Gueston and Rene Leray, bravely led the two soldiers with a group of French citizens who were also evading the Germans. Sgt. Porter was helping to carry a baby. Germans were approaching, so they had to hide. Sgt. Porter hid in a ditch under a bush near the road with the baby. Had the baby cried, that would have meant discovery and perhaps imminent death. You can read the relief in the report as Kalbfleisch writes "the baby never made a whimper."
For weeks, they sheltered at different places, and were introduced to a variety of persons. It was hard for them to know who to trust. One lady in Beauchêne let them sleep in her chicken coop to hide from the Gestapo, and fed them well during the day. Then they were on the move again.
At one point, two men from Lonlay l'Abbaye, Alexander Gueston and Rene Leray, bravely led the two soldiers with a group of French citizens who were also evading the Germans. Sgt. Porter was helping to carry a baby. Germans were approaching, so they had to hide. Sgt. Porter hid in a ditch under a bush near the road with the baby. Had the baby cried, that would have meant discovery and perhaps imminent death. You can read the relief in the report as Kalbfleisch writes "the baby never made a whimper."
There was a happy ending for both Lt. Kalbfleisch and Sgt. Porter. They were reunited with American troops and returned to England, and then to the States. From what little I could glean from searching their names, they each lived long and productive lives after the war. Porter was a photographer who worked as a consultant for the 1962 D-Day movie "The Longest Day", and Kalbfleisch became an inventor of some note. I feel privileged to have been able to read their war reports.
Someday perhaps I or my family members will encounter the descendants of Alexander Gueston and Rene Leray, the men of Lonlay l'Abbaye who aided these Americans so long ago. Or meet someone related to Yvette Dubocq, the educated woman from Beauchêne, who hid them from the Gestapo. I am glad to know their stories. The bond between the French and the Americans is one we cherish, and for good reason.
"The wrong of unshapely things is a wrong too great to be told;
I hunger to build them anew and sit on a green knoll apart,
With the earth and the sky and the water, re-made, like a casket of gold
For my dreams of your image that blossoms a rose in the deeps of my heart."
W.B. Yeats
Someday perhaps I or my family members will encounter the descendants of Alexander Gueston and Rene Leray, the men of Lonlay l'Abbaye who aided these Americans so long ago. Or meet someone related to Yvette Dubocq, the educated woman from Beauchêne, who hid them from the Gestapo. I am glad to know their stories. The bond between the French and the Americans is one we cherish, and for good reason.
"The wrong of unshapely things is a wrong too great to be told;
I hunger to build them anew and sit on a green knoll apart,
With the earth and the sky and the water, re-made, like a casket of gold
For my dreams of your image that blossoms a rose in the deeps of my heart."
W.B. Yeats
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