Book contents
- The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy
- The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Introduction
- 1 Paratrooper
- 2 Overseas
- 3 Occupied France
- 4 Liberators and Friends
- 5 Days of Friendship, Hope, and Waiting
- 6 The Longest Day in Graignes
- 7 Escape, Exile, and Annihilation
- 8 Graignes in Historical Memory
- Afterword
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Unpublished Primary Sources
- Index
7 - Escape, Exile, and Annihilation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2022
- The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy
- The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Introduction
- 1 Paratrooper
- 2 Overseas
- 3 Occupied France
- 4 Liberators and Friends
- 5 Days of Friendship, Hope, and Waiting
- 6 The Longest Day in Graignes
- 7 Escape, Exile, and Annihilation
- 8 Graignes in Historical Memory
- Afterword
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Unpublished Primary Sources
- Index
Summary
“Escape, Exile, and Annihilation,” details how, between 12 and 16 June 1944, about 110 paratroopers, with the vital help of villagers, escaped Graignes and returned to combat in Normandy. Captain Brummitt and Lt. Francis Naughton led the main group to safety. The Rigault family saved the lives of twenty-one paratroopers, hiding them for three days in the family barn. The Rigault daughters, Odette and Marthe, were especially prominent in the rescue mission. The Germans punished the villagers by forcing them to abandon their village in the summer of 1944. The chapter speaks of the perilous journey that the villagers endured. Finally, the chapter explores the fate of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division in the summer of 1944. Allied forces destroyed the division, leaving only a handful of the German soldiers alive.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Lost Paratroopers of NormandyA Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village, pp. 163 - 187Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022