#ww2 france

[boredwritergirl]

Day 5 - The Starving Artist

The Starving Artist

Eloise always wanted to go to Paris, and she did. She had struggled, hitchhiking along the French countryside with little to no money until she finally got there. There was only one problem though; it’s 1944 and the Nazis still control the country.

Her once beautiful homeland was no longer this haven of artistic freedom she believed it to be. Eloise was 18 now, living on the city streets of a capital under occupation. Her once hip and trendy clothes, now dirty and rotting away as this homeless artist would earn little money and spend it all on bread and wine.

How she earned money was simple, She’d work for the revolutionaries. When she came to town, the Nazis burned her paintings, citing that she made people look “Too Jewish” and that her paintings had “Anti-Patriotic Ideas”. What a load! Eloise thought, This is my country, and paintings kicking out our invaders are patriotic!

She threw an empty wine bottle onto the ground next to her, shattering it into tiny pieces as she just sat there, scowling at it. Eloise stood up and wiped the shards of glass off her once bright red coat as if that’d make it any more clean.

As she walked down the city streets, she tilted her beret down, not wanting to make eye contact with the drunk Nazi soldiers just looking for a woman to harass. Far too many of them out this time of night. She huffed her coat around her to appear even more masculine as she slipped right into the dingey hospice clinic. 

Walking inside, she immediately ran into Céline, A nurse who was also a revolutionary. She’d look gorgeous if not for the miscellaneous bloodstains across her face. Her sharp, slender features were covered in a dirty and stained nurse’s garb. 

Céline had baggy, bloodshot eyes and a cigarette in her mouth. She was desensitized to the horrors of war and calmly blew a puff of smoke in Eloise’s face as she walked inside. “Took you long enough.”

Eloise grumbled, “The SS were giving me looks, I had to be careful.”

Céline scoffed, “Whatever, just take your usual spot. You know what to do.”

Eloise nodded, still clutching onto the briefcase she hitchhiked all the way to Paris with as she walked into the patient’s room in the corner of the building.

Inside the room was an unconscious old woman lying in her bed. To think, she might have been beautiful once. Another victim of the tyranny of the passage of time, among other tyranny’s. 

Eloise sat down on a stool beside the bed, immediately opening up her briefcase and taking out some pencils and paper to sketch her out. She studied every contour of the wrinkled old woman, her frumpy body, her pale hair and even paler skin. She spent an hour sketching every little detail about the woman in the bed, thinking to herself, Can I even paint the horrors of war anymore? Will anyone even feel the pain and disgust of seeing someone in this shape? I bet some of those monsters would think it’s beautiful, the worst of the bunch even getting off to it.

Céline briefly walked into the room, handing Eloise a note, staring dead into her eyes. 

Elosie nodded without a word, showing Céline that she understands. After all, she’s done this many times before. She does her art at the clinic, receives a note from Céline, hides it in an empty wine bottle and leaves it at a designated drop zone for another resistance member. It was a lot of planning and hassle to move information around without the Nazis knowing, but it was what they had to do.

As Eloise took the note, Céline left the room, her footsteps drowned out by the sounds of the busy hospice care.

But then, the old woman started to grumble, her eyes slowly opening halfway. “Where… Where is Antoine?”

Elosie looked shocked, caught off guard by the elder. “I’m sorry, who are you talking about?”

The elderly woman groaned, “My son, Antoine. He was stationed at Verdun, he’s supposed to visit me.”

Eloise took a moment to process what she had just said. Verdun? No soldier has been to the front in years. Does… Does she not remember? “Are you sure? He’s probably not there.”

The elder smiled, “Oh good, He must be on his way here. He must want a break from fighting those Germans all day.”

Eloise pretended to smile, trying to maintain it. Oh fuck, she doesn’t remember. Should I tell her? She seems so full of hope. She doesn’t remember the occupation, she might not even be remembering the right war, but… she’s so happy. I don’t know what’s more sad, her losing years and years of memories, or me being jealous of her.

[historyherstory]

Chapter Five Notes

Now-familiar D-day sources remain present (Dick Winters’ books are basically the gold standard for dates and troop movement/engagement, which along with Ambrose & the regimental unit study continues to contribute to most of the specific framework of timing). 

What this chapter brings up in a way that is narratively, important (but somewhat understated in conversation - many of these points come back later, so.) is the discussion of wartime France.

A few notes: This was my primary source to learn about rationing in France during WW2. A few key takeaways: Even if you were eligible for ration tickets, that didn’t guarantee you’d get the allotted quantity, and the very highest caloric intake possible was right around 1,200 cal/day which is generally not going to be enough to sustain working/physical adults (which in wartime France, seemed to basically be a majority of the adult population).

Food scarcity was less a problem in the countryside where produce and livestock were individually owned, but they had more difficulty accessing the manufactured products (boots, coats, et cetera) that were far more common in the cities. Subsequently, the black market thrived. 

Reading about la Milice (wiki is a good place to start) was pretty eye opening. For the sake of my story, not especially relevant (as they operated more in conjunction with the Vichy government in the south of France) but it brought up the interesting point that to the French Resistance, they considered the Milice more of a threat rather than the SS or Gestapo as it was the local Frenchmen of the Milice that would be more able to identify fake stories, inauthentic accents, and the like. 

The STO (Service du Travail Obligatoire) is frequently written about as a huge point of contention for the French (and in some instances, even presented as a bit of ‘the straw that breaks the camel’s back,’ so to speak). The invasion and the occupation of France were atrocities, but it was Germany passing these compulsory work edicts (which shipped able bodied young people to Germany) was a point of no return. Nazi Germany promised to return one French prisoner of war (captured military man) for every 3 French citizens who enlisted in the STO. When they didn’t have as many volunteers as they needed, the program escalated into compulsory work (men aged 18-50 and single women 21-35).

Shockingly (surprised pikachu face here..) these were staggeringly unpopular. It’s estimated that the STO edict led to approximately 200,000 people going undercover to evade service (and a whole 1/4th of those ultimately joining some form of resistance to the German occupation). 

Very much a “you made your bed, now you have to sleep in it” moment. 

A hat-tip again to the French Resistance here: The diversity of individuals involved really cannot be overstated. On a personal level, I have always found the stories of the young women, and the students, particularly compelling. Organizing and printing resistance newspapers, smuggling information, smuggling weapons, spying on occupying Germans or the Vichy government, performing acts of domestic terrorism to disrupt the Vichy and/or the Germans - the tenacity of the Resistance has always been compelling. If you’re interested, I’d recommend Sisters in the Resistance as a book that delves more deeply into women in the French Resistance.

All references for His·Story: History, hiding hers, chapter 5.

[theworldatwar]

A US soldier gratefully accepts a glass of wine from a French civilian - Cherbourg, 27th June 1944

[cid5]

Gls advance beneath railroad underpass east of Vellerdingen as fighting continues in France, December 5, 1944.

[ridenwithbiden]

[dontirrigateme]

US soldiers from the 2nd armored division find a piano in the street after arriving in Normandy on 10 August 1944.

Image from Wikipedia

[goldenstarprincesses]

*modern trench warfare being used for the first time in a major conflict during the American civil war*

*trench warfare leaving mental scars on Alfred that takes years of healing to move past*

Alfred showing up to Europe and seeing they somehow made trench warfare worse

[enriquemzn262]

[worldhistorian1845]

Countries with the Most WW2 Aircraft

United States | Total: 324,750 Aircraft

USSR | Total: 157,261 Aircraft

United Kingdom | Total: 131,549 Aircraft

Germany | Total: 119,371

Japan | Total: 76,320 Aircraft

Italy | Total: 11,112 Aircraft

France | 5,276 Aircraft

[onefootin1941]

An American soldier leans over the side of an army truck as he kisses a French woman on a bicycle during the liberation of Paris, 25 August 1944.

[lonestarbattleship]

USS AUGUSTA (CA-31) off Normandy, while boats from USS ANNE ARUNDEL (AP-76) head for the beaches.

Note: the photo has been retouched AUGUSTA's radars, as well as certain items of equipment that appear to have been mounted in the landing boats.

-Information from Navsource: link

Date: June 6, 1944

NARA: 80-G-45720

[bantarleton]

First World War Jewish veterans from the French Army volunteering once again in 1939.

[love-pinups]

Frances Rafferty

[theworldatwar]

US soldiers talk to a young girl in Cerisy-la-salle, France - July 25, 1944

[cid5]

G.I.’s from (possibly) the 1st Btn, 314th Inf. Rgt. of the US 79th Inf. Div., during an attack on the Bolleville road, just north west of La Haye-du-Puits in Normandy.

[dronescapesvideos]

Heinkel He 111H-2 transported through the town of Roye, France. November 1939. It was intercepted by two Hurricanes of 87 Sqn RAF and shot down by Flt Lt Robert Voase Jeff. It was the first recorded victory for the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force. For his actions, Jeff was awarded the Croix de Guerre and became "the first British officer to receive a French award in the present war." Badly damaged, the Heinkel belly landed at the place called "La Longue Croix", at Staple near Hazebrouck. A wing of the plane struck an electric pylon, while the landing gear broke against a hedge near a small stream. Two French civilians, Jean Ellebout and Eugen Vantours, were the first to reach the bomber. Two of the crew had been seriously wounded. The two others were trying to burn documents and were arrested. Both wounded were brought to Cassel, one later dying of his wounds. The three survivors (including the other wounded) were captured by the French.

➤HD IMAGE: https://dronescapes.video/He-111