First Meeting
written by: Ernie Stricsek
June 5, 1944, outskirts of St. Marie-Du-Mont, France
In the corner of their dining room, Gerard Bouchard sat huddled around a small wireless radio with his brother, Rene, and father, Charles, listening to jazz being broadcast by the BBC in London. Shutters drawn, blackout curtains drawn and clipped together with clothespins, the only light in the room came from the radio dial. The musical program ended, and the Bouchards leaned in closer to the radio.
A distinct voice floated over the airwaves now. A French-speaking host announced, “London calling with Frenchmen speaking to our countrymen, London calling with some messages for our friends.” From this point on, they would broadcast all messages in French.
After a brief pause, the voice recited a line from a poem by Paul Verlaine, “Wound my heart with a monotonous languor,” then repeated it.
The Bouchards sat bolt upright, emitted a collective gasp, and looked at each other’s faces with wide, anxious eyes. They leaned back over the radio as a series of other abstract messages poured from the wireless. “Molasses tomorrow will bring forth cognac,” announced the voice.
“My God!” exclaimed Gerard’s father.
The next radio message declared that “the dice are on the carpet.”
Charles sobbed, stood, and motioned for his sons to stand. Hugging and kissing them both, through his tears, he said, “France is about to be liberated. We have a long night ahead of us. Be quick, we have work to do.”
Messages were still being transmitted when Gerard turned off the radio and hid it away. They didn’t need to hear anything else. The ‘dice were on the carpet’ was their signal, which meant the Allied invasion of France would begin before dawn. The Bouchards’ role in this drama would be to disrupt communications by blowing up a line of telephone poles that linked the German army rear support depots to the defensive lines on the beaches at Normandy. Gerard and Rene followed their father to the root cellar. Charles pried the lid from a barrel and pulled out a canvas bag loaded with plastic explosives. He reached into the barrel twice more, handing a bag with fuses and wire to Gerard and one with the detonator to Rene. They slung the bags over their shoulders and set off for their targets.
Avoiding German patrols along the roads, the Bouchards followed obscure paths, leading them through orchards to a dense hedgerow. Pausing for a moment, Charles Bouchard looked back in the direction they came to make sure no one was following. The hedgerow ran roughly 100 yards where it stopped at the edge of a forest where they were to meet someone who would guide them to the targeted section of train tracks.
“We are not being followed,” Charles whispered to his sons, and led them off towards the tree line. After they moved about 50 yards, a light flashed on and off once from the woods at the end of the hedgerow. Gerard pulled a flashlight from his coat pocket and clicked it on and off twice. A single flash of light answered him from the woods. Charles said, “That’s our guide. Let’s go.”
When they reached the trees, Gerard was surprised to discover that their guide was a woman.
“My name is Margaux. Follow me. No talking,” was all she said.
In the darkness, it was impossible for Gerard to make out her features. Gerard didn’t recognize her voice, but she sounded young. About his age.
Margaux led them to a second team of Resistance fighters tasked with blowing up the rail bridge over the Merderet River, close to the telephone poles the Bouchards were to destroy. They carried weapons. There were German soldiers guarding the bridge. For the first time, Gerard noticed Margaux had a machine gun slung over her back. She turned to look at him. The clearing next to the railroad tracks was not as dark, and he immediately noticed how beautiful she was. Ringlets of dark hair curled from beneath her beret. He couldn’t tell if it was black or brown in this light. But there was no mistaking how blue her eyes were.
She smiled at him briefly, but then her features drew hard, her eyes flashed, and she snapped, “Close your mouth before a bug flies into it. We’ve got work to do.”
Gerard’s face felt red hot, and he hoped it was dark enough to hide his embarrassment.
The two teams reviewed the plan one more time. The bridge and telephone pole explosions had to occur at the same time. The Bouchards would set their charges first, allowing the other group time to approach and set their bridge charges. When the bridge team was ready, Margaux would jog back along the tracks and signal with a torch. Seeing her signal, Gerard would turn to his brother and father and signal his torch. After detonating the charges, the Resistance fighters would disappear into the darkness and make their way back to their homes. The groups separated.
It did not take long for the Bouchards to have their explosives in place. Gerard ran alongside the rail line towards the bridge. Ducking behind a utility box, he awaited the signal from Margaux. “Where was she?” he thought. “This is dragging on for too long!”
Shouts, German voices, from the bridge made his heart skip a beat. Gunshots now, more German voices yelling “Halt!” He could see tracer bullets searching through the trees. There were gun flashes from the woods. Someone was approaching fast along the rail line. He had no weapon to use if it were a German. It was Margaux! She signaled with her torch. Gerard turned and sent his signal. A stream of German machine gun fire spit down the tracks. He heard Margaux cry out in pain, saw her tumble down the rail embankment. At the same moment, the explosive charges detonated behind him and in front of toppling the telephone poles and collapsing the bridge into the river. In the light from the explosions, he saw Margaux lurch off into the woods. He stood to run after her, but there were Germans on this side of the river! They were walking in his direction with weapons at the ready. Upon spotting Gerard, they shouted, “Stop!” and started shooting without aim.
The burping of Margaux’s sub-machine gun from the woods to his left made the German soldiers scramble for cover. He sprinted towards where he had seen her muzzle flashes.
He stumbled over a branch and heard her call out “Here!” Discovering Margaux behind a fallen tree with a wound on her side, he bent to help her up. Throwing her over his shoulders, he lumbered off deeper into the woods. They could not outrun their pursuers. Margaux begged him to put her down. German soldiers tracking them from both sides of the river fired indiscriminately into the trees, the rounds striking very close to them.
Bursting from the woods, Gerard discovered the Merderet River flowing right in front of them. With little thought, he plunged into the water and began swimming along with the current, his arm around Margaux. Soldiers following on the other side of the river saw them and raised their weapons to fire. The sound of plane engines, hundreds of them, halted the German soldiers in their tracks. They now stood gaping up at the sky. Soon searchlights broke through the darkness, parachutes blossomed in the glare. The Germans sprinted back to the smoldering bridge.
Gerard floated onto a shoal. Catching his breath, he carried Margaux out of the river and set her down on its bank to examine her wound. From the darkness came whispered voices. Margaux let out a cry of pain.
A voice shouted from the darkness, “Throw down your weapons! Put up your hands!”
The voice from the woods was speaking English! Gerard called out, “I am French, I have a wounded friend.”
Three men, faces blackened with burnt cork, cautiously stepped from the woods. Gerard noticed their uniforms. Their left shoulder had a black patch with a white eagle stitched on it, and their right shoulder had an American flag.
Gerard cried out, “Americans! You’re Americans!”
Seeing the wounded Margaux, one of the Americans yelled, “Medic!”
***
L’Estaminet Hotel, Sainte Marie Du Mont, June 1994
From the kitchen entrance, Annette saw the host seat a couple at a table in her section. Both were strikingly attractive. The woman had black curly hair threaded with silver and her eyes were a deep blue. Gray streaks were also present in the man’s brown hair. His brown eyes sparkled above his broad smile. Annette thought they were about 60 years old.
After seating the couple, the host walked over to Annette and said, “A special couple for you, Annette, and a special evening. They’ve been celebrating their anniversary here long before I came to the L’Estaminet.”
Arriving at their table, she said, “Hello, my name is Annette, and I will be your server tonight. I understand you are celebrating a special event this evening?”
The woman answered, “Yes! My name’s Margaux and this is my husband, Gerard. It’s our 50th wedding anniversary.” Annette realized they were older than they looked.
“Oh, my! How delightful! Congratulations! Can I ask how the two of you met? I am always curious how people who have been together a long time met each other.”
With a twinkle in his eye and a wry smile on his face, Gerard looked at Margaux and replied, “Well, Annette, we met while swimming. It changed our lives forever. We had a blast.”
- First Meeting - September 1, 2024
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