Posts Tagged noirmontier

The Island of Noirmontier

6 April 2011
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ILE DE NOIRMONTIER

Gégé’s parents had a house on the resort island of Noirmontier off the French coast near St. Naziere. The Germans had a submarine base there which was frequently bombed by the Allies.

Gégé could identify airplanes by the sound of their engines. British bombers had a lower tone than the German fighters. But the British Spitfire had a distinctive whine/whistle that she knew.

Gégé  and her sister swam the in surf in front of their house. Many boats had been hit in the area with sunken vessels and hulks floating all around. It was shocking for them to discover bodies floating up to the beaches. Some of the bodies appeared fresh but some were bloated. They would tell a soldier who would send people to gather up the latest corpse.

The Germans took over most of their house. It was a two story, stone structure with a balcony in front overlooking the beach and the Atlantic ocean.

Gege on Ile de Noirmontier

5 April 2011
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GÉGÉ ON NOIRMONTIER

Gégé’s family owned a house on the Île de Noirmontier in the Atlantic just off the coast of France near St. Nazaire where the Nazi submarine base was located.

She spent one summer there during the German occupation with her sister. She and her sister would often take a small canoe into the surf and out into the ocean in front of their house. (more…)