Tuesday, August 18, 2009

We Remember a Fallen Hero

Near the little town of Alet-les-Bains is a gravesite. It sits hard along side the road, and there is almost no place to park to investigate the grave. We went over to see it today because I had read something referring to it on another website. Yesterday, August 17th marked the 65th anniversary on one Paul F. Swank. He was an American, a First Lieutenant in the US Army in 1944.

The Allies had invaded southern France on August 15, 1944 for a number of reasons, but they are complicated and I will not try to explain them here.

Lieutenant Swank was part of a small party parachuted into the area as the Germans retreated. The Germans had invaded Vichy France shortly after the D-Day landings. According to local legend, Swank and his co-Lieutenant had planned an ambush along the road in this narrow river canyon, intending to block the German retreat and attack the convoy. The Germans, expecting an attack, and being the ruthless bastards they were, took hostages from the nearby town of Couiza, (citizens who volunteered under pressure knowing they would probably die, and if they didn’t volunteer knew the entire village would die) and strapped them to the roofs of their vehicles, intending to frustrate or stop an ambush. Rightly undeterred, Swank descended to the level of the road and attacked from there, hoping to kill Germans not hostages but exposing himself and losing his life in the process. Reportedly, Lieutenant Swank had said he wanted to be buried where he died, wherever that happened to be.

He was buried nearby but the US Army insisted on bringing the body home, as is the custom in most cases. The family later disinterred Swank from his resting place in the States and re-interred him in Alet-les-Bains.

The entire story and the report on the mission in which Swank lost his life can be found at this website. http://www.languedoc-france.info/1016_ww2.htm

I recommend you go there and learn all about Swank and his mission. Please scroll down or read as far as "Operation Peg" for a history of the mission itself.


There are slightly different translations between the French and English versions on the marble plaque. Below are the texts on the opposite sides of the monument:
HERE FELL FOR THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM AND LIBERTY
LIEUTENANT PAUL SWANK ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES
AUGUST 17 1944
AND LIES HERE ACCORDING TO HIS OWN WILL
ICI EST TOMBE GLORIEUSEMENT POUR LA LIBERATION DE LA FRANCE
LE LIEUTENANT AMERICAN PAUL SWANK
17 AOUT 1944
ET Y REPOSE SELON SA VOLUNTE

During the battle, two French Resistance died and they are remembered every year along with Paul Swank. UPDATED: the two French Resistance were from the Maquis groups Jean Robert and Faita. You can read about them on the above referenced web page.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Doug - Don't you hate folks who follow links and read 'em? Turns out according to your link tht both Jean Robert and Faita were guillotined in Nimes in April '43 as traitors. Two Maquis (bands of resisters in the area) took on the names of the two men (one became Maquis Jean Robert and one became Maquis Faita) in tribute. Prior to taking the names they were know only as Maquis #XXX. Only the American is buried here. Surviving members of the resistance group (or their families) leave the flowers for Paul Swank.

Terry (research!)

Anonymous said...

Doug, I am fascinated, as I think you are, by the Maquis and their activity in the South of France. There are many monuments in the area of Vaison la Romaine to the fallen Maquis. I bought a book for the house in Vaison about the town of Le Crestet. The book describes with drawings and hand lettered text the history of the town going back to the Greeks and Romans. My favorite part is about the years during WWII and the Maquis, there we could find the history to the monuments we were seeing along the roadsides. One statistic I remember about Holland during the war was that only 5% were active in the resistance. I wonder what the number was for the south of France? Leslie

Anonymous said...

I love history and I so appreciate how you help keep it alive for me...at least in the environs of southern France! I really enjoy your "looks back in time". Thanks!

Luke