A French Memorial to 5 US Airmen who Died in WWII in Plan de Dieu While Attacking Nearby German Airfields

We were invited to dine with Paul and Francoise Roumanille "chez Bruno" in Sablet on a recent Friday. As I told you in this post, Paul and Francoise and their parents before them have been making wine in Sablet since 1939. 

We got to talking during our lunch of traditional Aioli a la Morue, about what life was like for their families during WWII. Paul mentioned that there is a memorial to US airmen in Plan de Dieu, a large area planted in vineyards 11 km west of Sablet. Plan de Dieu translates to "God's Plain."

There are around 2620 acres planted in vineyards at an altitude of 100 meters within the Plan de Dieu AOC. Rather than one named village, the area includes the territories of Camaret-sur-Aigues, Jonquieres, Violes and Travaillan. A few patches of woodlands dot the expanse of vines.

Soil is mainly red clay packed with rounded cobblestones. There is not a lot of soil matter, so yields are modest, barely enough to produce one bottle of wine per plant. The wines are all red, made from the Cotes-du-Rhone's 3 leading grape varieties, Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre. 

The next day, Saturday, we went out to find this war memorial to US airmen. We see war memorials in almost every village in Provence dedicated to the children of the town who died serving their country in WWI or WWII. We have never seen a war memorial to US military personnel other than near where troops landed on D-Day in Normandy. 

Paul said the memorial was on the road to Cameret-sur-Aigues just beyond the turnoff to Cairanne. Sure enough, as we were driving on the D23 toward Camaret-sur-Aigues, we came to a small road going off to the right with a small white sign "war memorial".

War memorial to US airmen who died in Plan de Dieu

There is not a lot of information at the memorial or on the internet about the events that occurred over the Plan de Dieu that inspired locals to build this memorial.

You can see the vast plain of vineyards to the west of the war memorial

At first glance, the site is unremarkable. Set in the middle of a vast plain of vineyards, the simple stone monument is set just off the side of a one-way dirt road. 

The memorial is festooned with flowers and red, white and blue ribbons

I found that on Saturday, April 16, 2005, approximately 200 French men and women along with French and American military representatives gathered during an icy spring rainy day to dedicate the new memorial to the five P-38 Lightning pilots who died while attacking nearby airfields.

2005 was the 60th anniversary of the liberation of France. The locals thought it necessary to express their appreciation with this memorial stone to the young pilots for their dedication in the darkest hour of French history, and active participation in the liberation of France and victory over Nazi Germany. 

Three of the honored pilots went down on June 15, 1944, trying to weaken German defenses for the Allied assault of southern France that would follow the Normandy invasion. 2nd Lt. Hugh Crandall Jr. and 1st Lt. Harold V Duggleby from the 94th Fighter Squadron were both brought down by anti-aircraft fire on strafing runs against the Orange-Plan de Dieu airfield. 

At about the same time, 1st Lt. Warren E. Semple from the 49th Fighter Squadron was shot down by a German pilot while strafing the nearby Orange-Caritat airstrip. 

Several weeks later in early August, 2nd Lt. Robert D. Simpson of the 48th Fighter Squadron and 2nd Lt. A. Tracy of the 49th Fighter Squadron were downed by flack and killed on similar missions. Watching the attacking planes get shot down was shocking for those on the ground said one of the local residents who was 11 in 1944.

Listing of the names of the 5 young US airmen who died in Plan de Dieu.

Across the narrow country road from the war memorial, there is the Bergerie du Bois des Dames. The name Bois des Dames (wood of the ladies) comes from the thick oak woods and pastures that once covered part of this area. The woods belonged to religious ladies who had retired to a high valley in the hills of Gigondas, at the convent of Prebayon, hence the name Bois des Dames. 

Bergerie du Bois des Dames

I couldn't find any information about this bergerie. I do know that bergeries are enclosures that shepherds used in old times to contain and protect their sheep. In the picture below, you can see in the corner of the bergerie, the remains of a very deep well. 

Interior of the Bergerie du Bois des Dames.

In the picture below, you can see where the water came out from the well into a water trough that delivered it into a basin for the sheep. 

Trough for water to run from well into the water basin

The next time we are in Sablet, I will go to the Domaine Bois des Dames and see if anyone there can tell me why the memorial and bergerie are located on different sides of the country road. I would also like to find out the age of the bergerie structure. It looks old, so I assume it is but sometimes looks as we know can be deceiving. 

As I have told you several times. we frequently see pilots of the Patrouille de France, the French precision flying unit, practicing their stunts over this area. So sobering to think, while we get such enjoyment from seeing the Patrouille flying overhead, there was a time in the last century when the planes flying overhead were engaged in serious, deadly warfare.

We Made New Friends and in the Process, we Unraveled the Mystery of Sablet House

Some of you have stayed one or more times at our home in Sablet, in the South of France, or walked past our house when you visited our pretty village. Maybe like Shirley and me, you looked up and saw the stone plate on the wall and wondered whose name is engraved into the stone that you see from the terrace and street below.

Sablet House at Dusk

Over the years, we have learned that our house most likely dates from around 1600 and that the name engraved into the stone seen below, Ausonio Urban, is the name of the stone mason who restored the house most recently. That is all we have been able to learn until a few weeks ago.

Stone Plate on Wall of Sablet House

Close-up of Stone Plate on Wall of Sablet House with Name of Stone Mason

We arrived in Sablet a few weeks ago after an 11-hour flight from San Francisco followed by a 3-hour ride on the TGV train from Paris to Avignon. Too late in the day to shop, too tired anyway, we opted to dine at Bistrot des Copains in the center of Sablet. You can read about our meal on Sablet House Facebook page.

Bistrot des Copains in Sablet

We had a delicious 3-course meal prepared by Chef Melissa (there's a whole another story about how she ended up in Sablet) accompanied by a well-made, tasty 2016 Paul Roumanille Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet red wine (see below).

We liked the wine so much that we decided with friends Steve and Mary, that we would find Mr. Roumanille's winery and see if we could taste wines at his "cave". I had never heard of the winery or Mr. Roumanille, so I asked Bruno, the charming owner of Café des Sports and Bistrot des Copains, where it was located?

2016 Paul Roumanille Cotes du Rhone Villages Sablet Rouge

Bruno said, the Paul Roumanille winery was located just before the turn off for the lake of Sablet that I told you about here. We found the winery easily, just off the D69 between Sablet and Rasteau. There, we encountered a very friendly and charming gentleman who welcomed our group into his modest "cave".

During the process of tasting his excellent wines, we learned that Paul is the 4th generation of the family to grow grapes and make wine at this location. He said he is semi-retired and unfortunately, he does not have children who wish to take over the winery. He has a daughter and no sons and the daughter has no interest in continuing the family wine business.

Before long, as usually happens, he asked where we were from? I told him California and our friends, Michigan, but we own a home in Sablet. He perked up and asked where? I described the location and he seemed a little puzzled, so I pulled out my mobile phone and showed him a picture of the Sablet house.

Paul Roumanille

He immediately responded, "I know this house." He continued on to say he drove his tractor and wagon filled with stones, to the house for the mason, Mr. Urban, for rebuilding the house. It turns out, Mr Urban is his neighbor and friend.

Paul said that if we wanted to meet Mr. Urban, we should call the night before and he would get Mr. Urban to the "cave". He said I should use the password "Californie Michel" anytime I called so he would know who was calling.

As circumstances so happened, we ran into Mr. Roumanille and his wife, Francoise several times during the week, including the "Fête des Vins" (wine festival) of Sablet and another time when we were dining again at the Café des Sports and Bistrot des Copains. He stopped at our table and pointed to where they were dining with friends and invited us to come to their home after dinner for some champagne.

That would have been a treat, but it was already late, so after we paid our "addition" (bill), we went to their table to give our regrets, but he wouldn't hear of it, insisted we sit with them and have some wine at least. One wine led to more wine, let's just say we had a great time.

I should mention Mr. Roumanille is a very thoughtful gentleman; telling me several times to speak in English (he and his wife don't speak English but their friends from Germany spoke very good English) so Shirley could understand some of the conversation, which of course made Mr. Roumanille a hero in Shirley's eyes.

The next week, we were honored by a visit from our neighbor's son Taylor, who is working on a Master's degree in Nottingham, England, and playing Lacrosse for the British national team. Taylor wants to work in the wine industry and will be working through a harvest at a winery in England this September.

We had decided it would be nice for Taylor to taste wines at some of our favorite wineries in the Côtes du Rhône, including Domaine de Mourchon in Séguret and Domaine de la Charbonnière in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We decided it would be interesting for him to taste at Paul Roumanille winery and see how wines were made in the "old" days.

We went to the Paul Roumanille winery at the appointed hour with friends Steve and Mary and neighbor Taylor.

Taylor Harrison in the cellar at Paul Roumanille Winery

Shortly after we arrived, Mr Urban walked into the "cave", short in stature but well dressed and very friendly. We immediately learned from Paul Roumanille, that Mr Urban is quite the lady's man and he loves good whisky.

Besides that, we learned Mr Urban's family were nobles in the Austria-Hungarian empire but had to flee after a family member went against the monarchy. They landed in Venice, Italy, before Mr Urban and other members of his family moved-on to Sablet.

He said at the time he started the reconstruction of our house, it had totally fallen in and was just ruins. He began to rebuild the house in 1977 and it took 12 years to finish. He believes the house dates back at least 100 years earlier than what we have been led to believe, putting the house's origins closer to 1500 than 1600.

One of the most interesting things we learned was the caves under our house (a clean up project I hope to undertake at some point), were connected to caves under neighboring homes through a network of tunnels. The locals would travel to their neighbors through the tunnels rather than on the street. The entrance to the network of tunnels was near the fountain and lavoir between our house and Festival Boulangerie.

Shirley Augsburger and Me with Ausonio Urban at Domaine Paul Roumanille

Meeting Paul Roumanille and Mr. Urban was among the highlights of our sojourn in Sablet. We extended an invitation to the two of them along with Mrs. Roumanille, to come to our home for dinner when we return to Sablet. They both said they would be happy to come. I promised that I would bring Mr Urban a bottle(s) of some very good Whisky/Bourbon. I know nothing about whiskey, so need suggestions of what to buy him.

If you want to taste wines with a charming Provencal winemaker, we encourage you to go taste at Paul Roumanille winery. The wine we loved was only 9.50 Euros a bottle. Where in the US, can you buy an outstanding wine for 9.50 Euros?

Paul Roumanille Winery
220 Route de Rasteau
84110 Sablet
France
Tel: 04 90 46 92 26