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".
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| War memorial to US airmen who died in Plan de Dieu |
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| You can see the vast plain of vineyards to the west of the war memorial |
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| The memorial is festooned with flowers and red, white and blue ribbons |
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
As I read this I was trying to imagine all that fighting going on over my head if I was driving from Avignon to Sablet. Then you painted the picture perfectly with the reference to the excitement of the planes over Sablet in modern times. I had never thought of this area as a battle filled or of the villagers suffering from little food. My friend in Lyon tells me that her parents and grandparents ate a lot of the weed called Cardon during the war. Now it’s often seen in the markets or canned but Nicole’s family won’t touch the stuff.
ReplyDeleteIt’s Kathryn and that should read “battle field” of course. I am always too hasty to post
ReplyDeleteOver the years, I have talked to a lot of locals about what it was like in the Southern Cotes-du-Rhone area during the war. It is clear that the Germans were all around the area and made life very difficult. Even for my family, my cousin Christine's father was part of the resistance around Lyon and he was denounced by German sympathizers and arrested and spent 3 years in the Dachau concentration camp. He survived to liberation of the camp.
DeleteFascinating — just two weeks ago I drove up to NYONS and Carianne with a local friend to pick up some wine from Phillip Plantavin — next time I will surely find this memorial. I’ve watched the current military planes fly over head many times and wondered where they were from in the area… always good information that you share! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFavorite petit dejeuner entertainment is watching the Patrouille practicing out over the Plan de Dieu with occasional passes right overhead. Michel
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