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| 9th
Infantry Division — World
War II — Normandy, France |
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Le
Bois du Hommet, Normandy,
France
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With the 9th Infantry Division's capture
of Cherbourg, the Allies pointed their
interests south toward the German-infested
city of St. Lo. The "Octofoil"
spent many days fighting during the
"Battle of the Hedgerows"
in and around St. Lo.
My grandfather, Pfc. Starlin H. Hughes,
F Company, 47th Infantry Regiment,
9th Infantry Division, on Friday,
July 14, 1944 — France's Independence,
or Bastille, Day —was wounded
in the leg in the vicinity of this
section of woods known as Le Bois
du Hommet, or the Hommet Woods. In
1999, I traveled to Normandy and interviewed
residents in the villages of Le Hommet,
Le Hommet d'Arthenay and Les Champs
de Losques — the exact vicinity
where my grandfather was wounded in
combat.
With the help of my good Parisian
friend, Claude Heller, his wife, Isabelle,
and son, Guillaume, I was able to
interview the son of the former caretaker
of the Hommet Woods. Le Hommet resident
Emile Hardelay in 1999 had since taken
over his late father's duties as caretaker
of the woods, where numerous roe deer
and wild boar roam free today.
Emile Hardelay, who was 15 years old
at the time, assisted the 9th Infantry
Division with many tasks including
cleaning their weapons, even confiscating
German bicycles.
"On the 14 of July 1944 at about
eight in the evening, there were nine
German bicycles between Le Hommet
and Les Champs de Losques," Hardelay
said with translation by Claude Heller.
"So these bikes were along a
very small river. In the marsh, you
had water lines, so this was a water
line. The U.S. thought the Germans
were going to counterattack, so they
asked me and my father to get these
bikes and bring them back to Le Hommet.
So we got the bikes back, but at the
same time, we were getting shells
over our heads.
"A day earlier on July 13, there
was a young German soldier, probably
around 16 to 17 years old, who tried
to steal one of my neighbor's bikes
and I would not let him. I tried to
get the bike, and the German would
tug the bike the other way. Then I
tried to unscrew one wheel, and he
went and tried to screw the wheel
back on. While he was doing that,
I went around and unscrewed the other
wheel. Then the German got nervous,
got out his rifle and pointed it at
me. My father came over and told me
to let go. My father said, 'Get out
of there. He is going to kill you.'
Then the German broke the bike on
the road instead of taking it and
riding it. I never liked the Boche."
Heller, who regularly returns to his
childhood home just outside the Hommet
Woods at the hamlet of Les Hautes
Vignes, explained that the French
commonly called the Germans, Boche,
"a nickname contracted from 'Alboche,'
which is a contraction of 'allemand'
(German) and 'caboche,' which is a
familiar name for 'tête' or
head."
"This nickname is old, and exists
at least since the beginning of the
20th century," Heller said. "There
were several names we had for the
Germans, but in the area of Le Hommet
d'Arthenay, the residents referred
to them as the Boche." [ story
continued . . . ]
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