That's the late Bill Bray and the late John Woodthorpe with Mme Gondrée on the seventieth anniversary. The Bénouville Bridge was known to Allied planners as the Pegasus Bridge, after the winged horse on the shoulder badge of British paratroopers. But since 1944 it has been called the Pegasus Bridge in France, too. And in the eight decades since June 6th no D-Day veteran has ever had to pay for his drink at the Café Gondrée.
Germans say something akin to that, as well, when referring to either Germany as a whole, or some part of it. I always correct them ("You mean '51st state'), but they are at least well-intentioned. It's meant as a compliment.
Regards,
In the Catholic Church the stained glass windows had been blown out. The locals replaced them with stained glass images of US paratroopers coming down from heaven
The sad irony being St Mere Eglise means “Holy Mother Church,” that is, not a specific building, that’s one of the names of the Catholic Church. The descendants of the men who fought and died that day turned their back on faith and freedom
My dad talked about how the French were so grateful that every GI was given not a glass, but a whole bottle of wine when they served the liberating forces a special meal.
The Paratroop Company that is featured in "Band of Brothers" fought its first major battle at Ste.-Mère-Église, which is part of the Cotentin Peninsula, which was the extreme right (west) flank of the Normandy invasion.
The location did not highlight on the map I posted.
The Cotentin Peninsula is the little three sided jut of land that points directly north at England.
