Perhaps and again what I am going to refer might just be his PR but he made some strange pro-Bolshevik semi-socialist statements about Russia back then. I will try and dig them out.
The local drink in Normandy is “Calvados” — a sort of apple brandy. It was big during WW1, and particularly during WW2 with the troops operating in that region. Every farmhouse cellar was loaded with the stuff from the locally grown apples.
In France the champagne grape crop failed a couple of consecutive years and Calvados was a sort of substitute for the Grape. It’s also the semi-official drink of the French Foreign Legion. Great to cook with.
” No one anticipated the hedgerow country.”
Funny thing about overlooked intel. Dig down far enough and you’ll find a major or LCol who was jumping up & down to be heard — and nobody would listen. I’m confident that somebody knew. There’s always a soldier or officer who traveled a particular area before the war.
This is one of the areas in which the Brits excel. All that colonial fighting in the far reaches of the world? They’re always on the lookout for unconventional people in their ranks who “have been there”. TE Lawrence just to name 1.
Closest thing the US had were the old China hands from the State Department, missionaries, Marines and Regular Army who served from Shanghai to Chungking. That’s how you get guys like Claire Chennault & Vinegar Joe Stillwell. 2 guys who probably wouldn’t have survived if it hadn’t been for their specific connections to that part of the world.