Liberté, Egalité,
Fraternité On June 6
On
June 6 we recall D-Day in France during World War II when the Allies
landed and it was the beginning of the end of Nazi rule of Europe.
We especially recall three years ago
when on June 6 more than 40 DC-3s that had first accompanied the landings
in 1944 returned to the skies above the coast of France to mark the
75h Anniversary of the landings.
Many
of those DC-3s were pressed into air cargo use immediately after the
war by enterprising people that bought them up at USD$1500.00 a piece
and formed airlines with names like Seaboard World, Flying Tiger Line
and others.
Once again as we salute
all the brave soldiers that served, it can be said air cargo saved
the day which is why so many DC-3s are still around.
In
Yellowknife, Canada where Buffalo Airways is still flying supplies
and people around in DC-3s, Buffalo’s Mikey McBryan assembled
a team that completely rebuilt a derelict DC-3 (that had flown above
Normandy June 6,1944) and made it air worthy again to celebrate the
aforementioned 2019 75th Anniversary.
You
can pick up that story on Plane Savers-to our mind one of the best
exciting builds and comebacks recorded of an old airplane ever.
We have family in France and often journey
to Bernay in Normandy.
One of the
great things about reporting on aviation in air cargo is the places
you visit and the people you meet.
Bernay
is a small town of just 10,000 and is a place filled with beautiful
fifteenth to eighteenth-century homes. The downtown area in particular
is exquisite for its period architecture.
One
is struck by the lively local population and wonderful markets on
summer weekends. The cozy pubs are filled with warmhearted, friendly
people.
You also get a sense, looking
at the beautifully aging buildings and the unique architecture, of
the fragility of this town; that a 40-foot rig full of cargo highballing
down the road through Bernay at 60 kilometers would cause the buildings
on main street to collapse onto the road itself.
Of
course, no big vehicles are allowed, but you get the picture.
To their credit, the French know what
they have and are out to protect not only the heritage here, but also
their unique and envious lifestyle.
Based
in a former sixteenth-century abbey house, the Municipal Museum of
Bernay is home to a fine art collection ranging from antiquity to
the 20th century.
Bernay’s
Musee includes archaeology, Egyptology, French, Italian, Flemish,
and Dutch paintings, and a superb collection of ceramics from Rouen
considered amongst the finest in France.
Near
the museum, the eleventh-century Abbey Church of Our Lady, a superb
example of the Romanesque style, is simply stunning.
Picturesque
forms line the streets of Rue Thiers and Rue Gaston Folloppe, accenting
the old half-timbered houses in Bernay.
History
is alive in Bernay
Although Bernay
is located in the coastal area of Normandy, which in contemporary
history is much remembered for June 6, 1944 and the allied effort
to free Europe, its rich and full history dates back to Roman and
Norman times.
Joan of Arc is buried
in Rouen, less than 20 miles away from Bernay.
In
Bernay there is a small private airfield that opened in 1934, seven
years after Charles Lindbergh electrified France and the rest of the
world when he flew from New York to Paris.
Today
operated by the Aero Club de Bernay, the airport once served as base
for the German Luftwaffe, which built a hangar here and some barracks
that are still in use for aircraft and related storage.
Bernay
Airport is quiet except for some occasional private flights and of
course an active flying school.
Anne Le Flohic is the sparkplug
and bright light chairwoman of the Aero Flying Club in a place that
recalls the early days of aviation, right down to a big friendly golden
retriever that greets everybody heading into the pilots’ lounge.
In Bernay, our cousin Claude Cardine
lives quietly with his wife in a beautiful Chateau built in 1745.
Today at 81, Claude and Madame Azra
Cardine are stylish French people who class up just about every place
they visit.
For his part, Claude
most enjoys haunting the local auctions and doesn’t remember
much of the Second World War except what his parents told him when
they lived in the town of Brionne.
What
he does remember are the squadrons of fighters zooming about the sky
above and bombers that were sent to destroy the bridge that spanned
the river Risle near Brionne.
“The
aircraft came in waves again and again and my mother and father and
my siblings were aware of the conflict although we were safe and never
felt threatened.
“I remember
one day the bridge on Risle was gone and some homes in the town of
Brionne were destroyed,” Claude ventured.
“There
are many examples of death and destruction in Normandie during that
time, but I guess that’s war.
“It’s
an indelible memory even for a three-year-old boy,” Claude smiled.
“I’ve gone back to my former
home in Brionne and thought of those days.
“This
is a magnificent place.
“We
have a very active aero club for private fliers and training for the
next generation of aviators here in Bernay, where I live today with
my wife Madame Azra, and where we raised our two children.
“Every
once in a while there’s an event with formation aircraft at
Normandy that reminds me of those terrible times long ago.
“I
also think about all of the brave selfless people who sacrificed themselves
so that Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, and the
colors of the flag of France, could continue to lift our lives, ensuring
that our children were born into freedom,” Claude Cardine said.
Geoffrey |
|
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