Les SAS aux Grandes Gouttes

Le 28 février 2007, par Gerard,

Fin septembre et début octobre 1944 : hébergement de 8 SAS à la ferme des Grandes Gouttes à Moussey

La traduction actualisée [1] du témoignage d’Yvonne Malaisé :

"... 8 english parachutists [2] were accomodated about 2 weeks (or a little bit more) from nearly the deportation of september 24th in the farm of my parents and my uncle and aunt. It was a double farm house named farm of Grandes Gouttes. Placed at Moussey, close to the forest separating Rabodeau valley and Plaine valley, close to Ravine valley. The name of my parents was Clément and Lucie Launay (born Maurice), Henri and Josephine Launay (born Maurice) for my uncle and aunt

Our own joung family was accommodated in the farm with Gerard, our 6 months old baby. Our name was Villemin (or Vilmin), my husband Lucien was a forest guard (21 years old), myself, Yvonne (22 years old) was a teacher. My husband just knew the beginning of these events because he was deported september 24th

We have often talked about those men and their lieutenant, on captain Druce too I saw 2 times when he was coming to our farm for meeting them. We have often talked about those so courageous young men, coming from so far for helping us, speaking a so strange language, always bearing their arms, happy as children when eating good foods my mother cooked and resting for a few hours... but always anxious... smoking perfumed cigarettes (dangerous for straw, and before all for germans noses !)...

A simplified dialogue was possible through a mix of french words and words of german language my aunt knew very well

These paras usually went out for mysterious operations. They came back for eating and sleeping, often very tired, sometimes with dirty or damaged clothes. Sometimes they did not come back, all of them or only one or a small number

When coming the first time they entrust my father with their military foods to save them until their come back to England. They gave us small soaps, cigarettes, and the main part of their chocolate and sweets

At the end of the first week of october a few of them came to take these foods and have said they left the area. They were upset, and anxious for the following days. They said "see you soon in better circumstances and thanks for all" (approximative translation)

Since this moving day, my parents and my uncle and aunt all died now, myself too, asked and asked the same and hard questions : did they reach the american lines, did they come back alive at home... ?

I know now that no one of them returned alive in England ! [3]

Still today we don’t know their names, excepted recently (7th june 2010) the name of the officer, formally recognised thanks to the work of Len Owens and the photo of Lt Dill he gave us (see it in Galerie d’images below). So we know now that this officer was really Lt David Dill

Notes :

[1] Des informations découvertes 65 ans plus tard ont permis d’en savoir un peu plus, et donc d’actualiser le texte original d’Yvonne Malaisé écrit depuis plus de 40 ans (voir les 2 premières pages de la Galerie d’images). Rien de bien significatif toutefois

[2] "... Not sure they were everyday exactly the same number and the same men. The officer was a lieutenant, a very young man. He said he was close to the Royal family... Because he was sick and very tired (dysentery ?), he slept in the bed of my grand grandmother, and my aunt has cured him. One of the men of the team said he came from Ireland... "

[3] Aucun de ces hommes n’est rentré vivant, d’où les difficultés qui subsistent aujourd’hui encore à retracer circonstances et détails. Ces hommes ont été les derniers restés "sur place", ils ne disposaient pas de moyens de communication, tous ont été capturés par les Allemands autour du 7 octobre... et aucun n’est rentré vivant pour "faire son rapport". Un aperçu de leur sort au travers des documents suivants :
Lt David Dill : dernière photo de Galerie d’images
Document PDF de bas de page
Le procès du massacre de La Grande Fosse/Ernst et Görkel (cour militaire britannique de Wuppertal, 15-21 mai 46). Cliquer
Page dédiée au Massacre de La Grande Fosse. Cliquer