04/05/2018
As we approach the 78th anniversary of La Plaine au bois massacre, let us remember those who have fought and fallen for our freedom and future.
"Let us forgive but never forget"
So once again and with the own words of one of the massacre survivors, Brian Fahey (1919-2007), here's what happened on May 28, 1940:
"I struggled to my feet and a lad about nineteen with a Birmingham accent helped me. We shook hands and took our places. He was at number four, I was at number five.
The officer gave the command. "Eins"! A shot. After what seemed an eternity (in reality, about two seconds), "Zwei!" and another shot. It was sur¬prisingly easy to show no panic. I could only stand on my good leg so movement was impossible. The situation was so hopeless that it was almost a relief to think that it would soon be over.
"Drei!" The third rifle fired and despatched its victim. I tried to concentrate my thoughts on my past life and on my family.
'Vier!" The fourth rifle fired and I saw from the corner of my eye the boy with the Birmingham accent fall. My mind was buzzing with half-remembered sights and sounds. My father practising the 'cello; the cricket nets on the middle playground at Colfe's; the smell of the fats and rags and bones in my uncle's Marine Store at Margate.
'Funf" It was just like a sharp blow from a fist in my chest that knocked me over. As I hit the ground everything left my mind except the sen¬sation of raging thirst and the certainty that I was dead.
When I opened my eyes I saw the grass and the khaki of my battle-dress. The thought gradually came to me that I was not dead. I lay perfectly still and strained my ears. There was no sound, I raised my head from my arm and felt the pains in my chest and leg. My spectacles were close by and unbroken and that seemed more important. I put them on and looked at my watch. It was four o'clock. The massacre had taken place at noon."
