28 Following the Liberators through France

G.I. Tourists in Paris

Jack at the Palais de Chaillot looking toward the Eiffel Tower

Jack’s group followed the front lines pushing back against the Germans. Paris had been liberated by the French Resistance in August 1944 and Allied troops soon followed, officially and on pass. Jack photographed the famous Champs Élysées Boulevard where German troops had proudly asserted their authority over the French capital in 1940 and General Charles De Gaulle had strolled after liberating the city. By the time Jack arrived, the city looked almost itself again.

“General de Gaulle and his entourage proudly stroll down the
Champs Élysées to Notre Dame Cathedral . . . 25 August 1944”[1]

The Champs Élysées as Jack saw it

Winkler at the Palais de Chaillot

Jack with the Eiffel Tower and the Palais
de Chaillot in the distance

Indulging in one of the things they
missed most from home: ice cream

The Push through France

Now that he was moving through Europe, Jack was able to tell Alice where he had been in England and France over the previous ten months. It was a secret no more.

Keevil > Rivenhall > Stapleton > Maupertus > Montebourg > La Bazoge > Saint-Dizier > Luxembourg[2]

Europe, Oct 17, 1944

Dearest Alice,

  Well honey I suppose you have wondered many times where we have been since coming overseas. We landed in Scotland & took a train to England & went to a place called Keevil. It’s very small & probably not on the map but it’s near Trowbridge which is near Bath. From here we went to Rivenhall. That’s near Witham which is near Chelmsford. From here we went to Staplehurst which is near Maidstone. From there over to France & I arrived just outside Cherburg on July 4 where we were stationed for some time. From there we went to a place near Monteb[o]urg. From there to La Boyoge [La Bazoge], just outside of Le Mans. Then when Derrick & 4 other fellows & I were away on Detached Service we were at Saint-Dizier. From there we left France and are at our present base. I’m sure glad you got the bracelets & I’m glad you like them. They aren’t much but they are a souvenir of France. I got them at St. Pierre-Eglise [near Cherbourg].

  I don’t know what kind of fish they have in France but the ones we caught were just big enough to throw back in.[3]

On Detached Service at Saint-Dizier, France

A sign on the door of the restaurant of the Hôtel de l’Univers takes
clear aim at Allied soldiers. It reads in English, “Off Limits.”

Signs on the Saint-Dizier theater read, “Honor to our liberators” and
“Long live the Republic.”

Opposite the Saint-Dizier theater on the main square sits the town hall with a sign reading,
“Long live de Gaulle.” It honors the leader of the French Resistance who would later become
President of the French Republic. 

Living Quarters as the Group Moved from Base to Base

Jack explained to his grandchildren about the living quarters during his time in the ETO: A tent holds six soldiers or beds. There wasn’t room enough for a bathroom in the tent. The bathrooms didn’t have roofs on them. (Some of them did.) And they got wet.[4]

Morning at the tents

Constructing a latrine: Toy, Judge, Metler and two loafers

Finished latrine with Judge and Metler

Perspective on the tent situation by a member of the 160th[5]

 In fact, only the staff sergeants slept six to a tent. Some grades had fewer men per tent, but most of the men were crowded together. There were stoves for warming, but the stoves had been left in Cherbourg and were not replaced. As the weather turned with the seasons, the men would happily have had the stoves. Jacked mentioned the situation to Alice.

We are still having rain & cloudy & cold weather so there isn’t much to do [i.e., the planes could not fly]. We have no stove in our tent & it sure gets damp & cold in there. I sure hope they get some stoves soon.[6]

All planes flew manually, so rain and overcast skies grounded them, leaving the ground crews with time on their hands. Excitement was on the horizon, however, with the unexpected arrival of an enemy plane.

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[1] “General de Gaulle and his entourage proudly stroll down the Champs Élysées to Notre Dame Cathedral for a Te Deum ceremony following the city's liberation on 25 August 1944,” photograph, Imperial War Museum, Ministry of Information, Second World War Press Agency Print Collection (http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205015974), photograph HU 66477, public domain; as reproduced in Wikimedia (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19139629 : accessed 29 June 2018).

[2] “The Push through France,” map created with Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps : accessed 28 June 2018).

[3] Jack J. Kellar (Luxembourg) letter to “Dearest Alice” [Alice (Streeter) Kellar] (Santa Rosa, California), 17 October 1944, excerpts.

[4] Jack J. Kellar, interview by Judy Kellar Fox, December 1993; cassette tape recording and transcription held by the author.

[5] Ralph C. Fritz, illustrated map of the 160^th Squadron in the ETO, 15 August 1945, detail; “Life with the 160 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron,” collection of eleven photographs, U.S. Army Air Force, 1944–1945.

[6] Jack J. Kellar letter to “Dearest Alice,” 17 October 1944, excerpt.