French woman’s pledge to honour grave of soldier she never knew
Quest to ‘pass on the torch of remembrance’ leads to Cornish town in attempt to tell D-day veteran’s story
IT ALL began with a chance encounter at a Normandy graveside. A French woman paying tribute to the young men who helped liberate her country bumped into two US veterans visiting the grave of one of their fallen comrades, killed in the D-day landings.
The two old soldiers asked Mariepascale Legrand one favour: could she keep putting flowers on the grave of their friend, Raymond Cole, in the years to come?
Mrs Legrand agreed and as part of that solemn pledge her niece Alice Fernandez went on to make a promise that she too would do what she could to honour the life of Private Cole, killed on June 6, 1944, as he stormed the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc.
Ms Fernandez has appealed to anyone in Britain who might know more about Cole’s life after discovering that his unit has trained in Bude, Cornwall.
She said: “I wanted to honour Raymond’s role in helping to free France and tell his story.”
“He was 21 and I’m 22, but for him everything ended in seconds. Like many soldiers, he died before even reaching the beach, but thanks to him and the others I’m living in a free country.”
Ms Fernandez first visited Cole’s grave at the Second World War Normandy American Cemetery near Omaha Beach, as a young girl, when her aunt, now 61, would take her and her brother to attend the annual commemorations.
It was here, in 1984, that Mrs Legrand met former US army Rangers Thomas Ryan and Bill O’keefe, who had taken part in the battle.
Ms Fernandez, a history student at Aix-marseille University in the south of France, said: “Their friend Raymond was killed on D-day and they asked my aunt ‘could you please keep putting flowers on our friend’s grave’ and she has done it ever since.
“She always wanted to pass on the torch of remembrance to the young generation and would take my brother and I to visit Raymond’s grave.”
Ms Fernandez and her aunt knew little about the man they had pledged to continue honouring, other than what was inscribed on his gravestone: name, rank, regiment, home state and date of death. She set out on a mission to fill in
‘He died before even reaching the beach, but thanks to him [and others] I’m living in a free country’
the missing details, spending long hours wading through archives and historical documents.
She said: “I grew up with his story in my mind, but without knowing who he was, without really knowing what he was like as a human being.”
Another chance encounter threw more light on Cole’s background, when in 2014 Miss Fernandez and her family met an American man putting flowers on the soldier’s grave on behalf of his family in New Hampshire.
As a result she managed to get in touch with some of Cole’s nephews and nieces, only to discover that they too knew little about his life as he and his siblings had been placed in separate foster homes as children during the 1930s, with little if any contact between each other.
Ms Fernandez travelled to Cole’s home state of New Hampshire and, using local historical records, discovered that ahead of the D-day landings his unit had been based in the Cornish town of Bude, where they trained for the coming onslaught.
She now hopes those in the area with knowledge of the period may be able to help her unearth more information about the young soldier.
“My aunt is very happy that her duty of remembrance is being carried on.”