Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 44

Today in World War II History—August 17, 1944

Canadian troops in Falaise, Normandy, 17 August 1944 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—August 17, 1944: Germans begin retreat from southern France.

Germans begin retreat from the Falaise pocket in Normandy; Canadians take Falaise.

US Third Army takes Saint-Malo, Chartres, and Orléans in France.

Allied liberation of Saint-Malo severs the last link between the Channel Islands (still occupied by Germany) and France, leading to severe food shortages in the Channel Islands.

Germans arrest the government of the French State, including Prime Minister Pierre Laval, all to be deported to Germany.

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Today in World War II History—August 16, 1944

Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet being shot down by a US P-47 Thunderbolt, January 1945 (US Army Air Force photo)

80 Years Ago—August 16, 1944: US Eighth Air Force suffers first attack by Luftwaffe jet fighters (Messerschmitt Me 163s), has its first loss to a jet, and also destroys a German jet for the first time.

Organized Japanese resistance ends on the Burma-India border.

Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet jet fighter at the US Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH (Photo: Sarah Sundin, July 15, 2024)

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France’s Other D-Day – Photo Tour of Southern France

When my family had the opportunity to visit Italy and southern France in 2011, I was doubly delighted. Not only could we tour countries I had always longed to see, but I could conduct research for my Wings of the Nightingale series, which follows three World War II flight nurses in the Mediterranean. The third novel, In Perfect Time, revolves around Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France on 15 August 1944, “France’s other D-Day.”

Sarah Sundin at the Vieux Port in Marseilles, France, August 2011 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

Operation Dragoon

Map of Operation Dragoon: Allied landings in Southern France, 15-28 August 1944 (United States Military Academy)

Operation Dragoon is often forgotten, but it was vital to the war effort. The D-day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, had been successful, but the vast motorized Allied armies needed mountains of supplies, which required good ports. On August 15, the US Seventh Army landed along the poorly defended French Riviera, and Gen. Alexander Patch’s masterful leadership led to swift victory.

Troops of US 45th Infantry Division land at Ste. Maxime in southern France, 15 Aug 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

By the end of August the crucial Mediterranean ports of Marseille and Toulon were in Allied hands, and within one short month of the landings, the Dragoon forces had linked with the Overlord forces, freeing southern France from Nazi rule.

C-47 Skytrains of the US 81st Troop Carrier Squadron loaded with paratroopers on their way for the invasion of southern France, 15 Aug 1944 (US National Archives: 020930-O-999)

Photo Tour of Southern France

For our week in Provence, my teen daughter dreamed of ordering a baguette at the boulangerie in her high school French from a handsome, beret-wearing young man (dream dashed – the middle-aged woman behind the counter pretended not to understand one word she said). Her younger brother dreamed of seeing medieval catapults and trebuchets in action (dream fulfilled!). But I dreamed of seeing historical places and the sites included in my novel.

The house we rented in Puyloubier, France, August 2011 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

One of the sites on my list was the airfield at Istres near Marseille, where the Troop Carrier Groups and flight nurses were based in 1944. This was an important base for flying supplies to the front and for returning with the wounded. Since it’s an active military base, I didn’t expect to get close. To our surprise, we were able to drive right onto the base. We kept driving, kept taking pictures, expecting at any minute to be chased down by an armored vehicle. We weren’t. The field looks generic, but I felt the history, even more poignant because the men and women based at Istres were unsung heroes who didn’t receive – or expect – the accolades reserved for men on the front. But I remember their work, their courage, and their sacrifice.

Airfield at Istres, France, August 2011 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

In my novel, Kay and Roger spend a romantic day in the Vieux Port area of Marseille, so my family traced the route they’d take. While the port would have been crammed with Liberty cargo ships in 1944, colorful sailboats filled the docks in 2011. In World War II, most of the buildings had been razed in the German campaign to flush out French partisans, but modern buildings take their place today. Yet some things haven’t changed—the cathedral of Notre Dame de la Garde high over the city, the fishmongers with their huge trays of fish for sale, the massive stone fortresses at the mouth of the harbor, and a tiny gem of an ancient pink limestone church called Eglise St.-Laurent. All these things worked their way into In Perfect Time.

Eglise St.-Laurent in Marseille, France, August 2011 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

Notre Dame de la Garde cathedral, Marseille, France, August 2011 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

Fort St-Nicolas, Marseille, France, August 2011 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

For the novelist, sensory details help bring the story to life—from the smell of lavender to the thrum of cicadas to the intense turquoise of the Mediterranean to the tang of a good baguette. Even if the baguette is not served by a young man in a beret.

More importantly, visiting these sites made history come to life. The black and white photos popped into color. The numbered military units and arrows on the map became the real-life, ordinary men and women who performed extraordinary feats, freeing the world.

We remember. In gratitude, we remember.

Beach near Istres, France, August 2011 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

In Perfect Time

In Perfect Time is the third book in the Wings of the Nightingale series, but it stands alone. Flight nurse Lt. Kay Jobson collects hearts wherever she flies, leaving men pining in airfields all across Europe. So how can C-47 pilot Lt. Roger Cooper be immune to her charms? Still, as Kay and Roger cross the skies between Italy and southern France, evacuating the wounded and delivering paratroopers and supplies, every beat of their hearts draws them closer to where they don’t want to go.

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Today in World War II History—August 15, 1944

Troops of US 45th Infantry Division land at Ste. Maxime in southern France, 15 Aug 1944 (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—August 15, 1944: Operation Dragoon: US Seventh Army, including Free French commandos and British paratroopers, lands 60,000 troops in southern France between Cannes and Toulon with excellent results—called France’s other D-day.

In Dragoon cover, Allies first use “baby aircraft carriers,” LSTs (landing ship, tank) with flight decks added for liaison aircraft.

In Dragoon landings, former US Ambassador to France William Bullitt lands as a major fighting with the Free French (Gen. Charles de Gaulle offered him a commission when the US refused).

[Read more and see photos from my research trip to southern France: “France’s Other D-Day”]

C-47 Skytrains of the US 81st Troop Carrier Squadron loaded with paratroopers on their way for the invasion of southern France, 15 Aug 1944 (US National Archives: 020930-O-999)

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Today in World War II History—August 14, 1944

French civilians welcome US troops in Normandy, 14 August 1944. (US National Archives: ARC 196294)

80 Years Ago—August 14, 1944: Canadian, Polish, and US troops form the Falaise pocket in France, partially surrounding Germans.

Germans arrest Danish resistance fighter Edith “Lotte” Bonnesen, who sneaks out of Gestapo headquarters at Shellhus in Copenhagen when guards aren’t watching, the only person to escape except during a March 1945 RAF air raid.

The US War Production Board allows the production of some civilian goods to resume in preparation for the November elections.

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Where Trees Touch the Sky by Karen Barnett

Where Trees Touch the Sky by Karen Barnett. Background snapshots from my own 1970s redwood experiences (with my little sister!) at Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks.

In 1923, Marion Baker works fervently with the Save the Redwoods League to protect her beloved trees. One day in her favorite grove, she meets Frank Duncan and believes him to be admiring the trees. He is. But for the axe. When Marion learns Frank is the son of the local timber baron, sparks fly. A friendship grows, then a romance, but can their shared dreams overcome the obstacles between them?

In 1972, June Turner takes a job as a park ranger at the new Redwood National Park, but finds her boss is less than thrilled to have unknowingly hired a polio survivor who uses a crutch. Inspired by her Aunt Marion, who helped establish the park, and driven by a lifetime of proving herself, June is determined to succeed at the job. Then her boss hires handsome film student Adam Garner to possibly take her place. Adam, however, becomes enamored with June, and hatches an idea to make a documentary to honor Marion’s legacy – not realizing that secrets may lie buried in the redwood forest.

A story that soars like the redwoods it honors! Rooted in author Karen Barnett‘s deep love of history and the national parks, Where Trees Touch the Sky climbs high with two intertwined stories as Marion and June inspire and influence each other. They both fall down and learn to have the courage to stand back up again, over and over, drawing that courage, that strength from the Lord and from others in their lives. Bonus props for a beautifully and realistically portrayed heroine with a disability and “outasight” 1970s references! A romantic, thoughtful, and moving novel not to be missed.

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Today in World War II History—August 13, 1944

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy, July 2011 (Photo: Sarah Sundin)

80 Years Ago—August 13, 1944: British and Indian troops cross into northern Florence via historic Ponte Vecchio, securing city with help of Italians.

Jackie Gleason-Les Tremayne show premieres on NBC radio.

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Today in World War II History—August 12, 1944

Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (US Navy photo via John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum)

80 Years Ago—August 12, 1944: Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (brother of the future president) is killed in a top-secret Aphrodite mission from England, in which planes loaded with bombs are guided by remote control to the target after the pilots bail out.

First PLUTO (Pipeline under the Ocean) becomes operational, taking fuel from the Isle of Wight, England, to Cherbourg, France.

New songs in Top Ten in US: “I’ll Walk Alone,” “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?”

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Today in World War II History—August 11, 1944

Map depicting the Allied breakout in Normandy, France, 1-13 Aug 1944 (US Military Academy)

80 Years Ago—August 11, 1944: In France, US Third Army crosses the Loire River.

At Nantes, France, Germans scuttle ships as Allies approach.

Fifty Black sailors who survived the Port Chicago Explosion still refuse to load munitions and are charged with mutiny. [see Port Chicago: The Work Stoppage]

Damage to rail cars at US Naval Magazine, Port Chicago from 17 July 1944 explosion (US Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 96822)

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Today in World War II History—August 10, 1944

Men of Company B, 305th RCT, moving out from high ground on Guam. (US Army Center of Military History)

80 Years Ago—August 10, 1944: US secures Guam, although one Japanese soldier won’t surrender until 1972.

Britain holds the 50th anniversary of the “Proms” concerts in Bedford rather than London due to German V-1 flying bombs, conducted without Sir Henry Wood for the first time ever due to Wood’s failing health (he passes away August 19).

In Paris, rail workers go on strike, stranding German soldiers trying to evacuate.

Red Barrett of the Boston Braves throws a shutout with only 58 pitches, a record for the fewest pitches in a 9-inning game.

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