Le 8 mai 2007

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And then the rain came on

08 May 2007

Victory in Europe day is quite a big thing in France with ceremonies held in every town and village to commemorate the liberation of France as much as winning the war.

It is somewhat odd that the UK who were the only Allied nation to actually fight the full 1940-1945 don't take much notice of it.

For Jean-Jacques and I it was back to Arras for the day. The glorious weather we had been having in April appeared to have gone and it was looking a bit dull with a poor forecast for the day.

He was lucky however and the sun made an effort to come out and it was only as they were marching off that the spatters of rain started to fall.

With most of the 601st back in France the turnout for the parade was much bigger than we had seen in November.

Each of the six squadrons was represented and the Place des Héros was pretty much full.

The Regiment is due to have a change in commander within the next few months so this was Colonel Gueguin's last public chance to inspect his troops.

The soldiers did their march off and march back on and out again - weird or what ? Why they don't simply march back to barracks I am not certain. If it was good enough for the Canadians in April !

I drove round to the barracks in what by then was pouring rain to see the JJ's squadron standing under the trees opposite the main gate waiting for the rain to give up a bit and the wee man to turn green.