Et pourtant mes amis, je persistes à croire qu'il s'est passé "des chôses" dans le coin de Shingle street. Voici ce que j'ai pu lire à propos de cette histoire, excusez moi pour la traduction, mais j'espère que vous comprenez ou savez lire en Anglais (trop long à traduire) :
In the book ‘The Battle of Britain’ by J Spaight, published May 1941, the author devotes almost a page to what he refers to as ‘The Mid September Mystery’. The rumours of the previous September involving an invasion attempt and burnt corpses
were dismissed as being totally untrue. The truth of the matter, it was alleged, was that enemy troops were either drowned or burnt to death during an RAF raid on a pre invasion ‘dress rehearsal’ off the French coast. For some time afterwards their bodies had been washed up on continental shores.
The following year another author briefly referred to the curious tales of 1940. Flight Lieutenant William Simpson RAF had been shot down and badly wounded during the Battle of France. Hospitalised and confined to bed, he spent the autumn months of 1940 slowly recovering in the unoccupied zone of France, and it was during this time that he overheard talk of a failed German invasion attempt. Following his repatriation to England in 1942 the stories were published as part of his book One of Our Pilots is Safe.
French medical staff had told Simpson that a large fleet of German barges had set out either on exercises or as part of an actual invasion. They were attacked by British aircraft, “who set light to the sea”, as a result many enemy troops were killed or badly burned. For days afterwards badly burned casualties arrived in French hospitals and for months afterwards the bodies of many others were washed up on the shores of the Pas de Calais. Simpson added an intriguing footnote to the story. Apparently undeterred by the disaster the Germans created their own flame barrier and conducted experiments with asbestos clad barges and troops in protective clothing.
What were literally ‘live fire’ exercises also ended in disaster resulting in yet more badly burned casualties appearing in French and Belgian hospitals.
There was however one notable exception, Invasion 1940. Published in 1957 and written by Peter Fleming (elder brother of Ian, the creator of James Bond) this highly readable and informative book is still one of the best sources covering the invasion period.
Within the first few paragraphs of the inside dust jacket Fleming asks: “Did the Germans launch an abortive attempt at invasion? How many corpses in field grey were washed up on the south coast? Did the British set the sea on fire?” The rumour that large numbers of dead German soldiers, some burnt, had been washed up on English beaches is discussed in detail in chapter seven. As is the widely held belief at the time that the RAF had somehow, ‘set the sea on fire.’ Fleming was of the opinion that none of this could have happened and concludes that the rumour that swept the country was: “
spontaneous, baseless and inexplicable.” And yet, within months of the book’s publication, Fleming appeared on national TV opposite a man who claimed to have collected the bodies of dead German soldiers from a south coast beach.
A former artillery gunner, William Robinson, along with Fleming and others, appeared on ‘The Finest Hour’, a programme in the BBC First Hand series shown on Friday 22nd November 1957 - and he had an interesting story to tell.
On camera Robinson told how in September 1940 he had been serving with a coastal battery at Herne Bay, when one day he was sent across Kent to Folkestone on a special mission. Over a period of several days, and along with others, he had collected the bodies of German soldiers from the beach between St Mary’s Bay and Hythe. When pressed by the programme’s presenter, Peter West,
Robinson made it clear that the corpses were definitely soldiers, not aircrew or sailors. The operation was conducted in secret, the bodies being taken to New Romney where any items of identification were removed before burial. Robinson also added an intriguing detail stating that the Germans were wearing “no badges” on their uniforms.Robinson’s story seemed to tie in with what Attlee had said in November 1946. It also seemed to tie in with the story of the bombed invasion practice and bodies in the English Channel. Curiously, Robinson’s story also seems to suggest that some kind of orchestrated cover-up had taken place, but why?
Both the British and German governments were obliged under the Geneva Convention to pass information concerning enemy casualties to the International Red Cross. So why had identification been removed from the bodies? And why had they been buried in secret, unlike many enemy aircrew who were often buried with military honours? It would have been a straightforward matter to announce that the enemy casualties were the result of a successful RAF operation. But in 1940 nothing was straightforward. If Robinson’s story proves anything it shows that if the need arose the authorities were capable of concealing events from the public. And if bodies had been collected in secret from a Kent beach the same could have been done on a Suffolk beach.
Vous pouvez en tirer votre conclusion, moi je l'ai déja fait depuis longtemps, mais je devrais attendre jusqu'en 2021 (si on vique quo ?). Comme le dit l'ami Michel (Pourqoui attendre si longtemps avant de divulger les archives?). Nous pouvons encore nous attendre à beaucoup de surprises à propos des "Faits" et "Erreurs" commis par les Alliés. Beaucoup sont deja éclairsies (ex: Massacre de Katin).
Churchill ne savait pas assez vanter les mérites des Marins de la Marine Marchande Belge (il ne savait pas s'en passer). Le ministre Gutt declara que la Belgique devait remercier les vaillants Marins de la Marine Marchande pour les faits de bravoure qu'ils ons commis durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Quand la guerre se termina et que le temps était venu à récompenser ces vaillants soldats, Churchill a tenu bouche cousue à ce propos (en flamand: zijn neus bloedde) et Gutt leurs a remis fièrement un medaille commemoratieve. Jusqu'au jour d'aujourd'hui les veuves de geurre et les quelques survivants n'ont RIEN touché comme pension ! Le ministre avait comme excuse: ces gens (Marins) n'étaient pas de soldats, ils étaient payés par les Armateurs pour qui ils navigaient. Pourtant ces hommes ont également souffert (certains coulés par deux fois dans l'Atlantique, ou mort dans des chaloupes de sauvetage etc...). Ce sont des choses qu'ici en Belgique "on ne pend pas à la grande cloche comme on dit en flamand "deze zaken worden niet aan de grote klok gehangen" Ce qui veut dire au fait: Affaire Classée. D'ailleurs les archives de la Marine Marchande Belge (qui donc faisait partie de l'armée Belge, ne sont toujours pas libres à consulter! Why ? Pourquoi ? Waarom? Top Secret !
Beste groetjes aan iedereen en dank voor jullie steun en opzoekingswerk.
Mon cher Prosper, je te remercies pour ton intervention sur ce "topic". Peut-etre que dans l'avenir nous allons tous être étonnés de ce qui c'est encore passé "comme fait divers" pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.