The Liberation of Paris, which took place 80 years ago today, is undoubtedly an event of historic significance. However, if it had a PR department, they would no doubt complain that it is overshadowed by many other historic events occurring around the same time. Nevertheless, it resonates with me personally, as it was the World War II event in which my grandfather participated. As such, it is the most significant historic event of which I have heard a first-hand account.
To be frank, as war stories go, it is not one of the more sensational ones. My grandfather was conscripted into the army in 1941 and taught to drive a lorry. His job was to transport supplies from the south of England to the front via the port of Cherbourg. While dangerous, it was not exceptionally so by the standards of a world war. He continued this role up to and including the liberation of Paris. The lack of perilous anecdotes was somewhat disappointing to me as a young boy when he told me about it. I regret not asking him again when I was older—it’s possible he sanitised the account to suit my youth.
He did tell me that the Parisians had liberated themselves and had done an excellent job of getting Paris running by the time the Allies arrived. I don’t know if this experience was what turned him into a Francophile, but I imagine it was. He spent all his holidays for the rest of his life in France, Belgium and Switzerland. This was how one person experienced the war, and the effect it had on him. Not everyone in a war is a hero – but maybe just turning up is heroic enough.
