大象传媒

Denise Edwards (nee Laveyn) was born in 1916 towards the end of the hostilities of the First World War. She was married to my cousin Lesley Edwards. They were married in 1947 in France. She will always be remembered by my family as a brave loyal person, both to her country and to her husband.

She came to England to live with Les and spent many years of happiness with him. Unfortunately, Les suffered a stroke that left him bed ridden for a number of years, during which time Denise cared for him with great devotion until his death. She lived on in England and was kindness itself to my mother who lived next door.

The devotion to her country was told to us mainly through Les for Denise was reluctant to talk about her exploits, but non the less she was very proud of her award. She lived in France at a farm which was situated right on the coast at Cap Grisnez between Calais and Boulogne with her parents and family. The ground behind the fram sloped sharply away affording a panaramic view of the whole countryside.

France at this time was being over run by the German army and both French and British forces were trying desperatly to Dunkerque. On this certain day, Denise looked over the countryside, saw a company of French troops trying to get to Dunkerque was, unkown to them the cut off in a pincer movement by the Germans. She immediatley ran a good kilometre between the German lines and warned the French troops of their prediciment. They faught for three days surrounded in about a windmill. They at one stage managed to knock out a tank from which they took tea and sugar and a small amount of food, but this was all they had. The French Commander told Denise that they would have to surrender and said that if she wanted to try and return to the farm, they would cover her.

So the troops occupied the Germans as much as possible while Denise ran zig-zagging all the way back to the fram, dodging the bullets on the way.

The French Commander told his deputy that if he survived the War he was to recommend Denise for Decoration. It was learned after the War that the Commander shot himself. All the rest were taken prisoners of war. The second in command must have survived the War and carried out his instructions, for in 1949 she was notified that she has been awarded The Croix-de-Guerre and Palm.

She has always been very modest about this great honour, and if you ever tried to ask her about it, her stock answer was always "it is nossing".

However, there is no doubt about it, she was a very brave girl, for although the farm was occupied by the Germans, she stood up to them as much as she could.

She did speak of a big German officer who said he had before the War been in the Diplomatic Core and that if the allies had not taken away their territories in North Africa there would have been no need to invade Austria and Czechoslavachia. Also, of the young German soldiers sent out as recruits were told that when the tide was out, they could walk to England. They were really scared of the Gestepo who appeared if things in the area were getting lax.

She had a wire concealed behind cupboards, which led to the attic where she went at night to listen to the radio progammes from London, trying to decipher the obvious code references, like "the fish is dead" and no doubt keeping up what news there was.

Denise and her mother were very active in the Resistence movement, and took great risks all the time but had to be very careful of the coloberators who would give anyone away to the Germans to keep in with them.

Apparently the German soldiers were the worst when it came to the Black Market goods, her mother kept cans of petrol burried in the outhouses where the pigs were, and sold it to the soldiers so they could go home on leave. Her mother was caught and sent to prison for two months.

Periodically, German patrols would arrive to search the farm, sometimes in day or night and if it was the latter, the radio was thrown under a pile of washing or a like.

One day when a patrol arrived they were worried because they had two British airmen concealed on the farmlands and the patrol came very close to finding them. The tension must have shown for the Sargent said "you don't seem very relaxed, I believe you have something to hide". They went away but returned a while later, when he said "you look more relaxed this time, I wonder why". In the meantime, of course, they had hidden the airmen away from the farm amongst the displased persons they had working on the farm.

Whether the next incident follows on from this, I am not sure. But Denise and the mother where sheltering two British airmen who had been shot down and where having trouble trying to pass them on the escape route. Her father took no part in all of this, apparently he was an alcoholic and this night he came home from the village very drunk.

After a terrible row he said he going to tell the Gestape about the Airmen, and set off to do so. The mother got to the airmen and told them what was happening, gave them a gun and told them to do whatever they had to do.

We are told that the father was shot and buried in the woods. She would never talk of this and someone not too long before she died asked her about it, waving her arms, saying "non non" and getting very excited and upset.

She told of taking their horse and cart to Arras, she was gone for three days obsensibly taking vegetables to market, but really was delivering messages along the route. There was some sabbotage in the area and many young men were rounded up including her brother and cousin. They were marched off and later hurded into a Church. her brother managed to escape , but her cousin was never heard of again. Denise and her mother were very worried incase they would be named.

She told stories, such as when Hitler was heard to be coming to review the sea defences. They all ran down to the shore to have a look at him.

Another time a Doodlebug bomb, which was aimed at London, landed on the beach below with a loud explosion, she reported on this.

Les told of dog fights which went on daily over the channel and how they cheared everytime the "Bosch" went into the Brink and how the skies went almost dark when the RAF were passing over, to their targets on their thousand bomber raids.

She did not realise then, that her future husband was only fifty miles away on the otherside of the Channel at Manston on the South coast. He was in the R.A.F in signals and was very lucky to escape alive from a heavy raid on Manston by the Lufftwaffer. On D-Day, the Canadiands stormed the cliffs and they rushed to help whereever they could to greet them - they were shouting "Goodbye, Bosch".

Later Les was stationed on the farm where they both fell in love and were married in 1947 in France, and came to live in Erdington, Birmingham. She always remained very French and had a great sense of humour. She did however, admire our Royal family, she loved to hear other people's exploits about our side of the War from my husband and his friends in the RAF.

Just before she died she expressed the wish that her medal should go to the museum in Bologne - whether it ever did, I do not know.

Denise was a very brave lady and I feel these events should be recorded and kept in the family in honour of her. Who knows, future generations might gain some inspriation from her story, because had some of these exploits been revealed to the Germans at that time the outcome would have been unthinkable.

Told by: Mrs Veronica J. Smith
Stourbridge, West Midlands.

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