THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2022, D-DAY PREPARATION

 THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2022 D-DAY PREPARATION

Carl Bauer was from Heyersdorf, Saxony, Germany.  Bauer is a common last name meaning “farmer”, and he was from a farm family.  “Dorf” means ‘village’ in German, and that truly was Heyersdoft - just a village in the northwest section of Saxony - on the border with Thuringia province.  

Although Carl was not the first son in the Bauer family, his older brother was sickly and Carl was thus in line to inherit the family farm.  The farm was in rolling hills with mostly dairy cattle and supporting fields.  They did have a tractor for plowing and harvesting.  They milked their cows twice daily and their milk was taken to Crimminschau to be made into cheese.  But as the Nazis took over Germany, able-bodied young men like Carl were drafted into the German army.  Carl was assigned to Western Germany and was in the unit that invaded France and took over Paris.  His unit helped conquer France and was then assigned to protect the Normandy coast from invasion from England.  

He didn’t like war.  He was a farmer and hoped - one way or another - to return to his family's farm and live a quiet life.  He was engaged to Sophie Snyder - also from Heyersdoft.  His family was Lutheran like most in his area.  His uncle Klaus was a Lutheran minister but was drafted into the army for the Eastern Front with Poland and Russia.  

Sophie Snyder and other women were expected to help the war effort. Sophie, as a farm girl, took over milking, and some of the planting and harvesting chores on both her father’s farm and the Bauer farm.  Bolts of fabric had been sent to Sophie and other women to make into blankets and uniforms.

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Carl had nightmares after the German army took Paris. He had taken some French in school but some of his companions had gotten drunk and abused Parisien women. He had shot a sentry from 100 feet away as a sniper.  He had tried to look away as the man collapsed and fell.  War was not pretty, war was not fun.

German spies had infiltrated the Allied troops.  There were conflicting reports that the Allies will invade southern Italy and work their way north, or invade from Bordeaux on the westside of France.  Still, others expected an attack across the English Channel at Calais - where the Channel was the narrowest. Carl was assigned to the Normandy coast.  Through his binoculars, he could barely see the white cliffs of Dover and there were ships there - but was that an invasion force or a ruse?  There were reports from the other locations of massive ship buildups.  

The Americans had been on a tear - building a new liberty ship every three days in some plants.  The U-boats had sunk some of the ships, but the Germans had lost several u-boats to depth charges.  War is not fun.

Daily, Carl and his unit had target practice and ran about ten miles to keep fit.  Their commanders were fairly sure the allies wouldn’t try to attack in Normandy because they would have to scale the cliffs once they got off their boats.  It would be like target shooting - picking off men with heavy packs on their backs climbing up the cliffs.  

Their supplies were delivered twice a week.  Carl wondered if some of the Schweinebraten could be from Saxony.  The beer and cheese were also good.  If nothing else, the German Army ate well.

Allied reconnaissance airplanes flew over the area occasionally.  Sometimes the Luftwaffe would challenge them and the planes would quickly retreat to England and the fighter jets would come out to challenge the German planes.  

Carl had been to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and many of the southeastern German villages.  Sometimes his father would go looking for bulls to give his herd more virility and Carl would go along.  Nobody ever came to Heyersdorf - other than a stray Lutheran minister on a mission or a new school teacher.  But, life was very different for Carl having been to Paris and in the Army.  

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Between yesterday and today, we’ve seen two farm ‘boys’ (really men) one from the United States and one from Germany - and their preparation for the Normandy invasion of D-Day - June 6, 1944.

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