immersed in D-Day “reenactors” in Normandy – L’Express

The shots are deafening. On the heights of Crasville, a small town of 220 inhabitants on the coast of the English Channel, five men in American military uniforms aim at a German blockhouse, which they generously spray with blank bullets. On the other side of this reconstituted no man’s land, Fabien Trombert, wearing a German helmet, shouts “Achtung!” [Attention !] warning to his imaginary comrades. Hidden behind the concrete block, he responds by shooting the tank dating from 1944 parked in the heart of the battlefield, with a lot of fireworks, smoke bombs and fake explosions.

Under the blue sky of June 3, 2024, the “re-enactors” expend impressive energy to take spectators back eighty years, to the morning of June 6, 1944, the famous D-Day of the Normandy landings. At the announcement of the assault, certain American extras rushed towards the blockhouse, threw themselves to the ground, rolling in the dry earth and the trenches dug a few days earlier. With vintage Jeeps, khaki tents and military ambulances dating from the middle of the last century, the scene looks exactly like a movie shoot. A hundred spectators watched, delighted, as the German enemy was taken hostage, who left the blockhouse to applause.

Delighted, the actors of the day greet the audience, invited to approach the concrete block to learn more about the history of this German battery, bombed by the American Allies eighty years earlier, almost to the day. Jacques Converset, passionate about the history of the Second World War and also dressed in the American khaki uniform, takes over. “There were 136 bomb impacts here, but none hit the bunkers, which all remained intact,” he recites before detailing the characteristics of the blockhouse. Telephone in hand, sometimes in costume themselves, the spectators do not miss a bit of the story. Fabien Trombert smiles continuously. With his small group of friends, he is making his “childhood dream” come true.

Since adolescence, this business leader, former mayor of the Haute-Savoie commune of Morzine, has spent the vast majority of his free time finding out about the Second World War, researching vintage military vehicles, hunting down objects dating from the period in specialized flea markets. Above all, he regularly participates, with his group of friends, in historical reenactments organized during different events, bringing back to life for tourists scenes of battle or daily military life. Until, in 2022, a “monumental” stroke of luck stirs up this invasive passion even more.

“No one had ever heard of it”

While browsing the online classified ads site Le Bon Coin, the man discovered an offer for land, in Cotentin, with several German blockhouses dating from the Second World War. Excited, he then called his cousin Eric as well as two long-time friends, Jacques Converset and Gilles Gueyraud, with whom he shared this taste for reconstruction. “Two days later, we visited the field. In a few minutes, we saw its potential, and we knew we had to sign… Even if everyone thought we were crazy,” says Fabien Trombert, who became the happy co-owner, with his three friends, of what he calls his “little piece of History”.

At the time, the blockhouses forgotten on the land of this Normandy commune were nevertheless covered in brambles and vegetation, completely invisible from the road. So much so that the successive anniversaries of the Landing and the numerous American-Norman commemorations have never directly concerned the town of Crasville, to the great despair of its mayor, Bruno Lepley. “No tourist knew of the existence of this German battery. Some residents themselves had never heard of it! The festivities mainly concerned famous towns like Sainte-Mère-Eglise, or Colleville-sur-Mer,” confides the ‘edile.

When they took possession of their land, Fabien Trombert and his friends undertook major work. Taking advantage of a week’s vacation, the Haut-Savoyards found a semi-trailer, a bulldozer and two mechanical excavators, and cleaned the field. They cleared the land themselves, using metal detectors in particular: around the blockhouses they found shell casings dating from the D-Day landings, but also gas masks for horses, a bottle of disinfectant with half-erased German inscriptions, a toothbrush that belonged to a soldier, and even… the end of one of them’s dentures. “When we arrived with our mechanical excavators, the residents wondered what we were doing here, they were rather on the defensive. And then we sympathized, they ended up helping us and joining the project.” says Fabien Trombert.

Over time, locals entrust newcomers with the history of their parents or grandparents, bringing official documents, photos or letters from the time. “With archives retrieved via American and German registers and hours of research, we managed to reconstruct part of what happened here,” explains Jacques Converset. The little gang thus discovered which planes of the 8th American Air Force bombed the area on June 6, 1944, which ships were present a few meters away, which inhabitants witnessed the scene or lived under German occupation. “We said to ourselves that we absolutely had to pass on this story,” summarizes Gilles Gueyraud.

Six months ago, the idea of ​​recreating a vintage American camp for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings came up among the four friends. It came to fruition through administrative requests and “helping hands” from associations or private donors. The Haute-Savoie region and the Manche department participated in the effort, providing “1,500 and 2,000 euros” respectively to the small group. A sum far from covering the titanic expenses of such a project: to give shape to their camp, the reenactors imported more than 400 tonnes of material – jeeps, military ambulances, cargo trucks, tanks, etc. – from Haute-Savoie, to with the help of 14 semi-trailers and a 19 ton to import kilos of Savoyard food to be served on site. “For transport alone, it cost us more than 25,000 euros,” confides Fabien Trombert, who does not want to communicate additional figures on the investment necessary for the creation of such a military base. “When we love, we don’t count,” he philosophizes.

New demonstrations

At the beginning of June, the final result is impressive. For the occasion, the surrounding owners gave part of their land to the four friends, allowing them to invest more than 3.5 hectares of fields. The delighted tourists discovered a life-size camp there, made up of dozens of tents, a recreated military hospital, jeeps, cargo trucks (GMC) and vintage cars, as well as the famous Chaffee M24 tank, belonging to a friend of the group.

In the middle of the camp, the rare replica of a Waco CG-4 glider, used by the American army to silently transport equipment and soldiers during the Landings, is also on display, making Fabien Trombert proud. Almost every day, its team of volunteers carries out a live demonstration that is much appreciated by visitors: a military Jeep, still in working order, enters the glider’s cabin, to illustrate how, eighty years ago, these devices were armed before D-Day. “Here, all the vehicles run, we offer visitors a Jeep ride, to ride on the GMCs, to touch objects or to wander around the camp as they wish. It’s more lively and authentic than the big ones. museum demonstrations, installed for a long time in the surrounding communities”, estimates the mayor, satisfied.

In fact, the spectators seem won over. To the crackling sound of music from the 1940s broadcast through large speakers, they pose on the installations, enter the tents, visit the blockhouses installed on the site at their own pace, consult the explanatory folders left free in front of the vehicles. Some look up to the sky, impressed by the passage of American military planes, requested by local contacts to fly over the camp from time to time. Others sip a craft beer leaning at the bar, managed by the Haut-Savoyards family and the Sapaudia association, specializing in bone marrow donation. “There is an atmosphere, equipment that we are not used to seeing, new demonstrations. It allows us to project ourselves, to imagine a little of what could have happened four years ago -twenty years”, comments Sylviane, who came specially from Le Touquet, in Pas-de-Calais, to celebrate this anniversary. “The children are very receptive, they play in the blockhouses, ask lots of questions, are very curious. It was important for us, this memory work,” confides a mother from Scotland, accompanied by her two children. dressed in soldiers’ costumes.

The same morning, Fabien Trombert welcomed a kindergarten class from a school in the region. Squeezed into a military Jeep, the little students observed, wide-eyed, the military weapons and historical objects scattered all over the camp. “We obviously do not explain to them all the details of the war, but it is a gateway to History. Later, they will remember this day, and will perhaps attach additional importance to this chapter in school”, hopes the forty-year-old. They will not be the only ones: since the camp opened on the weekend of June 1, several classes have taken place on the heights of Crasville. On Sunday June 2 alone, “nearly 6,000 people” passed through the camp gate. “It’s as many visitors as we are raising awareness of this part of History, and that’s exactly what we wanted,” concludes Fabien Trombert, before being interrupted by tourists curious to know more on the history of blockhouses. The man patiently answers each question, then readjusts his military costume. A long week of commemorations still awaits him.