This is part three of a long letter written in World War II from a French woman in Belgium to a friend in Australia.
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The letter surfaced in Newcastle when Carol Hugginson's nephew Thor came across "a very yellowed envelope" addressed to Clara Hugginson, of 25 Hubbard Street, Islington.
The letter, which contains a diary of life in WWII, was written by a French woman named Fernande Hackray, who was living in Brasschaat [near Antwerp] in Belgium.
As we reported this week, Carol has reached out to the Belgium Embassy in Canberra, which is helping her track down Fernande's family.
The letter was originally sent to Maisie Duffin. Carol's research found that Maisie lived at 42 Hubbard Street, Islington in 1943. The diary runs from 1941 to 1946.
Waratah's Max Moran believed Maisie worked as a housekeeper for the Hackrays in Belgium before she came to Australia.
PART III: It's September 1944. The city of Antwerp has been freed by the Allies, but German soldiers remain in nearby Brasschaat, where Fernande lives with her family. They are waiting for English soldiers to liberate them. Refugees have arrived in Brasschaat from other villages, looking for food.
September 15, 1944: "There is only potatoes, vegetables, one bread [we assume she means loaf] every other day, no meat, no milk, no eggs. All the shops are closed. The Germans are so angry."
Fernande then writes that the Germans had been shooting at men in the village.
"My husband escaped from six bullets," she wrote.
In the very next sentence, though, she wrote: "Now they are quieter. They seem to be very few. We are not quite sure that there will be no fighting here. I would be so pleased to talk English again."
October 1, 1944: Fernande wrote that she was experiencing "days of hope, days of discouragement and days of fear of bombs".
"Nearly all the village sleeps in the cellars."
She then writes: "Today we are full of hope again. The Germans have blown up the main road and they seem to go back to Holland towards Germany. But we are not sure yet and we await the coming of our Tommies [nickname for British soldiers]. Gee they are going to be welcomed!!! When I see the first one, I think I will not be able to stop crying with joy.
"Our flags are ready - one French, one English, one Belgian, one American. Will it be soon?"
December 3, 1944: "At 9 and a half hours we are free!!! The Canadians are here. Talk about a welcome!! My face is sore from kissing. We eat chocolate and smoked cigarettes and talked. Everyone here talks a little English. Our flags are hanging. We are free."
After a few months of relative calm in Belgium, the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive on December 16, 1944 with over a quarter of a million soldiers.
The Germans aimed to take back Antwerp, but their advance stalled and American, British and Belgian troops pushed them back in furious fighting over six weeks in freezing temperatures.
Belgian towns and civilians in the Ardennes suffered during the offensive, with homes reduced to ruins and instances of German troops shooting civilians.
And in the six months following the initial Allied liberation of Antwerp in September, Belgian towns were widely targeted by German V-bombs.
Press reports from the time stated that 2342 of those rockets fell in a 10-mile radius around Antwerp alone.
The V-bombs were estimated to have killed 5000 people and injured 21,000 over this period at the war's end, mostly in the cities of Liege and Antwerp.
Belgium was free of German troops, though, by February 4, 1945.
On February 19, 1945: Fernande wrote: "Every day since we are free, our house is full of soldiers. Every night they come and talk and play piano. We are happy, so happy. All those English and Canadian boys are so nice and good. We are so pleased to have them and they are welcomed everywhere. What a difference with those hated Germans. We are waiting for the end of this awful war."
Fernande wrote about many German V-I bombs and V-2 rockets being dropped on Belgium around this time.
"We have not one window left in all the house," she wrote.
On February 1, 1946, a year after Belgium was liberated, Fernande wrote at the end of the long letter to Maisie: "I thought this letter was in your hand since a long time. I find it in a drawer. I send it directly to you. I hope you will be pleased with it. I wrote it year after year, hiding it from the Germans. Will you please send it back to me when you have read it. I want to keep it as a souvenir."
Maisie never did return the letter. Perhaps she couldn't bear to part with it.
Perhaps Fernande didn't chase it up, wanting to put the war behind her. Hopefully Carol will find Fernande's relatives and return it to them after all these years.
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