Valmy et l'Histoire

Un beau jour, un monsieur américain vint à Paris avec sa fille, pour ses vacances. Il avait envie de se remémorer sa jeunesse en tant que soldat de l'armée américaine.

Il passa par le 10e, voir le collège Valmy. Il alla rencontrer le Principal et madame Havas. Plus tard, nous lui avons posé quelques questions par email.

C'est comme ça que nous pouvons vous raconter un moment de l'ancienne vie de Valmy .

Reconnaissez-vous l'endroit?

Joe, un soldat américain venu en 1944 à Paris, a habité dans une salle du collège à la libération de Paris. Son armée est restée dans notre école pendant environ un an. A la fin de la guerre, ses camarades et lui sont retournés vivre aux Etats-Unis. Allez, un petit effort en anglais!

AAA: Why did you come to our school for the first time ?

J.A:  I arrived at the school in December 1944. The Allies invaded France on June 6, 1944 and Paris was liberated a few months later. I came from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Orly Airport in Paris in December of 1944 with about ten other soldiers. The rest of our Army Signal Services Company (about 150 men) came to France by boat. Our job was to update and maintain airport communications in Europe. I was a teletype mechanic. Others were trained in radio and radar.

AAA :Where did you live ?  What class ? 

J.A.: German soldiers lived in your school building  until Paris was liberated. When they left we moved in. I lived in a room on the second floor near where your Principal’s office is.  There were twelve of us in that room. There were similar rooms in the building. All of the soldiers in the photos I sent lived in the building.   

AAA:  Has the school changed ?

 J.A: The school is different now than it was then. In fact there was a wide stair case to the right of the entrance to the school that went up to the second floor.  At that time the building looked the same on the outside as it does today. The photograph taken in 1945 that you have illustrates this. 

AAA : How old were you ? 

J.A. I was 19 years old when I arrived in Paris in December 1944.My army company lived in your school for about a year and when we left, I suppose it became a school again. We went to another place until we were sent back to the United States.  I went home and was discharged from the Army in February of 1946.

Thank you Joe for your your answers and your photos!

Annah, Anouk, Anastasia  5e