Le Tigre de Biazza

Harold Henry "Swede" Swingler was my grandfather's older brother. My grandfather, both my parents and I were also in the Army. When I was a kid, my father was stationed in Germany. In 1984, when I was 11, we made a trip to Normandy. At the time, my father was reading "Night Drop" by S.L.A. Marshall. The book mentions Harold and explains how and where he was killed. So we made a visit to Ste. Mere-Igles, where he had dropped in on D-Day minus 1. At one point during the visit my family and I were attempting to look through the gates of a farm for "Hill 20." The owner walked up and asked if he could help. Through my mother's broken French and the farmer's limited English, he figured out why we were there. Turns out he was reading a French version of "Night Drop". My father pointed out the passages which mentioned Harold. The farmer gave us the grand tour of his house, pointing out bullet holes in his home from the battle. He also took us to see a museum dedicated to the 82nd. There we found my uncle's name: "Captain Harold Henry Swingler, "Swede." The time I spent in Ste. Mere-Iglies was one of the most memorable vacations of my life. Anyhow, thanks for keeping the memory of Harold and his comrades alive.

Marc Swingler

Hello sir,

we are very honnored and pleased to read you here, but could you please make a short presentation of you in the "presentation" part of our forum.
That way our forum members can learn a bit more about you.

I'll try to make a translation of what you wrote here above, because it's very interresting and most of our members are frenchspeaking people.

Thank you for your interrest in our forum and ...sorry if my english is not perfect, i'm also frenchspeaking (Belgian)

Pour nos lecteur francophones je me permet de traduire (approximativement; Denis le ferait certainement beaucoup mieux que moi, mais bon, je me lance...) car cette intervention de Marc SWINGLER est pour le moins intéressante.

...

Harold Henry "Swede" SWINGLER était le frère ainé de mon grand-père.
Mon grand-père, mes parents et moi-même avons également servi dans l'armée.
Quand j'était gosse, mon père était basé en Allemagne. En 1984, alors que j'avais 11 ans, nous avons fait un voyage en Normandie. A ce moment mon père lisait "Night Drop" de SLA MARSHALL. Le livre faisait mention de Harold et expliquait ou et comment il était mort. Ainsi nous avons visité Sainte-Mère-Eglise, ou il avait été largué au jour J-1. A un moment de la visite ma famille et moi tentions de regarder à travers la barrière d'une ferme afin de trouver "HILL 20". Le propriétaire est venu vers nous et nous a demandé si nous avion besoin d'aide. Avec le français approximatif de ma mère et l'anglais limité du fermier il a compris pourquoi nous étions là. Il s'avéra qu'il lisait la version française de "Night Drop". Mon père lui indiqua le passage parlant de Harold. Le fermier nous fit faire le tour de sa ferme, nous montrant des impact de balles datant de la guerre dans les murs de sa maison.Ils nous a aussi emmené visiter un musée dédié à la 82nd Airborne. Là-bas nous avons trouvé le nom de mon oncle: Captain Harold Henry Swingler, "Swede". Les moments passés à sainte-Mère-Eglise ont été pour moi les vacances les plus mémorables de ma vie. Néanmoins, merci d'entretenir la mémoire de Harold et de ses camarades.

...

très intéressante même.

mc los,

Your English is perfect. Thank you for translating. I've submitted a short presentation to the forum.

https://carentanlibertygroup.forumgratuit.org/t1882-hello-everyone#24884

marc.swingler a écrit:

mc los,

Your English is perfect. Thank you for translating. I've submitted a short presentation to the forum.

https://carentanlibertygroup.forumgratuit.org/t1882-hello-everyone#24884

Thank you very much and be welcome here.