Dunkirk: The History Behind the Major Motion Picture. Joshua Levine
Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу Dunkirk: The History Behind the Major Motion Picture - Joshua Levine страница 18

Название: Dunkirk: The History Behind the Major Motion Picture

Автор: Joshua Levine

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Историческая литература

Серия:

isbn: 9780008227883

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ alternative existed. British soldiers, raised on plain diets, were now in a country where food was savoured and celebrated, and where unusual animals were eaten with rich sauces. But, according to James Lansdale Hodson, the British were mostly unwilling to try anything new: ‘Some … who have the opportunity of having a lunch such as soup, sardines, veal and coffee, much prefer egg and chips. They don’t like omelettes much … It’s fried eggs the soldiers want, not scrambled eggs.’

      Scottish NCO Alexander Frederick paid five francs each evening for the same meal – a plate of egg and chips, a bowl of café au lait and a chunk of bread. Spending most of his spare time in a Normandy café run by a widow, John Williams had only one complaint: she could not fry an egg. ‘So I went into the kitchen one day and asked whether I could show her.’

      Not everybody conformed to the stereotype. Colin Ashford enjoyed trying new foods in Lille; the local cakes, he says, were far better than anything he ate at home. And he tried horsemeat and chips. ‘It was all right …’

      There were unfamiliar drinks on offer too. Estaminets were cafés serving alcohol where some men learned to drink wine and lager, while others settled for their usual dark beer. It was almost effeminate to drink light ale or lager, remembers John Williams. ‘Nowadays, I see Marks and Spencer full of wines and it makes me laugh when I think of the days when wine was something rather strange that the French liked.’

      And while Williams claims that British soldiers never caused any trouble, sometimes, of course, they did. In December 1939, a twenty-three-year-old military policeman, Lance Corporal Rowson Goulding, was charged with murder following a fight in an estaminet. A study of the court-martial transcript reveals some undisputed facts. Goulding and four colleagues were drinking together in the Café de la Mairie in Drocourt when they became involved in a brawl with locals. Chairs and bottles were thrown, and minutes later shots were fired in the street, and a local man, Fernand Bince, was killed.

      French witnesses to the brawl claimed that the soldiers were very drunk. They had started pouring their own drinks, breaking glasses, and taking cigars from behind the counter. When asked to pay, said the French, the soldiers resisted and started a fight. They were all eventually thrown out of the estaminet, but not before some of the locals – including Fernand Bince – had been injured.

      The soldiers, on the other hand, denied being drunk. They claimed that one of their colleagues had been injured in an unprovoked attack by a local man – which had led to the brawl. They said that they had helped to carry their injured colleague outside, and that Goulding had been particularly angry about the incident.

      Whichever version – if either – is accurate, it seems that Goulding then hurried back to his billet and seized a revolver from a colleague before returning to the café. Bince may too have fetched a gun before also returning to the café. There were no witnesses to subsequent events – but several shots were heard, and Goulding was seen dragging Bince down the street by the ankles. Bince died shortly afterwards in a British casualty clearing station. He had been shot once in the chest.

      The court martial found Goulding guilty of murder and sentenced him to death. But two letters in mitigation sit on the court file. The first was dictated by Bince’s mother and translated into English. She expresses the greatest sympathy for Goulding, and begs the authorities to show him mercy. ‘I would not have his mother weeping for her son as I do for mine.’

      The second letter, from the local mayor, also urges a reprieve. In touchingly flawed English, he writes: ‘It certainly is not because a man has committed a grave fault that we shall cease to love the British Army. In taking into consideration my request, you will foster further the love and, this is why, with my respect, I would ask you to be as clement as possible for this poor Corporal.’

      In the event, Goulding was reprieved. His sentence was commuted to life in prison. And these letters reveal a period when the French could forgive the British a great deal. As George Wagner says, ‘They used to look on us as though we were saviours.’

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAu4AAASICAIAAADDAt3gAAAACXBIWXMAAC4jAAAuIwF4pT92AAAH aWlDQ1BQaG90b3Nob3AgSUNDIHByb2ZpbGUAAHjalZVZVJMHHsX/35KVkEAIEJDlg7AbSEBkFQqE VfZVwJUkHxAJJCZhq2LpqIjiAlYsVRAVpI4riFAcl0pFK+JYgQq44AZapVgVR9SplnngzLEvnXPm Pv3OPee/PN0LQOcFh4aEoUEA+QU6TVJECJGekUnQhgEDFJhAA+csmVYNfy0EYHoIEACAQVdplERS n+958Fhz2DQvv641kcXNh/8thkyt0QFQewCgV05qZQC0agBYV6xT6wDgJQDwNClJEgAEB6Csz/kT S//EmvSMTABqJQDwcma5HgB40lluBQBeekYmMXv208+yQk3RrIeeBQAmGIM1uIAnBEIUJMNSyAUN lMFGqIF6aIFWOAOX4AbchnF4Ae8RDGEjfESAuCLeSAgSgyxCspA8pAgpRzYjtUgjchg5hZxHepFB ZBR5ikwhH1EaaohaoA6oGPVHw9AENBMlUTW6Gq1Aa9B69BDajn6P9qHD6Bj6Av2A0TFjzBYTYQuw KCwNk2Ma7AtsK7YHO4x1YZexm9g49hpHcUPcBhfjQXgCvgJX4+V4Db4fP4lfxH/GH+NvKXSKOUVI CaQkUGSUQkolZQ/lOKWbcpPylPKBakC1o/pQY6lZ1CJqFXUftYPaR31AnaaxaAKaLy2elk0ro+2k HaVdpN2hvabr0QV0f3oKPZ9eQW+kd9EH6JMMKoNg+DFSGSrGZsZBRjfjLuMdk8cUM2OZCmYFs4l5 gXmP+buemZ63XqqeTm+HXpveDb2XLA5LxIpnqVjbWa2sftaUvpH+fP00/RL93frn9O+zUbY9O4qt ZFezT7FH2B85NpxwTh6nhtPJuWuAGjgZxBsUGTQY9BhMGhoZ+hvKDbcYdhje49K47txM7nruce4t I9xIZJRptMGozWiUx+B58WS8at453oQx3zjcWGfcZDxggpiITVaYVJtcMHlpamOaZLrOtMP0Cd+M H80v47fyx8xMzRaarTVrN/vF3MI80bzC/Kz51BynOcvn1M65ZoFb+FtoLY5YjFtaWqZZbrfstcKs AqyKrU5aPbd2tpZb77MeJcyINOIrot+GYxNrU2Vz1ZZhG2lbaXtFQBdECTYJ+uxYdnF21XYD9sb2 6fZ77O87CBxyHI46vHL0clzj+IMT3SnOqdbprrOds9L5lPMHlzCXbS4jc23nKud2ChFhjLBOOOYq dl3j2utm4iZza3ObEcWJGkSTYn9xlfiuu9C9zP26B+Gh8eiZZzpv5bxznoaepOfp+ez5svldXmwv udcZb663wvuCD99nlU+vr63vGt8hP7HfZr/H/kH+9f7vFqQsaAtgB+QF9AY6BlYEPv4s9LPmIDxI HnQp2CG4MngiJCbkhIQrKZTcCg0IPRBGC8sPGwj3CW+MoEbkR9yMDIhsieJElUQ9WhizsDPaJnpL 9LsYeUx/bEDskTh+XEXcm3h5/GCCJKE9UZC4M4maVJw0kbwk+aeUkJTOVJfUxjRe2ua0mUVFiybT 5el3MpIz+jJDM88v9l7ctkS45Nultkv3LjNf9vVy3vKaFZwV27JYWVuketIqGUu2Vc6WV5Ncsjab n12fQ+Q05zrnnlB4Ks6sDF55JS8hb0SZpXyWr83/WLBRxVU1qJ3VHauCV13XLNFMaEt0NN2uQofC zqKIopFiRfGHkm2lNqUdn0d+Prpas4a2pqFsXtnVtVlr339RU+5SfvHLJV9O/61mnXDdj+tlG2BD Q4VfxcjG4krjyo5NqZvebN5V5V11a8vqrVZbu7eR2xnbj1cnV7+vadwRvuP5V7U7A3Y+qd2+y3fX 2Ndb63zrxr+p2R2we2JPXX14/ZuG5r0pjXhjx76c/fz9fQfKmtybHjd/czCuBWs5/a36kOOhe3/f dTj+CP1I99HVx7yOvTp+7ISi1aF1rG3/yeXtVu2jpxo6lnVadT747kAXedrp9K//aD2jO+t7dubc 5fNbvk+5YHFhvPvYD8UXg3tYPcOXmi6rflxwhXFluLflamFf2DXja0/++d31TT8tvuHWj/YPDRwe LP859aZwCBu6PXxypOqW/HbgHf6d13evjx6+t/G+/EHIQ+LhzKN7Y+fHGx+XP5H+EvrU8Rnz2W8T g792Te59vv63vBfJL/1f2U3pT719/fBf1950TTe/rXm39r3y34t/X/jB76PLH3Nm9GdmPuVySwlA 4h8AAJ88150AuwkAw6WfPNteAKNHAN03dG
СКАЧАТЬ