The Beekeeper

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   Bernard lives just outside our village; in a house that is tucked away near the river and close to the wood's.He has been keeping bee's here for most of his life; and a couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure of spending the Saturday afternoon watching him and our neighbour extract the fresh honey from the honeycomb.
Bernard is 96 years old now; and in my opinion he's a bit special. 
During WWII he was a member of, and his home was the meeting point for the local French Resistance.
He doesn't talk much about it; but we did talk some about the time around the liberation.
A total of around 15 servicemen passed through their house; being hidden until they could be passed on down the line and hopefully freedom. Brit's Canadian and American. Apparently one of the Americans as very young and could not speak one word of french; which he said made thing's complicated, because he could not speak any english.
He still get's a bit upset when telling me how some of his colleagues were captured, and shot by the Nazi's just before the liberation.

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Zed Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Member Donating Member Joined: May 01 2012 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 6460	Post Options Post Reply Quote Zed Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Topic: The Beekeeper Posted: September 06 2018 at 12:41pm
	Bernard lives just outside our village; in a house that is tucked away near the river and close to the wood's. He has been keeping bee's here for most of his life; and a couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure of spending the Saturday afternoon watching him and our neighbour extract the fresh honey from the honeycomb. Bernard is 96 years old now; and in my opinion he's a bit special. During WWII he was a member of, and his home was the meeting point for the local French Resistance. He doesn't talk much about it; but we did talk some about the time around the liberation. A total of around 15 servicemen passed through their house; being hidden until they could be passed on down the line and hopefully freedom. Brit's Canadian and American. Apparently one of the Americans as very young and could not speak one word of french; which he said made thing's complicated, because he could not speak any english. He still get's a bit upset when telling me how some of his colleagues were captured, and shot by the Nazi's just before the liberation.
	It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!

Canuck Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Member Donating Member Joined: January 17 2012 Location: Cochrane, AB Status: Offline Points: 4021	Post Options Post Reply Quote Canuck Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September 06 2018 at 7:13pm
	A very special man with a history of service! Great post, very heart warming!
	Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually

paddyofurniture Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: December 26 2011 Location: NC Status: Offline Points: 7942	Post Options Post Reply Quote paddyofurniture Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September 07 2018 at 8:15am
	I thank God for brave people like him.
	Always looking for military manuals, Dodge M37 items,books on Berlin Germany, old atlases ( before 1946) , military maps of Scotland. English and Canadian gun parts.

Shamu Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 20510	Post Options Post Reply Quote Shamu Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September 07 2018 at 8:21am
	Networks like "Comet" & its companion ones were a godsend for not just escapers themselves but morale in general. Knowing you had "friends on the ground" was a huge advantage if you went down behind enemy lines. & lets face it Air Forces have to work "behind enemy lines" because that where you want the ordinance delivered.
	Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)

A square 10 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 16999	Post Options Post Reply Quote A square 10 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September 07 2018 at 6:53pm
	thats an interesting man , thanks for sharing it with us ,

White Rhino Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Member Donating Member Joined: May 05 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5153	Post Options Post Reply Quote White Rhino Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September 08 2018 at 8:41am
	Awesome !! cherish him and visit often , these people will be gone before we know it !! I had a neighbor who was shot in the head on Anzio beach ! IIRC it was his left eye that he lost from the bullet, He showed me the Bullet and his Purple heart one time , along with the glass eye that he only put in if he was getting dressed up !! The Man drank Shaffers beer all day long, hot of cold .... if you went into the woods around my place and found a shaffer beer can stuck on a branch , then you found his good squirrel hunting spot , if the can was on the ground , it was not a good spot !!! When I first moved here, I was told Man Gross ( His nick name was Parian Man , which is Godfather Man in Cajun french) would have a beer while he waited for his coffee to brew !!! I did not believe that until one morning that he invited me to go hunting with him , I showed up at his house at 5 am.. as he was putting his water to boil for coffee , he asked me in French if I wanted a beer.... I declined, and this was the only time he took no thanks for a beer at my word....LOL! but he put 5 beers on the table , opened one and rolled the rest in newspaper and stuck them in his pocket, he then drank the open one while he poured the water over the coffee grounds, we each drank our coffee , then he grabbed another beer and opened it and started drinking it as we left for our hunt !!! I miss that Old Man now ...He and his wife Taunti Lois were this nicest people you could ever meet !!! His Wife would not speak a word of english , she spoke only french... but she understood every thing you said in english !!! Think she just got that way in her old age , My Wifes Grandfather was the same way ... in his older years he would speak nothing but french ....
	"White Rhino" "Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer." --W. C. Fields