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Commemorative Stone Ernest Hemingway Libin

The following memorial can be found on the Place de la Libération in Libin:

"In this neighborhood was the great American writer
Ernest Hemingway
war correspondent in September 1944 "

Hemingway traveled to London in the spring of 1944, where he wanted to follow the war closely as a correspondent. Once there, he began to write articles about the air combats and bombings.
Hemingway was present at the Normandy landings on D-Day on Tuesday, June 6, 1944, although he had to remain on a landing craft from the army command. At the end of July of that year, he joined the 22nd Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Charles "Buck" Lanham, which was en route to Paris. He is also said to have taken charge of a group of resistance fighters, including veterans from the Spanish Civil War, with which he says he liberated the Parisian Hôtel Ritz and the bar. However, by leading an armed group of resistance fighters, Hemingway had violated the Geneva Convention. As a journalist, he was explicitly prohibited from taking part in military actions. Still, he escaped conviction by claiming that he only gave advice. afterwards Hemingway traveled to the north of France to rejoin his friend Colonel Buck Lanham and the 22nd Allied Infantry Regiment.
He later witnessed some of the toughest fighting during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest and narrowly escaped death several times, according to friends. He saw a lot of action in Normandy and in the Battle of the Bulge.
He was later awarded the "Bronze Star" for his service as a war correspondent and for moving freely in combat zones under attack in order to gain an accurate picture of the conditions there.

Source: Wikipedia

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Source

  • Text: Marie-Christine Vinck
  • Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck

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