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Marie Annick Stanhope épouse Davis

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Marie Annick STANHOPE Nicky
Née le 1er août 1921 - Saint-Lunaire, 35800, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, FRANCE

Parents
Aubrey Charles STANHOPE 1895-1953
Paule Marcelle Yvonne Paulette BORDIER 1898-1922

Fratrie
H Aubrey Charles STANHOPE, Distinguished Flying Cross 1920-1994

Laurent Laloup le mercredi 24 janvier 2024 - Demander un contact

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" URBANA – Marie Annick "Nicki" Davis of Urbana died at her home on Friday (Sept. 1, 2017). She was 96 years old.
Nicki was born in Saint-Lunaire, France, in August 1921 to Aubrey Charles Stanhope and Paulette Bordier du Raincy. She was raised in France by her grandparents after the early death of her mother, and earned a master's degree in English from l'Université de Rennes.
She lived in Occupied France during the Second World War and worked secretly with a unit of La Résistance while she was at the university, sending information on enemy numbers and troop positions to the British; she was imprisoned by the Nazi regime for a time. After the war, she worked in Paris as a translator for the American military.
Nicki married Lt-Col Richard D. "Dave" Davis, USAF; they had three children. Through her husband's postings, she lived in Germany, Japan and many parts of the United States. Nicki earned a second master's degree, in French literature, from Florida State University.
Dave died in 1977, several years after they had moved to Urbana, where he taught meteorology at Chanute Air Force Base. Nicki worked as a pastoral associate in the chaplain's office at Mercy Hospital, where she helped create the hospice program. In later life, she enjoyed spending summers at a house she bought in Saint-Lunaire, near where she had been born and which always remained her favorite place.
She died peacefully in her own home, with family present, as she wished. She is survived by sons John, Christopher (Nora) and Derek, as well as several grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be held in St. Patrick's Church, Urbana, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13. Memorial donations may be sent in her name to Catholic Charities. Renner-Wikoff Chapel and Crematory, 1900 S. Philo Road, Urbana, assisted with arrangements."

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Laurent Laloup le lundi 04 novembre 2019 - Demander un contact

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"Rosemary Laughlin/Voices | Unfolding D-Day from inside France
By The News-Gazette May 20, 2018

It is a fascinating story told by my neighbor, who recently died in her late 90s.
Marie was born to a French mother and an American father, a French-speaking military officer, who met after the great war.
Her mother died when she was 2 months old. Her father returned to St. Louis in the U.S., leaving Marie and her brother to be raised by their French grandparents.
The Bordier du Raincy family had two homes in the province of Brittany — in the capital of Rennes and in the town of Saint Lunaire. Their beautiful generations-old summer home was near a beach on the Atlantic Ocean.
After the German conquest in 1940, the coastline was fortified as part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall, stretching from Norway through France to the border with Spain.
German officers lived in hotels and in houses unoccupied by French families. Enlisted men were billeted in private homes with owners living in them. This included Marie's home in Rennes.
"They were polite," Marie said. "They smelled of strong German soap. They offered me candy and cookies, but I always refused. Non, merci." Shaking her head sadly, she reflected, "Poor soldiers. They were victims, too. They didn't want to fight Hitler's war. Soldiers are always victims."
Marie had begun a course of Classic studies in Latin, French and English at the University of Rennes. She was summoned by the German kommandant after a friend was reported writing a joke about Hitler in Marie's notebook. What had she to do with it? he asked. Her Anglo last name, Stanhope, made her particularly suspicious. What could she tell him about this?
Marie was young and bold. She tossed her head. "Je n'y peux de rien." I can do nothing there.
The kommandant heard, "Je n'ai peur de rien!" I am afraid of nothing! He felt his military authority challenged; he ordered her to jail for disrespect and abetting anti-German propaganda.
There she stayed for several weeks, sharing her cell with the madam of a brothel. In retrospect, she said she rather enjoyed it — despite the bleak food.
Marie's grandfather had been a proud French infantry officer. He could not bear to communicate directly with the enemy German authority. Instead, he went to the dean of the university, who appealed to the kommandant for Marie's release in time to take final exams. There was no further evidence against her. She was released. Fortunately for her, the kommandant was in the Wehrmacht, not the merciless Gestapo or SS.
Marie was not cowed by her imprisonment. She connected with the local Résistance cadre. When possible, she reported German troop numbers, movements and emplacements ultimately conveyed to British intelligence. She had good vantage when visiting Saint Lunaire. She had art training and drew elements of what she saw.
Engaging with the Résistance was difficult and dangerous. Even one link broken by torture or penetration by a collaborator could lead to deadly reprisals, which the Germans did not hesitate to enforce.
Oh, Marie remembered the glorious news of the D-Day invasion. More vividly, she recalled the German troops leaving Rennes two months later. They blew up bridges behind them.
Because she knew English, she was an official greeter of the Americans swelling into Rennes in jeeps and trucks. Some infantry marched on foot. General George Patton was the commander of the Third Army, whose 4th Armored Division rolled into Rennes. It was Aug. 4, 1944.
"Come on in! They're gone! Gone!" she cried. "Come on in!"
Her eyes lit up. Elation filled her voice these many years later. "Gone! I remember it like yesterday."
Marie settled in Urbana because, in her mother's pattern, she married an American military officer. Marie met Lt. Col. Richard J. Davis, USAF, in Paris after the war when she was working as a translator. She accompanied her husband to postings in several countries and states, ending at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, where he taught meteorology.
Rosemary Laughlin lives in Urbana and writes community theater reviews for The News-Gazette."

Laurent Laloup le lundi 04 novembre 2019 - Demander un contact

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Témoignage de Michel Bedel, recueilli par Roger Gaillard

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Laurent Laloup le dimanche 03 novembre 2019 - Demander un contact

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