THE MEMORIAL AT THE ISLE OF CHAUSEY
by Lt Col James Ogden, USAF Res. Ret.
Pilot of Daisey Mae Scraggs
Due to the efforts of a wonderful organization (The USA VFW of France) and Col. John R. Davis, Ret USA (The Commanding Officer thereof), they have had as an ongoing project, at their expense, along with contributions from the members of the VFW of the US the memorialization for posterity of some of the sites in France where aircraft were shot down or crashed. The incident of June 8th 1944 on the Isle of Chausey was picked as the second one of those sites.
Dedicating the memorial; the author is shown second from right
Sept. 28th 1999, on a cold, rainy, and blustery morning, the memorial service was accomplished, with the aid of the Honor Guard from Ramstein AFB in Germany doing their thing, along with Col. Davis and several members of the VFW of France. The service was attended by two boat loads of Frenchmen and dignitaries of Granville France and surrounding cities plus the entire population of the Island. To say the least I thought it was a wonderful service. I was saddened by the fact that I was the only crew member in attendance. To the best of my knowledge there are only two of us remaining. The other crew member, Frank DiLeva was unable to attend due to ill health. After the ceremony, there was a luncheon, and awards handed to those still alive that were instrumental in the rescue of the crew members. All in all it was a wonderful and nostalgic experience for me, and a great tribute to the 446th Bomb Group, the B24 bomber, Daisy Mae Scraggs, and the crew of that aircraft :
|
1st Lt James Q. Ogden, Pilot |
T /Sgt George H. Rupard, Radio
Operator |
Lt Col James Ogden, pilot and author of this story at the memorial
By consensus of all involved with the planning, it was decided, in lieu of a bronze plaque, a large granite stone in a conspicuous location would be prepared, and the information desired would be engraved on it.