We Were At Normandy

“I didn’t choose involvement in World War II; circumstances forced me into the war.” This is how Henri Levaufre begins his exciting tale of what it was like to endure German occupation of his country and then celebrate with the Allies when they liberated France. As a thirteen-year-old boy, he witnessed the war’s effects in Periers, his hometown: the perils of combat, two bombings, and his family’s evacuation. After the war, as an Electrical Engineer, he visited the battle fields of Normandy frequently to design and install power lines. This sparked Levaufre’s interest in “the pathway of recent battles”. Slowly, with his family, he began to map out every trench and foxhole in the area. He also collected other war artifacts. After decades of research, he is now an award-winning authority on what happened in Normandy. He has also become the devoted friend and host to many soldiers – on both sides – who fought there.