Extracts from letters by Hon.J.L.Vernon to his parents, Lord and Lady Vernon of Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire, following his landing in Normandy with Allied Forces on 14 June 1944 [D Day plus 8] and after the liberation of Brussels [3 September 1944]

Continued from an interpretation panel in SUDBURY COURTYARD:
The Vernons of Sudbury Hall in the Second World War (1939-1945)

Sunday, 18 June 1944
It seems strange to be amongst the chattering French voices again, but we are lucky enough to be in an attractive little orchard next to an old Norman chateau & church and the weather so far has been lovely.

So it was on the way over and the sight of the coast of Normandy was extraordinary, and it’s hard to get an idea of the thousands upon thousands of craft of every size from the Rodney & Warspite down to the little ducks going to & fro to off-load, unless you’ve seen it. You just couldn’t count them.

We had a very nice Captain on the ship and we watched it all from the bridge. We were threatened with wading up to the neck when we arrived, but frustrated the beachmaster and got a dry landing.

The news seems better tonight if the Yanks have cut off the peninsula, but on the British section things seem more static just now, but only for a short time I expect. We don’t see much of what’s happening except a certain amount of aerial activity which goes on at intervals. I hope these pilotless planes haven’t been too unpleasant. I wonder how many they send over. Write and tell me all your news.

9 July 1944
Very glad to get your letters and gather you [Lord Vernon] are having a pretty bad time though you hardly mention it.

But we get a certain amount of news from London and it doesn’t sound much fun … [Lady Vernon] says you have moved to a lower floor which seems a good thing. I am not as yet involved in the battle, but it is difficult to look ahead or forecast anything now.

I went into Caen this afternoon on a jeep and it’s a pretty fair mess though the centre of the town & cathedral seem to have escaped. However there were still some Huns about so we didn’t think it healthy to stay too long! You should have seen these Lancasters come in the other night. There can’t have been much left of the Hitler Jungen [Nazi youth] by the time they’d done. Yes [sister Avice’s] baby should arrive any time now and I’m longing to hear about it …

10 September 1944
The scenes when we entered Brussels were quite fantastic. The French enthusiasm was as nothing in comparison. For 24 hours the population went quite mad. The vehicles were bedecked with fruit & flowers & girls - I’ve never been kissed or dreamt that I could be by so many people. And in the town itself there was still spasmodic firing from the Germans a number of whom hadn’t been cleared up.

The Palais de Justice, a most lovely building and huge which the Germans had set alight was ablaze and lit up everything and the wine which the Huns had stored there for the Wehrmacht [German army], 5000 casks, was looted by the populace who proceeded to get very drunk in the streets, cheering wildly and singing.

All the transport was blocked & an evening of wild debauch set in. In these circumstances it was not easy to control the men. Everywhere in Belgium it is the same. Nothing is too much trouble. Generosity as I have never seen … It is impossible to describe really if you weren’t there.

11 November 1944
I had my first view of the famous ‘herrenvolk’ [German civilians] proper today. It is hard to know what to think really especially when an old man, as he did, came up and took one’s hand saying - Are you English thank God you have come - What’s the point in being rude in return as we are told to be.

I wonder if you’ve had any V2s around you. I imagine the effect isn’t much worse than the flying bomb … I heard from intelligence reports today something of another weapon they have up their sleeve. It sounded awful so pray God they won’t have a chance to use it.

14 November 1944
Everyone writes that you [Lady Vernon] seem to be doing wonderful work up at the hospital and I expect they appreciate it enormously as I’m sure I would … I do hope Mrs R [the cook at Sudbury Hall, who remained there during the war, cooking for Derbyshire Hospital for Sick Children] will be able to send me some tit-bits in the way of a cake or something, as some of the men get their wives to send them & they seem to arrive quite alright … It is very unfair really, the arrangements, as some of the men haven’t had a single day’s holiday since they landed nearly 5 months ago.

7 December 1944
I’m afraid it isn’t really possible to write properly under these conditions but I will try to send a short note every few days to tell you I’m alright.

I don’t really know which is worst at the moment - the cold, the mud or the Germans, but I think the latter, though the other two follow fairly close behind … I must leave you now and try to have a shut-eye in my waterlogged trench.

13 December 1944
The pudding arrived last night and it was hardly unpacked before it was eaten. It was DELICIOUS so please thank Mrs R very much indeed. My sergeant who had part of it said that even ‘The Wife’ couldn’t have made a better one so it was much appreciated by all.