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The Verlaine Message Museum or Museum of 5 June 1944 is a
historical museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
founded in 1991 in
Tourcoing
Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubai ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, near
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...
. It is named after the message sent by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's ''
Radio Londres'' at 9:15 pm on June 5, 1944 announcing the imminent
invasion of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
. The museum consists of the concrete
bunker
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...
where the German
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
intercepted the message.
History
Following the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
, the German
15th Army established its headquarters at Tourcoing. The 15th Army was deployed in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. The headquarters consisted of thirteen concrete blockhouses. These protected the occupiers against
air strikes
An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...
and
chemical weapons
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
. German soldiers with small arms and machine guns controlled physical access to the bunkers.
During Allied planning for
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...
, the actual date of
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
needed to be kept secret, but the Allies depended on cooperation with the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
. On 1 June 1944, a message was broadcast over Radio London to inform the Resistance that the invasion could be expected within 2 weeks. The first message consisted of the first three lines of
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' in international and ...
's poem
Chanson d'automne
"Chanson d'automne" ("Autumn Song") is a poem by Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), one of the best known in the French language. It is included in Verlaine's first collection, ''Poèmes saturniens'', published in 1866 (see 1866 in poetry). The poe ...
: ''Les sanglots longs des violons d'automne'' ("The long sobs of autumn violins").
On 5 June, at 9:15 pm (London time), Radio London broadcast a second message: the next three lines from the same poem. ''Blessent mon coeur d'une longeur monotone,'' or "Wound my heart with a monotonous languor", meant that the invasion was to begin within 48 hours. The Resistance was supposed to increase its efforts against German supply lines, especially railroads, in anticipation of
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
.
At Tourcoing on 5 June, the 15th Army Headquarters intercepted the message. It was 23:45 (French local time).
The museum today
The largest of the thirteen blockhouses, a Type SK1 Bunker number 381, was converted to a museum. It is dedicated to the installations of the Nazi occupation of France and how those installations worked. The rooms most important to the bunker's wartime function — the generators, ventilators, telephone exchange and translation department, as well as the general's office, kitchen and guard post, are open for public view and are restored to wartime appearance. Other exhibits include methods used by the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
to detect and locate
radio transmitters
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
used by the Resistance and a room dedicated to the landings in Normandy. For 2013–2014, the museum has an exhibition dedicated to the commandos who were the first French soldiers to land as part of the liberating force. The museum's stated objective is "to fight for remembrance and against all forms of revisionism."
Photos
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 01.JPG, Entrance to the bunker with the original number clearly visible
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 02.JPG, Machine gun nest guarding the entrance
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 03.JPG, A hand-powered air filter. The poster reads: "Anyone who damages security devices or protective equipment will be severely punished according to German military law."
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 04.JPG, Generator set and electrical circuit boards
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 05.JPG, Radio location equipment
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 06.JPG, Radio location equipment
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 07.JPG, Telephone switchboard
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 08.JPG, Reconstruction of the interception of the Verlaine Message
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 09.JPG, One of the bunker corridors showing gas-tight doors marked with red circles
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 10.JPG, Exhibit in the bunker corridors
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 11.JPG, Display of Allied artifacts including a deck of aircraft recognition cards and a copy of General Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
's letter to the D-Day landing forces
File:Tourcoing Bunker message Verlaine 12.JPG, Display of German artifacts including a training version of the stick grenade and a chemical weapons test kit
References
External links
Official website of the museum (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verlaine Message Museum
Aftermath of World War II
Museums in Nord (French department)
Tourcoing