The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-07-10
BY ROSETTE HARGROVE

LONDON, July 9-The reality of
Frances hunger, poverty and dig
ease is beginning to live up to
the advance notices, now that the
Allied Armies are leaving behind
them the rich Normandy country
side and entering their first big
towns. The picture will grow in
creasingly more grim as the arm
les progress and will provide the
answer to the doubts in the fight
ing mems minds that perhaps after
all Frances sufferings had been
mere propaganda.
When the Allies landed in Nor
mandy, many were surprised te
find it '1and of milk and honey,
Shops in the first small towns te
be liberated were selling luxuries
such as the British had not seen
over a period of four years. Meat
butter, eggs, fruit, sizeable stocks
of cider and apple-jack, even vim
tage wines and champagne were all
obtainable-at a price. This afte-
four yers of occupation.
What the men did not realize
was that Normandy is easily the
richest province of France. 1t was
the richest source OF meat, dairy
and poultry produce in Europe
richer even than Denmark. It is
no wonder, therefore, that despite
the fact that the army of occupa-
ton took about 80 per cent of the
produce German requisiton orders
and records kept by town clerks
prove this the remaining 10 per
cent was sufficient to feed the in
habitants reasonably well, leaving
a surplus from which to send par
cells to relatives and friends in the
towns.
Best CUISINE -
Since D-Day furthermore, re-
QUESTIONS ceased and disrupted
communications stopped the send
ing of food parcels. But cows have
gone on producing milk, hens lay
ing eggs and the Allied lombard
ment of Delivrande alone giled hun
dreds of heads of cattle. So the
stories of troops feeding on the fat
of the land are true. Add to that the
fact that a FrenchWoman has the
knack of making delicious dish
out of a bone and handful OF
vegetables that this is the season
when asparagus, artichokes, crisp
salads and luscious Strawberries
are at their best, and you have
the elements of the best French
cuisine. Give a French housewife
Army rations and she will manage
to turn them into succulent meal
The richness of Normandy helped
make life extremely comfortable
for the Germans entrenched in
their forts in that section of the
Atlantic Wall. Some were compar.
able to super hotels, air-condition'
ed, with electric lighting and all
the. domestic amenities associated
with Hollywood interior. In one
of them large room was found
with parcels in process of being dis
patched by German enlisted mer
to their families back home, con-
tanning three pounds OF sweet but
ter, a fat Camenbert cheese, cos.
metics and trinkets.
American troops will soon find,
houyn1ynr III Of oy.fcida fhic rich q or;
cultural belt the French have not
been living on the fat Of the land
especially the poorer people who
could never have paid black mar.
ket prices. Wages for ',nskilled
labor were as low as 10 dollars a
week and while people employed
in skilled trades and armament fac.
tories were paid three times more,
even they could not buy butte-
at six dollars a pound, cheese at
eight and meat at 10 dollars a
pound. Instead, the poor had to de-
pend on an often deficient rationing
system. Bread, the national stable
food, was made mainly of bran
Small food shops in towns like Bay
eux had signs indicating that
rationed foods like cheese, butter
and sugar were unobtainable. Yet
folks in these parts told how the
Germans used butter to grease
their boots.
PAS the Allies advance the