A “Normal Day” in Germany: Paris couple’s Cold War memory reminds us of peacekeepers’ sacrifice

Neil Edwards

Paris Independent Contributor

It was just a normal day for Irwin and Marie Williamson. Of course, what is normal for one person is not normal for another. They grew up and married in Paris, but this day in 1964 they found themselves in Hugelsheim, Germany, a quiet little town situated on the east bank of the Rhine River.  Irwin was serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and he was transferred to RCAF 4 Wing in Baden-Soellingen, West Germany. He was a Corporal, and he would be working on the newly acquired CF 104 aircraft stationed there to meet Canada’s commitment to NATO’s air defence of Europe during the Cold War with the USSR. He and Marie and were living off base in the nearby town of Hugelsheim. 

And Germany in the 1960s was not what we would call normal. At that time, it was divided in two – the democratic Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the undemocratic Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany), which was effectively under the control of the Soviet Union. But, at that time and place, it seemed like just another day. 

What no one in Hugelsheim knew, however, was that their normal day was about to change. On the opposite shore of the Rhine River, fully armed soldiers in battle dress were boarding amphibious vehicles and advancing across the river towards Hugelsheim. The air raid sirens on the air base began to sound shrilly across the town. The unidentified soldiers, guns bristling, drove their vehicles straight through the town toward the air base. Fear, uncertainty and panic prevailed. Marie and Irwin lived on the second floor of a house on Rhinestrasse, or River Street, where these soldiers landed. Marie remembers that when their vehicles drove past her house, “the soldiers were at my eye level when I looked out our bedroom window.” What a terrifying scene to witness.

In the end, it turned out to have been a simulated attack, intended to test defences. The air raid sirens were turned off, residents were informed that it was just a simulation, and life returned to normal again. But the experience accentuates the potential dangers to the military personnel and their families as well as the civilians in the town. Though there was no war declared, they were on the front line. That was their normal.

So, when we think of the courage and sacrifice of those in the military who fought in wartime, we need to remember the courage and sacrifice that are also needed to keep the peace.  More than 125,000 Canadian Armed Forces members have served in international peacekeeping efforts in dozens of countries over the decades. Approximately 130 of them have lost their lives and many more have returned home with physical and psychological wounds. And we should not forget either the sacrifices made by the families of those peacekeepers.

Homes of Heroes does not want us to forget. That is why our goal is to place a sign, in the three weeks before Remembrance Day, in front of every house in Paris where a veteran lived when they enlisted. Not just when they enlisted to go to war, but also when they enlisted to preserve the peace. If you have a story of a veteran, whether in war or in peacetime, please share it at info@homesofheroes.com. Their stories will ensure that our heroes will not be forgotten. 

If you have questions, please email them to neiledwards51@gmail.com.