France — As the world commemorated the 80th anniversary this year of the D-Day landings at Normandy and the liberation of Europe from the Nazis one French family finally began to come to terms with the personal tragedy that befell them during the summer of 1944 troops fanned out across Normandy and the neighboring western region of Brittany to capture and secure large ports One family's encounter with a soldier that summer would alter its destiny 66-year-old Michelle Salaün walks across a field in Brittany to the house where her mother grew up where my grandfather has been killed and my mother raped was shot as he tried to protect his 17-year-old daughter who showed up at their farmhouse late one night Tournellec left behind a widow and six children but was left with a terrible secret and a wound that never healed "This was a secret for all the family — my three sisters and my two brothers — nobody knew," Salaün says soldiers in the wake of D-Day has long been a taboo subject on both sides of the Atlantic But as historians and victims' descendents have delved into the cases over time the accounts have challenged some of Allied forces' heroic legacy while also revealing official racial discrimination of the time Mary Louise Roberts, professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, was one of the first scholars to consult French as well as U.S. archives for her 2013 book "Towards the end of the summer of 1944 there really was a problem with rape," she says was concerned about it." SHAEF was the acronym for the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Roberts says in some ways the problems were created by the U.S To motivate soldiers it portrayed French women as highly sexualized As an example she cites infantry newspaper Stars and Stripes which often showed pictures of GIs embracing French women soldiers arrived with images of France and French women as hypersexualized," Roberts says "And they saw themselves as knights in shining armor one French newspaper in the Normandy town of Cherbourg reported that rapes and murders were instilling fear in families across the countryside Roberts says there's no way to know how many rapes there were and other accounts of rape where no arrest was made or that she believes went unreported She says the scale of sexual assault was significant enough that the U.S military saw the need to shore up trust of its occupying forces in France Roberts says she read notes from an Army command meeting in the late summer of 1944 She says they decided to hold Black soldiers responsible — even if they weren't "So they decided it would be a Black problem rather than an American problem," Roberts says "They could blame African Americans based on the belief that they were hypersexual and violent and thus exonerate white American soldiers from accusations of rape." even though Black soldiers made up just 10% of the fighting force And 25 out of the 29 soldiers publicly executed were Black "[French] mayors were actually asked to put out a notice to civilians to come and watch African American soldiers being hanged for rape," she says "Clearly the Army wanted to impress on ordinary Normans that this was a situation which the U.S In addition to prevailing racism of the time Roberts believes that logistical factors were likely at play in the military's decision White soldiers involved in fighting units moved quickly from one spot to the next making it harder to prosecute their service members suspected of a crime That meant a Black soldier could be blamed for a rape committed by white soldier who had long moved on Roberts' book won several awards and was well received by the U.S. Army, which gave her an appointment as a visiting professor at West Point in 2020 "In the public imagination World War II is seen as 'the good war' — especially the Normandy invasion," says Roberts "So when my book came out it put pressure on that narrative." Roberts admits the topic is sensitive and complicated also looks at the executions of Black soldiers in 1944 and 1945 the crimes they were accused of and the French families affected — including Michele Salaün and her siblings Filmmaker Philippe Baron based his documentary on a book of the same name written by a French interpreter for the U.S "He spoke English and offered himself as an interpreter in the summer of 1944 and he finds himself at the heart of these investigations led by American officers," Baron says "Guilloux goes with them to different places and attends the court-martials He becomes an embedded witness to history." Baron says it was difficult to criticize the liberating Army in the 1950s and '60s But even when Guilloux did publish his work in 1976 historians began delving into the crimes and racism of the Army in the wake of D-Day Today Guilloux's book is considered an important historical document Behind a graveyard in the tiny Brittany village of Plabennec Salaün and two sisters stand at the spot where 34-year-old Pvt was hanged for the murder of their grandfather in February 1945 although they are convinced Mack did rape their mother It could not be admitted," says sister Jeannine Plassard Mack, who was a cook for the U.S. Army segregated unit 578th Field Artillery Regiment (later Battalion) though there are differing accounts of his defense The French relatives say the thought of their young mother being brought to witness his hanging increases their sadness "Nobody here asked for him to be executed," says Plassard Army did it to show it was taking responsibility But it was the liberation and everyone was happy and finally free Nearby in the house of brother Jean-Pierre Salaün the siblings talk around the dining room table and show me old family photos poisoned their mother's life and cast a dark shadow over their family "Why did we have to keep silent about the rape of our mother and the murder of our grandfather to live in peace?" Jean-Pierre Salaün Such was the shame that he only learned his grandfather's name when he was 15 — and asked to be told No one ever spoke about him because that would have meant talking about what happened to their mother They all remember their mother crying at night "I thought it was us kids who had done something to hurt her." He takes down from the bookshelf a book about their tiny town during World War II "There's not a word in here about our grandfather," he says "They even talk about how many horses were killed Marie-Annick says D-Day anniversaries have always been hard But what is tragic is that women are still paying the price in war The siblings remember the children who weren't allowed to play with them And how their mother didn't go with the other women after church to eat cakes at a cafe "I always wondered why people looked at her differently when she was so hardworking and discreet," says Marie-Annick She sang Brittany's traditional folk songs at local festivals They play a tape of a clear soprano voice singing in Breton Catherine Tournellec Salaün told her children about the rape Marie-Annick chokes up as she remembers her mother asking The siblings say appearing in the documentary and finally talking together about what happened has been liberating And on the 80th anniversary of those events in August 1944 the siblings gathered at the grave of their grandfather along with two French veterans carrying French flags "Our grandfather may not have died for France under enemy bullets Become an NPR sponsor You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed 6 Wins / 9 Draws / 9 Losses in the Last 24 fixtures *Flers's stats from National 3 Group C 2024/25 Prediction Risk - UNLOCK This season in National 3 Group C, Flers's form is Poor overall with 6 wins, 9 draws, and 9 losses. This performance currently places Flers at 0 out of 14 teams in the National 3 Group C Table Flers's home form is average with the following results : 0 wins Flers has scored a total of 26 goals this season in National 3 Group C More Over / Under / BTTS / Goals data are under the Goals tab More Flers corner stats are available under the Corners tab * Average Goals Scored Per Match for Flers in National 3 Group C 2024/25 • Flers scores a goal every 0 minutes in National 3 Group C • Flers scores an average of 0 goals every game * Average Goals Conceded Per Match for Flers in National 3 Group C 2024/25 • Flers has conceded a total of 32 goals this season in National 3 Group C • Flers concedes an average of 0 goals every game Flers has a ratio of 33% Over 2.5 goals during the National 3 Group C 2024/2025 (8 / 24 fixtures) Over / Under Goals are calculated from total match goals for fixtures that Flers has participated in Flers's ratio of Under 2.5 goals is 67% in the National 3 Group C 2024/2025 season (16 / 24 matches) Over / Under 1H/2H Goals are calculated from both team's goals in that half UNLOCKCorners / Match * Average Corner Kicks per match between Flers and their opponents in a single match Match corners is the total corners between Flers and their opponent in the match UNLOCKCards / Match * Average Total Match Cards per match between Flers and their opponents in a single match Match cards is the total cards between Flers and their opponent in the match * Not all matches have goal timings recorded for Flers Cards and Corners in these tables are total between both teams * Not all matches have goal/corner/card timings recorded for Flers * Average Shots Per Match for Flers in National 3 Group C 2024/25 Flers this season is taking a total of 28 shots 6.00 shots per match are on target and 3.33 shots per match are off target xG For - Expected Goals For of Flers is 1.44 xG xG Against - Flers's xGA (Expected Goals Against) is 1.82 per match in the National 3 Group C * Stats from 2024/25 season of National 3 Group C *FC Flerien player data are not yet recorded Average AttendanceNot recorded yet or may be affected by COVID-19 Follow FootyStats on the following channels to make sure you never miss a stat * Please be aware that unauthorized individuals may be falsely claiming affiliation with FootyStats on Social Media These individuals are not associated with our company in any capacity Please verify official representatives through our website or official communication channels is not responsible for any interactions or transactions with unauthorized persons misrepresenting our organization © FootyStats - Built with Love for The Beautiful Game Ligue 1 side Brest have announced the contract extension of 21-year-old central midfielder Hugo Magnetti by 3 years The young Frenchman made eight appearances in Ligue 1 this season and played a further three times in the Coupe de la Ligue Sporting Director Gregory Lorenzi had the following to say upon the announcement: “Hugo is a young player who had made several appearances with the team this season and showed good things We are in the spirit of trying to keep our promising elements we therefore produced this contract to prepare for the future with youngsters like him Hugo has proved that he can succeed in the long term He has in any case improved in his utilisation of the ball it’s better than before when he wanted to carry it too much He can feel the confidence of the coach and I think I saw that he is happy with that.”