Pointing the Way
a sign post indicates you are in Gueutteville (a hamlet within Picauville) and that the memorial to Father Maternowski is off to the left.

Today, extensive research and gathering of eyewitness accounts has determined that the actual date of the chaplain's death was June 6, 1944. The location was in the village of Gueutteville and a memorial has been erected there giving an account of that day.  It has also been determined that Father Maternowski was the only chaplain to have been killed on D-Day.  The memorial includes a bilingual information panel detailing the life and death of Fr. Maternowski.

The rightmost column is the English version and is reproduced at the right for ease of reading.

In Carponnet, this building is where Captain Maternowski was shot.  His body laid for three days in the ditch at the base of the wall.

Today that wall is the site of the memorial to the fallen chaplain which includes the Red Devil logo of the 508th PIR as well as the All-American insignia of the 82nd Airborne Division.
 

On the left of the wall, above, is a poignant scene showing Father Maternowski giving the last rites to a paratrooper killed in action.  His body, as were so many others, wrapped in a shroud of parachute silk.  A crashed glider lies in a Norman pasture backdropped by bocage with cows watching on.  The open gate may have been included as a symbolic point of departure for the casualty.

[all images courtesy of Graham Lawson]

Gueutteville hamlet is located 2 km northeast of Picauville in 1944, around 80 people lived here.  Like today, it was made up of a principal road bordered by houses and some agricultural fields. The only commercial business was the combined cafe-grocery owned by the Jules Thouroude family. The upper part of the hamlet is situated west towards the village of Picauville and the lower part east towards Caponnet, where “Hill 30” is now found.

In April 1944, a German company of the 1057th Infantry Regiment of the 91st Division occupied this hamlet.  German soldiers composed this unit along with Georgians and Mongols, who were dressed in German uniforms.  On their sleeves they wore insignias of their own respective countries. This company did not have much in the way of transportation.  Principally, they used horse-driven carts. The German Command Post was located on a large farm in the upper part of the hamlet, known as the Bernaville Castle. See the photo “partie haute.”   German officers and enlisted men lived in the homes of the local people that they requisitioned.

During the night 5-6 June 1944, a large number of U.S. paratroopers touched down here. They were of the 508th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division. Their intended DZ “N" was actually north of Picauville. A glider [crashed] [nearby], outside of its intended landing zone “E”.

In the middle of the night, U.S. soldiers knocked on the door of the Thouroude family home cafe-grocery attempting to get their bearings, so they could move toward their objectives.  U. S. medics brought wounded paratroopers and glider men into Thouroude’s cafe-grocery. The residence and small business quickly became a first aid station. U.S. soldiers placed ammunition crates and three long-distance radio sets in the grocery. Among these U.S. soldiers was a Catholic Chaplain of the 508th PIR, Captain Ignatius Maternowski. *

In addition to religious insignias that he wore on his jacket collar. Maternowski wore a Red Cross armband on his left sleeve, same as doctors, nurses, and U.S. Army Medics. Realizing Thouroude’s cafe-grocery would run out of space due to the continual flow of arriving wounded, Maternowski searched to find a suitable structure to shelter the wounded. He was walking alone with a bare head, wearing his helmet on his belt, in the lower sector of the hamlet. That morning Maternowski insisted upon meeting the German Medic in charge in hopes to combine their wounded together. Mr. Jules Thouroude tried to discourage him, but in vain!  Maternowski realized that his plan was risky. He left his case, containing various ceremonial items, in the custody of Thouroude.

Walking briskly and with determination, Maternowski went to meet his German counterpart To the surprise of the people of Gueutteville,  Maternowski returned to the cafe-grocery accompanied by the German Major, sc he could see for himself the plight of the wounded U.S. soldiers. The German Major certainly would have taken note of the stockpile of munitions and radio equipment in the cafe-grocery. After this quick visit, one can suppose that Maternowski, full of humanity and compassion, escorted the German Major back to the upper of the hamlet Upon his return, about midway through the hamlet, a gunshot sounded at his back, reportedly fired from one of the houses. Maternowski fell to the ground with his head laying on the edge of the ditch, was killed by a bullet shot anonymously. Curiously, the Germans forbade anyone to remove his body.  Maternowski’s body lay for three days where he had been shot.... just to the left of this information panel.

On 9 June U.S. soldiers of the 90th Infantry Division, arriving from Utah Beach, found and recovered Maternowski’s body.  At the beginning of the afternoon on 6 June, the Germans began an attack on the U.S. paratroopers beginning at the upper part of the hamlet, and also, attacking from the east, along the road to Carponnet.  A German-manned tank halted in front of the cafe-grocery and fired.  Its blasts caused the roof; watts to collapse on the medics and the wounded. It was 24 hours later that the Germans authorized the village residents to remove the wounded and carry them in carts to the mill Ebecquigneul. The wounded joined captured paratroopers who were locked in the stables. Many of the wounded and dying were stuck under ruins of the cafe-grocery and could not be saved.

The U.S. military morning report dated 26 June 1944 notes that Captain Ignatius P. Maternowski (Chaplain) 0-480972 was missing In action as of 6 June 1944. However, the morning report transmitted June 1944 to the 508th PIR Headquarters stated that he was killed in action 13 June 1944. (Note : Often, if the actual date of death was unknown to the U.S. Graves Registration units, they typically recorded the date they recovered a body. Hence 13 June 44 reflects when the body was removed to a local cemetery, and the apparent confusion of the date of his death. This is not uncommon.) The residents of Gueutteville hamlet arc certain that Maternowski was killed on the early morning 6 June 1944. Therefore, this story is based primarily upon testimony of the residents of Gueutteville. This account has been cross-referenced and thoroughly researched. Some of the eye witnesses to the killing of Maternowski still live in Gueutteville.

* * * Background * * *

Frank P. Maternowski was born on March 28,1912 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He graduated in 1931 from St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, New York. He followed with training for the priesthood and eventual practice in the Order of Friers Minor Conventual Franciscans, members of a worldwide Roman Catholic fraternity founded by St Francis of Assisi. He was ordained Father Ignatius P. Maternowski. With the outbreak of WWII, he requested and received permission to enter the U.S. Army in 1942 as a military chaplain. During his training, he went through the same rigorous routine as the combat paratroopers, completing the required number of jumps, including a night jump under combat-like conditions, before winning his wings.

At the age of 32 years, Maternowski lost his life m Normandy after serving his country for 23 months. Following his death, his body was eventually returned to rest in Mater Dolorosa Cemetery, South Hadley Massachusetts (Friars’ Plot No. 3). In 1945, St. Francis High School established an annual athletic award in honor of Father Maternowski.

In 2010, Lieutenant Colonel Kelly Carrigg (retired) began her new career as a French teacher at this school. She saw the commemorative plaque just outside the chapel. As a result of her inquiries, they led her right back to Normandy. In June 2009, she represented the DeGlopper family and VFW Post #9249 for the inauguration of Pfc Charles N, DeGlopper Honor Information Panel, created by the ’'Association U. S. Normandie”, of which she is an Honorary member. Now she returns to this same area and association to honor the memory of this noble Soldier and man of God.

This information panel has been created to pay tribute to Father Maternowski, as well as to his brothers of arms, who sacrificed their lives to liberate the French from the grip of Nazi Occupation. May he rest in peace and his memory endure the ages of time!