Frank Borland - Heroism

Heroism

In a letter from French President, Jacques Chirac in 2005, it was stated that he has been chosen to receive the “Legion of Honor”. The honor has been bestowed upon Mr. Borland for his saving of the French town of Dieppe, Seine-Maritime from a planned Allied Command air raid. The 8th Recce was made aware, by the French resistance, that the German army had left the town overnight. The Germans had fought with the 2nd Canadian Division earlier in the war and didn’t fare well and had no interest in doing it again. Upon learning that there were no Germans in the town Jiggs radioed to headquarters with the news. The response was to go and verify this because the bombing mission had been planned for a long time and wasn’t about to be called off without concrete evidence.

The 8th Recce set out to verify the claim. Only six vehicles in the unit had radios. Due to the terrain and limitations of the radios the communication link with headquarters was lost every 8 to 10 miles (13 to 16 km). At this point they would leave a vehicle and a few men to re-establish the link. This tactic is never done as there is always the possibility of attack from an enemy force. The 8th Recce didn’t have a smooth trip as they encountered small enemy ambushes and a retreating anti-aircraft unit. All of which put up a limited fight. Upon reaching a hill overlooking the town of Dieppe, with only 1 armored car and a bren-gun carrier, Jiggs and his crew of eight others were approached by the Mayor and members of the French Resistance. They told them that there was only one German machine gun nest left in the town and pointed it out. As Jiggs lined up on the window with his main gun, a white flag emerged indicating surrender. The French police then arrested the Germans. Jiggs radioed back to headquarters the following message; “Francis is alive and well and will be expecting his friends for dinner”. This meant that the town was indeed free of the enemy and that the rest of the 2nd Canadian Division could move up to this point. At this point the allied bombers were already in the air and less than 30 minutes from the target. The bombers were then re-routed to another target.

When interviewed by local and national news media, he had commented that he does not consider himself a hero. Borland was quoted as saying "There was no heroism in it, we were doing our job".

Read more about this topic:  Frank Borland

Famous quotes containing the word heroism:

    I will put in my poems, that with you is heroism, upon land and sea—And
    I will report all heroism from an American point of view.
    Walt Whitman (1819–1892)

    Americans, unhappily, have the most remarkable ability to alchemize all bitter truths into an innocuous but piquant confection and to transform their moral contradictions, or public discussion of such contradictions, into a proud decoration, such as are given for heroism on the battle field.
    James Baldwin (1924–1987)

    Certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment’s comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)