Normandy Rose: Onboard the SS Julia off Omaha Beach

My father was a chief officer in the Belgian Merchant Navy during World War II. He went to London, as the Belgian government was seated there, to join the forces for the invasion. He was onboard a small ammunition ship called the "S.S. Julia". She was transporting ammunitions and American troops for the invasion. On June the 6th, he reached the beaches of Normandy. His beach was Omaha, where he had to offload ammunitions and the troops. The firing was terrible and when the battle eventually stopped, he went ashore and saw the human disaster. He arrived at a farm and on the wall of the farm, amidst all the bodies of German soldiers, was a beautiful red rose in full bloom. He picked that rose and put it in his battledress. When he returned to Southampton with a poor battered ship, he gave the rose to my mother, who later became his wife. The Belgian merchant navy were never recognized for their sacrifice and he always said the rose was his cross of war. It now hangs in our frontroom under glass but will soon be donated to the Imperial War Museum in London.

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