The Daily Mirror, known for its "impartial and factual reporting" is one of
the worst Fleet Street rags, (was the National Enquirer modelled on it?)Pl
make your own minds up on this article bearing in mind that After the Battle
did a very good piece on M. Lemonchois (who I recall is far older than 46)
about 15 years ago. However readers may wish to see how the press portray
things - but it takes the heat off the US elections.
Regards, NIGE
"LIVING OFF THE DEAD: TOMB LOOTER EXPOSED
Scandal of the D-Day scrapman who cashes in on sea graves of Britain's war
heroes
A FRENCH scrap dealer bragged last night how he has spent 30 years living
off the plundered sea graves of D-Day soldiers.
Jacques Lemonchois, 46, has plucked so many relics from the Normandy shores
there are hardly any left.
He either sells them for scrap or as mementoes. But speaking just 10 days
before Remembrance Day, he defiantly declared: "To say they should all be
preserved is romantic nonsense.
"By law, I can do what I want with them. I'm a businessman and I have to get
by. "
Last night, his cynical profiteering from the sacrifice of thousands of
British and Allied soldiers was condemned by veterans and relatives of the
dead as "an act of desecration". The Normandy Veterans Association said:
"This is disgusting. These soldiers' graves are no less sacred for being
underwater."
Tory MP Patrick Nicholls said: "This amounts to opening coffins and
stripping rings off fingers."
And horrified Major David Preece, 75 - who took part in the 1944 Normandy
invasion - added: "They might as well go into a cemetery, open the graves
and prod about."
Lemonchois bought a licence from the French Government in 1970 to remove
thousands of tons of wartime material from the invasion area.
The relics include submerged tanks, Jeeps and landing craft as well as more
personal items like soldiers' helmets.
One of the scrap dealer's methods is to drive a giant crane over the seabed,
last resting place for 5,000 British and Allied heroes.
The smaller pieces he sells for scrap. The larger he places in his own
museum where visitors can also buy relics.
Lemonchois denies that any of the vehicles he has salvaged has contained the
bodies of troops.
But yesterday he was happy to straddle a capstan pulled from the wreck of
the US destroyer Meredith. Bodies still lie on board what is left of the
stripped vessel. Surrounded by rusting tanks and other wartime detritus
Lemonchois said at his home in Port-en-Bessin, Normandy: "The archaeologists
are too late.
"The museum is good, but it's not enough. That's why I have the salvage
business so I can sell for scrap. I've done a lot of the salvage myself."
For a fee he will even take visiting divers out to the sea graves. His boat,
the Sablaise, advertises the "exploitation" of wrecks. Lemonchois is allowed
to operate because the site off the Normandy beaches has never been declared
a war grave.
His activities have enraged archaeologists who want to preserve the precious
site.
Professor Brett Phaneuf, of Texas' Institute of Nautical Archaeology, said:
"These are the war graves of the largest naval operation in history, yet
they have no protection.
"A lot of bodies are in tanks and landing ships that never made it to the
shore. These sites are every bit as hallowed as military cemeteries." Enemy
wartime vessels have full protection if they lie in British waters.
The law applies not only to the craft, but to anything taken from it.
Now relatives and survivors of the Allied dead want the same respect to be
given in France.
Leslie Frost, 81 - chairman of the Normandy Veterans and a Royal Artillery
troop commander in 1944 - said: "What's going on is quite appalling. But
it's human nature.
"Once, these men were honoured and no one would have dreamed of plundering
these sites. Now people think it's a long time ago and it's all right to go
ahead."
Fellow veteran Frank Abbott, 75, of Uxbridge, Middlesex, said: "This kind of
thing happens to ships that went down 100 years ago. But this is still in
living memory.
"It must be stopped immediately. It's a special territory all along there,
and should remain untouched."
Demanding urgent action to stop the plunder, the Royal British Legion said:
"Many people will be shocked that these wrecks are not protected. We want a
UN code of conduct."
Lord Clifford of Chudleigh, who is spearheading a campaign to protect
British war graves in the South China Sea, said: "There needs to be an
international law to protect all these sites.
"There was fury when the Cenotaph was defaced earlier this year. How is this
any different? These graves should be left alone for 100 years." Junior
defence minister Dr Lewis Moonie told the Commons yesterday: "The time is up
for rogue divers.
"The Government believes war graves should remain undisturbed and protected
as far as possible."
The Defence Ministry admitted that unless divers were British, or operating
from a British-registered boat, it was unable to prosecute sea grave looters
for theft.
A spokesman said: "We are trying to have certain sites designated as graves.
An international agreement is needed.
"We are discussing with the EU, the US and others the best method of
protecting these sites."
/DID you lose a relative off the coast of Normandy in the last World War?
What do you think of the diving operation? Ring The Mirror on " ends
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 03 2000 - 20:29:47 PST