FOREWORD by Lucien "Lou" St-Hilaire, ex-AFP of a very interesting article submitted by Mister Charles Borsenberger, a resident of Montréal, Québec since 1968 and an ex-resident of Saint-Avold who, in addition to this, was born in Grostenquin, Moselle, France, where 2 (F) Wing was located.
On the 24 July 2000, I received a message (e-mail, which I translated to the best of my knowledge) from Mr. Charles Borsenberger in which he stated (quote): "...Mister St-Hilaire, I read with a great interest the textbook of the young Canadian serviceman landing in France to be stationed at Grostenquin; the publication titled " Be a Good Canadian Overseas" which you placed on the site. The reason of this great interest is that I was born in Grostenquin and witnessed the arrival of the first Sabre F-86 aircraft. I was 9 years old at that time, and our schoolteacher had given us the day off to watch, from the small hill which overhangs Grostenquin, the landing of these funny birds. Besides, my father exploited (ran) a farm at about 2 km in a straight line with the base Grostenquin flight line. It has been more than 30 years that I live in Montreal and once in a while (about twice a year) I go back to France and I (religiously) go, every time, through the village of Grostenquin. If you are interested to communicate with me, you can join me at..." (unquote)
Needless to add, that the above-mentioned e-mail really surprised me and no way was I ever to let pass an occasion to get in touch with an ex-resident of Saint-Avold, a city where I spent a little over three of my best years. I wrote back to Charles Borsenberger and enquired about the name of a bistro in Grostenquin where, with some of my friends, we used to visit on many occasions and specially on Sunday. We used to spent part of the afternoon playing different card games and ending the day with a good supper prepared by the Streiff's family. I remember that our meals, which, needless to add, included French and German wine, and lots of Demis (beer) ended up quite late on several evenings.
I recalled that the owner's daughter of the said bistro, had married a co-worker AFP (Bill McCrea) and I was hoping to obtain some information concerning Bill and his wife.
Again, Mr. Borsenberger answered my e-mail and I was informed that our eating place was called "Chez Streiff" of the name of the owner Joseph Streiff (deceased) and their daughter who married Bill, was (and do I ever agree with him) the beautiful Marinette. He added that they attended together the small school of the village and that he was also invited to their marriage and further informed me (quote) " ....I saw Bill at the time of the 1976 Olympic Games, in Montréal, because he (Bill) had been sent there within the framework of the participation of the Armed Forces for the maintaining of the games' security services. It is necessary that I clarify that Bill was not employed at the Olympic park but assigned for duties in Brossard.QC... "(unquote)
Mr. Borsenberger also informed me (quote) "... some years later, Bill and Marinette came to Montreal: Bill was working for the Unemployment Insurance and was giving classes (courses) from coast to coast on data processing in the various Unemployment offices at the rate of two or three weeks in every office ". (unquote)
How did Charles Borsenberger land in Montréal in 1968 ? Let him explain (quote) "...What brought me here? The purest of the fates. It was in May, 1968, the time of a mini revolution in France, nothing was really going properly in my country. I was working in Paris and a friend who was celebrating her birthday had invited me to her big party and among the guests there was a civil servant from the Immigration Office of the Embassy of Canada, After indicating my intents to go to Canada, this gentleman suggested me to see him the next day at the Embassy and to shorten my story, following a meeting with him, I decided to come to Canada that year. I had said to myself that I was going to give it a try for a period of three months and that if it did not meet my expectations, I would return to France.
(Note from Lou St-Hilaire): Exactly what I had said to myself when the Air Force sent me to France.
As you know by now, I stayed a little much longer. It has now been 33 years since I made that decision and I should admit that sometimes with the cold weather of January – February, I say to myself that I would probably have been better off if I had met a civil servant of the Embassy of Australia < grin >....(unquote)
Having informed Mr. Borsenberger of the new Grostenquin web site created by Ren L’Ecuyer, I invited him to visit this web site and to sign the Guest Book. He signed the register (15 May at 19:38) and his comments were so pleasant to read, that it lead Ren to ask him to submit an article concerning the sector of the Lorraine where he was born and where we, Canadian servicemen, dependents and civilians, had the opportunity to spent a part of our life while enjoying to the fullest the opportunities which we received through our posting to Grostenquin, France. Mr. Borsenberger informed me of Ren's request and I clearly indicated to him the interest of such an article for the visitors to the site.
I have been keeping contact with Mr. Borsenberger ever since and I even had the opportunity to meet him in my hometown, Quebec City, during one of his business trips, (of course we had a beer together, NO it was not a DEMI, it was Belgium beer, you know what I mean - Vive la France !). Mr. Borsenberger is constantly travelling around the world, being employed by one of the best known transport company in Montréal if not in all of Canada; " UTI - United Transport Inc."
The article that follows was supplied and written by Mr. Charles Borsenberger for the benefit of all visitors to the site and if I had to give it a title, I think I would select "Memories are made of this "
On your behalf, I am proud to say : "Our Sincere Thanks Mr. Charles Borsenberger!"