As the New Year begins, there are new genealogy projects. I hope to spend some time on several family history books, but each of them will require some deeper digging to find information and lost ancestors. As I've noted before, there is one branch of my Brennan family I have been unable to locate, and so I am considering a trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City with a group of experienced researchers to see what I can find.
I'm also planning another trip - this one in October. My husband and I will be traveling to France, Germany and Belgium. We will be starting in Paris, then moving on to Normandy where we will visit the memorials to those who died in WW II, and also visit the town of Bayeux, where a 1000 year old tapestry chronicles the Battle of Hastings and the victory of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy. Then we'll travel on to the South of France where we will spend 7 days on a Viking River Cruise, visiting vineyards, small towns, Roman ruins, and more history. After that, we'll head up to Nancy, France, in the region of Alsace-Lorraine, then hop over to a small town in Germany for a day, drive up to Belgium, through the small town of Turpange and on to Bruges, a lovely medieval town, and then back to Paris before heading home.
While our main goal is to just enjoy the culture, history and people, the final leg of our journey, from Nancy to Turpange, will be to indulge my genealogy interests. Nancy is a lovely town in the eastern area of France where my ancestor Ralph Brennan, a 1st lieutenant and commanding officer of Company F of the 134th Infantry Regiment during WW II, died in the Battle of Flavigny. In July, 1944, Ralph Brennan was wounded in battle and after recuperating in England, returned to the front in September. His job three days later was to take the Government Bridge at Flavigny, and retake the town from German occupation. The mission was successful, but Ralph died in the battle and today there is a memorial plaque honoring him and his men who died to save the town. I have been in contact with a woman whose father also died in battle near Nancy, and she is putting me in touch with residents of the town who will greet us and show us some of the sites and memorabilia associated with the battle.
After spending two days in Nancy, we will be heading across the border into Germany to the small town of Losheim am See where my Schulien relatives lived before immigrating to America. Some relatives still live there, and I hope to meet them and learn more about the family. Following a day and night in Losheim, we will leave Germany, drive through Luxembourg and into Belgium. In the south of Belgium is a small town named Turpange. This was where many of my Mueller ancestors were born. I suspect there is nothing there to see, but it will be interesting to drive through the area, just knowing some of my ancestors once lived there.
After that, we will head up to Bruges to experience a few days in that lovely medieval town, and finally return to Paris for the flight home.
I am looking forward to the trip for so many reasons, but obviously one of the biggest ones is to experience something of a connection with ancestors I never met, and to see the towns where they were born and/or died.
