The Norweb Collection - An American Legacy

On June 24 all hospitals in Paris were evacuated, because the Allies had learned that the Germans had concentrated their long-range guns and bombers and intended to open a heavy bom-bardment soon. Two days later, Emery May wrote: "Raid about eleven. Few bombs. Bad fire back of the Invalides," The next day, June 27, her diary records: "Raid at night. Very bad. Bomb fell about 300 yards away. Did little damage. Wounded or killed sentinel on guard. Hit in small square destroying near trees & glass in few houses!"

Another raid followed the next day. The local prefecture of police warned her about the blackout, for she had not closed her curtains and light could be seen from her windows. On June 29 she slept in her clothes waiting for the night's raid, which did not come. The bombardment was becoming unnerving. The next day she wrote: "Raid started 12 o'clock, finished 1:00 a.m. Second raid 1:45 a.m. Finished 2:30 a.m. Did not sleep much. Guns at the front made a great racket."

The German offensive along the Montdidier-Noyon front died down after this, and the raids ceased, temporarily. They began again in July, when the third phase of the German attack started, the Second Battle of the Marne. On July 14, Bastille Day, France's equivalent of the Fourth of July, Emery May wrote: ''About midnight began frightful bombardment. Lasted until four o'clock. Worst I have yet heard!' The next day, a Monday, her diary notes: "Gun began firing in afternoon. Harry had holiday. Shells hit on the wheel, Greuelle [sic] station and in front of the apartment [where she lived]. Harry decided we should go to the Stern's for the night!' Her apartment was near the French government's offices, a natural target for German guns. By July 20, she considered it unsafe to stay there much longer, and began planning to move as soon as possible.