A story
As I have nothing better to write about right now, I will tell you about an experience that I experienced while working with Ueli in November.
We were replacing a large, rotten beam that had collapsed earlier in the year (the ceiling was only being held up by some makeshift pillars). But that’s not the story. We got a replacement beam from Ueli’s brother’s barn and carried it over to the room. In the middle of this hulk (60 lb beam) was a deep notch. Wondering why it was there, I pointed it out to Ueli,
and he told me the story behind the notch.
The year was 1944. The Allies were pressing hard, with repeated bombing raids deep into enemy German territory. One morning Allied bombers flew on a mission to destroy the Luftwaffe air base outside Giebelstadt. Chance was that there was heavy fog that morning (not very common here, one reason why the air base was built in the first place). The pilots, not seeing much, aimed their bombs as best they could; but, hindered as they were, managed to take out a few houses and barns. Bombs exploded. Shrapnel screamed through the air. People screamed (I presume)...and one certain chunk of Allied metal tore its way through a certain thick wooden beam in a certain barn. A new barn was built, the beam (still solid despite the Allied notch) was stacked with other old beams for future use and life went on.
Sixty years later, on a clear November morning, we pull it out and hoist it into place, where it once again supports a roof. While cutting part of the beam with a chainsaw, we strike something unyielding, jamming the machine. We look around the whole beam but can’t find any nails or screws. Perplexed, we cut around it and then see the culprit.
Another piece of shrapnel, this time only about one cm long, lies embedded in the heart of the beam, driven four inches deep into the wood by a certain bomb from a certain Allied plane on a certain foggy morning in 1944…
We were replacing a large, rotten beam that had collapsed earlier in the year (the ceiling was only being held up by some makeshift pillars). But that’s not the story. We got a replacement beam from Ueli’s brother’s barn and carried it over to the room. In the middle of this hulk (60 lb beam) was a deep notch. Wondering why it was there, I pointed it out to Ueli,
and he told me the story behind the notch.
The year was 1944. The Allies were pressing hard, with repeated bombing raids deep into enemy German territory. One morning Allied bombers flew on a mission to destroy the Luftwaffe air base outside Giebelstadt. Chance was that there was heavy fog that morning (not very common here, one reason why the air base was built in the first place). The pilots, not seeing much, aimed their bombs as best they could; but, hindered as they were, managed to take out a few houses and barns. Bombs exploded. Shrapnel screamed through the air. People screamed (I presume)...and one certain chunk of Allied metal tore its way through a certain thick wooden beam in a certain barn. A new barn was built, the beam (still solid despite the Allied notch) was stacked with other old beams for future use and life went on.
Sixty years later, on a clear November morning, we pull it out and hoist it into place, where it once again supports a roof. While cutting part of the beam with a chainsaw, we strike something unyielding, jamming the machine. We look around the whole beam but can’t find any nails or screws. Perplexed, we cut around it and then see the culprit.
Another piece of shrapnel, this time only about one cm long, lies embedded in the heart of the beam, driven four inches deep into the wood by a certain bomb from a certain Allied plane on a certain foggy morning in 1944…
posted by thomassanz at
1:13 PM
3 Comments:
wow thats really cool!
that is one sweet story...
well bro i'm not to sure about this story. If I didn't know you i'd say you were making things up. But seeing as you're an honest, non-exaggerative man I guess i'll just have to trust you.
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