#Biography - France
Chantal Rivière-Nobécourt
As a young girl of 19 years old Chantal Nobécourt volunteered for the Red Cross in Caen in the summer of 1944. When the city endured the heavy bombardments by the German and Canadian armies she worked at the nursery in the Malherbe High School, that was equipped as refugee centre for the inhabitants of Caen.
Chantal Nobécourt was born in Rouen on 30 January 1925. In 1942 she moved to Caen with her family when her father, a veteran of the First World War, became editor of the ‘Journal de Normandie’, a newspaper that was closely watched by the Germans. In 1943 Chantal enlisted for the Red Cross.
On the evening of 5 June 1944 Chantal heard the Allied bombardment of Normandy and realised that the invasion was in progress. That night her family took refuge in the cellar of their house. Right after D-Day Chantal started helping the refugees in the Saint-Etienne Church. In the Malherbe High School she organised a centre for babies to make sure that they were taken care of.
On 9 July the first Canadians arrived in Caen, that was still partly occupied by the Germans. Chantal helped the local resistance to raise the tricolour on the Place Monseigneur des Hameaux. But when the Canadians announced another heavy attack, she participated in the evacuation of all refugees to Bayeux. After the liberation of Caen Chantal volunteered for the National Mutual Aid and participated in the distribution of clothes during the winter of 1944-1945.
After the war Chantal Rivière-Nobécourt, who passed her life from adolescence to adulthood on the ruins of Caen, was deputy mayor for culture in Caen from 1977-1989.