Why a bridge in France is named for a Chatham man

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It was an amazing story that filled two pages of the Nov. 11 issue of the Globe and Mail.

The story was about the bonding of the Chatham family of a deceased Second World War veteran hero and the people of a village in France who were liberated from German occupation in 1944.

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Major Keith Crummer, a major with D Company of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment following D-Day, had in 1944 moved with the D Company east into Normandy, crossing a tributary of the River Seine to come upon the village of Criquebeuf-sur Seine that was still under German occupation.

A group of D Company led by Major Crummer was able to defeat the German soldiers who were left in this village, pushing them out to the east and entering the village as liberators.

The villagers have never forgotten the courage of Major Crummer and those men of D Company.

In 1974, Crummer returned to the village, alone and unannounced, as he was a most modest man. But when the villagers found out his identity, the mayor arranged a large celebration in Crummer’s honour and later sent a letter of gratitude to the retired major, who had by then returned to Chatham and employed as a manager at Union Gas Ltd.

In 2014, Keith’s daughter, Diana Teetzel and her sister Joan Crummer-Rolland, visited the village and were warmly welcomed, as celebrations had been arranged for the 70^th anniversary of D-Day.

This past August, Diane and 29 members of the Crummer family again visited the village for its 75^th anniversary celebration of the liberation from German occupation.

Also on this occasion the bridge at the village was renamed – The Major Keith Crummer Bridge. It crosses a tributary of the River Seine where the village was located and banners were displayed with Keith’s picture and the regimental badge.

Earlier in November, three friends of Diane from the French village visited Chatham and were met at the Via train station by Diane and members of her family holding the flag of France.

I spoke with Diane in mid-November and she told me she and her husband and maybe other family members were planning another visit shortly to the village.

We certainly belong to a global society when one man and his family can bond with a small village in France in such a remarkable way.

William Magee

Chatham