60 years ago near Assen
The Syrian Ibrahim Azem
For him I sing this requiem
And for soldier Pierre Valayer
Who hopefully rests in peace
Marcel Leveque, Pierre Bevalot
Robert Spina, Jean Munch and so
In Zeyerveld a monument
Not known by any Drent
He was a French paratrooper
The war was nearly over
In the big plane he dreamt
"Just a little while, then it's over"
refr.:
't Was on april ten, a day in spring
He didn't even know where Drenthe was
He just fought simply on command
He hated this hell of war
He hated the step in march
He wish he was in Damascus
He didn't even know what freedom was
And he was scared
Ibrahim Azem, the hero
Who found his grave in Zeyerveld
But that is was in Zeyerveld
Was never told to him
He was a Syrian chasseur
His weapon was a machine-gun
It didn't help him, that machine-gun
A Kraut forestalled him
Azem had to join the French army
The bleeding colonial regime
He was a poor Arabian
The war had brought him here
refr.
A youngster from the Ruhrgebiet
Already lost his best mate
A bullet from a French gun...
The war is vulgar
The boy wept, scared to death
Lost he walked around
Longing for his homeland
Deprived of his common sense
He wanted to go home, he didn't want to died
The French came through a ditch
And he aimed one time again
And firmly closed his eyes
The Syrian Ibrahim Azem
For him I sing this requiem
His name is on a stone
He fell in Zeyerveld
't Was april ten, a day in spring
He didn't know where Drenthe was
He didn't know what freedom was
And he was scared
Song and text: Frans Westenbrink
Original songtext in the dialect of Drenthe (ed.)
http://www.musicfrom.nl/songteksten
Operation Amherst
French paratroopers before leaving for Drenthe, 7 April 1945. Picture: Airborne Museum
The paratrooper Asem (Azem) Ibrahim, a French soldier 1st class from Syria, fell on 9 April 1945 together with five other military in a gunfire at the Koeleweg in Assen (Zijerveld). The names of the others are Pierre Valayer, Marcel Leveque, Pierre Bevalot, Robert Spina and Jean Munch. Their names are on a plaque on a barn Zijerveld, Assen. Asem Ibrahim is sung about in a Drenth's song from Frank Westenbrink.
Asem Ibrahim is probably transported on 1949-07-19 from the Southern Public Cemetery Assen to the French military cemetery in Kapelle, where his name is on a monument amongst nearly 600 other names.
The six belonged to the 33 French military who died for the liberation of Drenthe, during operation 'Amherst', the last allied airborne operation.
In the night of 7 - 8 april 1945 702 French paratroopers of the 2nd and 3rd Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes (R.C.P.), units of the British Special Air Service (S.A.S.), are dropped in Drenthe and southeast Friesland. At that time this area still was under German control. The dropping was behind the lines of the Germans. The Airborne Museum Hartenstein near Arnhem shows 60 years later their actions by an exposition (9 April - 30 October 2005).
In the night of 7 - 8 april the French, devided into 47 groups (sticks), are dropped at Meppel, Beilen, Westerbork, Gieten-Borger, Appelscha and Assen. The paratroopers though, are spread over entire Drenthe and even in Friesland. The following days everywhere in Drente and Friesland the French lie in ambush and fight Germans, while being aided by the resistance. Isolaten groups of paratroopers often try just to survive and have to lie low with the aid of the population. From only a few of the actions footage is preserved.
On basis of eyewitness accounts also a book has been published on this operation: Operation AMHERST. French para's fought in Drenthe, April 1945. Roger Flamand (transl. J.H. Jansen). ISBN 90-5352-770-2. The compiler and partly author from the book, the Frenchman Roger Flamand, was a volunteer at the S.A.S (Special Air Service) at that time and took part in the operation above the province of Drenthe. He left the service as a colonel paratrooper and for many years he was active as director of the Museé National des Parachutistes in Pau.
With gratitude to Ad van den Oord for the tip.
http://home.planet.nl/~dejon270/boeken_amherst.htm
http://www.airbornemuseum.nl
2005