the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Sidney Spiegel was with General Dwight D. Eisenhower in England in the early spring of 1944. Eisenhower was at a D-Day planning meeting and awaiting the arrival of top-secret film of the French Coast.
The courier who was to deliver the film had a hole in his satchel. When he arrived at the meeting, they discovered that he had lost it somewhere along the way.
Eisenhower sent men to find the film, and it was Sergeant Spiegel who found it. He discovered a group of kids holding the film up to the sky. After brutal negotiations, he traded a pack of chewing gum for the top-secret film that aided the allies in their planning of D-Day!
Eisenhower always remembered Sergeant Spiegel. He even mentioned him in his book, “Crusade in Europe.” It read: “A Sergeant who accompanied me everywhere in France was a motorcycle policeman named Sidney Spiegel. His personal loyalty and anxiety to protect and assist me knew no bounds.”
Pictured below, the two men reunite after the war. President Eisenhower did not forget him.
For the full story, click the link to see the whole tale by New Jersey State Police archivist, Mark Falzini. It’s worth a few minutes.
