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Wartime Reflections: Dominic Grieve Shares His Fathers Diaries on the
Liberation of Luxembourg
On 28 May, Ambassador Friden hosted a lecture at the Oxford and Cambridge Club in Pall Mall, delivered by the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve KC, former Member of Parliament and Attorney General for England and Wales.
Dominic Grieve’s talk was based on the wartime diaries of his father, Percy Grieve, offering a first-hand account of the Liberation of Luxembourg by Allied forces following the German occupation during the Second World War. Percy, whose full name was William Percival Grieve, was a newly qualified barrister when he joined the British Army in 1939.
As a fluent French speaker, he was soon assigned to Brendan Bracken’s Ministry of Information as a liaison officer with General de Gaulle’s Free French government-in-exile in London, where his main task was to oversee the general’s broadcasts on the BBC.
He later served with General Eisenhower’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), based at St Paul’s School in Hammersmith, and was involved in planning Operation Overlord, the codename for the Battle of Normandy.
The D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 were the largest seaborne invasion in history and laid the foundations for the Allied victory in Europe.
Within a month, most of France had been liberated, and on 25 August, Paris was free once again.
The Liberation of Luxembourg by American troops began on 9 September, with forces entering the capital the following day along the Route de Longwy, now known as Avenue du X Septembre.
Prince Félix, accompanied by Major General Oliver of the American 5th Armoured Division, and Crown Prince Jean, dressed in the uniform of the Irish Guards, were warmly welcomed in the capital.
By 13 September, most of the country was liberated, and Percy Grieve found himself in Luxembourg as part of a mission of Allied officers who formed the de facto supreme military and civil authority in the country.
The Luxembourg Government in Exile, which had been based in London, returned on 23 September. It faced significant challenges. Immediate priorities included securing food supplies for the population, providing coke for the steel industry, and repatriating deported citizens.
German soldiers, officials, police officers, and local collaborators fled the country, while a militia formed by resistance fighters, deserters, and local politicians called D’Unio’n vun de Fraiheetsorganisatiounen attempted to purge society of Nazism, punish those deemed traitors, and establish order.
Under the command of American Colonel F. E. Fraser, Percy Grieve played a vital role in a small team tasked with restoring control and assisting the newly established civil administration.
On 16 December, the Germans launched a surprise counter-offensive in the densely forested Ardennes region in the north, which became known as the Battle of the Bulge.
Fierce fighting, lasting until the end of January 1945, devastated large areas of the Oesling and the region around Echternach, claiming many lives.
On 4 January, a new government was formed under Prime Minister Pierre Dupong, and on 20 March, a new Assemblée Consultative of 57 deputies was sworn in, 27 of whom had been parliamentarians before the war.
Grand Duchess Charlotte returned from exile on 14 April 1945, landing at Findel Airport on General Eisenhower’s personal aircraft, a Douglas C-47 ‘Dakota’.
She was greeted by a euphoric population on her native soil.
On 8 May, German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed a legal document in Berlin formally accepting the unconditional surrender of all German armed forces, ending the war in Europe.
Celebrations spread throughout the continent, including Luxembourg, and this day later became known as Victory in Europe Day.
However, this momentous event does not appear in Percy’s papers, as he was at the time involved in the repatriation of Princess Antonia, Grand Duchess Charlotte’s younger sister, who was married to Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria.
She had been captured in Hungary by the Germans and deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, later transferred to Flossenbürg and Dachau. She was found close to death in a hospital in Jena by a Luxembourgish officer.
She vowed never to set foot on German soil again and did not leave the car during the long journey to Luxembourg. Princess Antonia died nine years later in Switzerland.
Following parliamentary elections on 21 October, a new Luxembourg government was formed on 14 November, and the pre-war political order was eventually restored.
Percy Grieve accompanied Grand Duchess Charlotte on her visits to war-ravaged localities throughout the country, some of which took more than a decade to rebuild.
The wartime experiences left a lasting impression on the 29-year-old British officer, and throughout his life, he retained a deep affection for the Grand Duchy. He was awarded the Luxembourg Croix de Guerre with Palms and later, following work with the European Union, was appointed Commander of the Luxembourg Order of Merit.
After the war, he had a distinguished career as a Queen’s Counsel and Recorder of the Crown Court. He was elected to Parliament in 1964 and served for nineteen years, participating in key European and race relations committees.
A committed Europhile, he maintained lifelong connections with his friends in the Grand Duchy and became Chairman of the Luxembourg Society.
Percy Grieve died aged 83 after a brief illness on 22 August 1998.
Photo Credits: Grand Ducal Court of Luxembourg or the Luxembourg National Archives
