Mortain

Mortain used to be a very important town during the middle ages. It was on one of the many routes to the Mont Saint Michel. From the high ground that dominates the town, the pilgrims could see the famous Mount for the first time, it was named Montjoie or the Mount of the Happiness. This position was named Hill 314 (and 317) during WWII. The “lost Battalion” from...

St Lô

Known as the capital of the ruins, Saint Lo was a key crossroad for Allies and German logistics. The city was first bombed on D’Day, it was later shelled and bombed by the Allies and Germans for weeks. The US XIX Corps fought during the start of July the “battle of the hedgerows” to capture the city. No success was however possible without the control of Hill 192… A...

Carentan

Surrounded by marshes, Carentan is a little town on the main road (one of the few paved ones in the area) between Omaha and Utah beaches. The Allies needed to capture the town to link up the Vth and the VIIth US Corps. To the Germans, it represented a key crossroad between Caen, Cherbourg, Brittany and the Loire Valley area. The allies planned to liberate it on June...

Graignes

On D’day, the paratroopers were scattered all over Normandy. 200 men from the 507th PIR escaped the floods of the Merderet river and gather in a tiny village on the high grounds overlooking the marshes. Several of them were saved by the villagers of Graignes. During the next days, the paratroopers engaged forward elements from the 17th SS Panzerdivision. On the...

Ranville

Situated on the high grounds east of the Orne river, this village was the very first one liberated by the Allies on D’day. Very soon, the general Gale set is headquarters in the school. Stain glasses inside the church are dedicated to the airborne division. In the nearby cemeteries are buried the first liberators that made the ultimate...