2004 News - D-day, the 60th

Tuesday June the 6th 1944, the 1390th day after the German troops arrived in Ouilly-le-Basset and Saint-Marc-d'Ouilly. The continual passage of planes and the uninterrupted bombing in the north of our communes, are the first obvious signs of D-day. Leaflets, launched from planes, confirm the gravity of the moment and invite the population to evacuate Pont-d'Ouilly, which is indicated as a vital objective, likely to be attacked by the Allied forces.

The bridge is put at once into a state of defense by the German troops. The bombing of June the 8th causes the inhabitants to evacuate in countryside : the gendarmes and the firemen guard the town. The two banks of the Orne river forget their past quarrels to accommodate the families, who no longer have a roof over their heads.

Until their release, our communes will live with the daily bombing and machine gun fire, the threats, plundering, the difficulty of receiving supplies, and the transmission of dramatic news of the bombing of the other town within the department.

At the end of July, the fighting comes closer. Refugees, fleeing from the combat zones in the north of the department, travel along roads smashed by the German tanks. The German troops travel by foot in the other direction, joining the front line : they demand to be given all available supplies.

August is the most painful month : the bombing intensifies ; the houses burn ; the dead and wounded are numerous. The S.S. occupy the area, mine the bridge, which is demolished on August the 12th : the damage caused to the houses in the neighbourhood will lead to major changes to the appearance of our town.

The war also taken a heavy toll among the Allied troops in our sector, in particular on August the 15th in Saint-Christophe. The next day, 72 days after D-day, the English troops liberate our communes. Once united they will be rebuilt, but will keep engraved on their respective war memorials, the names of the civil victims who made even more painful this tragedy period in the history of Pont-d'Ouilly.

Les jeunes ont écouté avec attention et participé aux récits des souvenirs de jeunesse évoqués par MM. Jean Bucquet, Philippe Cornu, Jean Kaser et Daniel Malas.

Après la cérémonie religieuse, un hommage a été rendu à l'équipage polonais abattu à La Valette le 14 août 1944.

La veille, le Lieutenant Jean Formey-de-Saint-Louvent, mort au combat le 17 juin 1940, a également été honoré.